Rowers Race at Head of the Iowa
October 30, 2005 | Lightweight Rowing
Wisconsin's three rowing programs raced Sunday at the Head of the Iowa on the Iowa River in Iowa City, Iowa. The UW women's boats won the women's open pair, women's novice four, women's lightweight four, and finished second in the open eight and novice eight events. On the men's side, Badger boats won all six events entered, including the open eight, open four, lightweight four, open pair, novice eight and novice four races. The regatta was the first race chance for most of the novice rowers on all three squads to compete.
Race conditions varied throughout the day as times it was windy and rainy and other times it was neither. The temperatures were mild and the when there was wind, it came as a cross-head wind.
The toughest competition of the day came in the women's open eight race, where Minnesota edged Wisconsin on a 2.5-mile course by .65 seconds. Minnesota won in 13:38.68, while the Badgers raced to a 13:39.33. Wisconsin's second boat placed third in 14:03.88, followed by Iowa, which clocked a 14:21.00. The UW lightweights entered a boat in the open race, placing sixth in 14:29.99. The UW novice openweights also raced in the open event, placing an impressive seventh in 14:37.13. Twenty-three boats took part in the race.
'The varsity eights were close to Minnesota,' said women 's head coach Bebe Bryans. 'I think they beat us by .7 of a second, which shows we 've got quite a bit of work to do to continue to improve our standing in the Big Ten. That's what we race for, to figure those things out. We knew they would be a tough competitor and they proved to be that today. We have our work cut out for us, but we are really encouraged at what we are seeing.
'I think the highlight were the novice eight. (Wisconsin D) The top novice eight rowing in the open eight. They raced very competitively and very well with our other boats.'
For the lightweights, senior coxswain Erin Specht highlighted the day as coxswain for three boats. Her lightweight four won the lightweight four race and placed third in the open four, while her lightweight eight placed sixth in the open eight event.
'Erin Specht may be the person to highlight from the lightweights, 'said lightweight coach Mary Shofner. 'Finishing up her fall racing career coxing three races and really doing her part in making sure any boat she was in was aggressive attack and strong performance. She set the stage for the way we want to row this spring, which is very aggressively without a lot of restrictions. If they can bring their technique into a stronger positions, then we should look to have a really competitive spring. For now, we'll stay on the water as long as possible before moving indoors for the winter.'
The men's program dominated the competition. With numerous entries in each of the six races they competed in, the Badgers were competing mainly against themselves to see what boat would win each event.
Looking ahead, the women's openweights compete in two weeks at the Rivanna Romp in Charlottesville, Va., while the women's lightweights are done with fall racing, and the men's squad races next Sunday at the American Heritage Regatta in Wyandotte, Mich.
'The entire team rowed really well,' concluded Bryans. We had a lot of kids there. The team functioned well together, which was one of the things we were looking for. On the water, our racing continues to improve. Our rowing while racing continues to improve.'
