Callie at the Catch: Easter Challenge
April 20, 2017 | Women's Rowing
Warming up the Madison crowd for Minnesota
Whitewater, Wisconsin, native Callie Herbert will be giving regular updates this winter and spring from Porter Boathouse and wherever else rowing takes her and her teammates. A four-time swimming state qualifier in high school, the junior raced mainly as part of the second varsity eight last season, helping her boat to a top-10 finish at the 2016 NCAA Championships.Â
MADISON, Wis. -- Even though we were off from travelling, we were still able to get in some good racing this past weekend in what we named the "Easter Challenge." On Saturday, the Varsity and Novice Openweights as well as the Lightweight Varsity and Novices scrimmaged each other. This all happened while some members of the men's team actual had a race against MSOE and Minnesota. So, you could say there was a lot going on and the boathouse was filled with people.
We have not had a race on Lake Mendota for a while, so seeing that many boats out on the water made it feel extra special and like a real race day. Having all the boats out there also made casual bystanders stop what they were doing to watch and take pictures from Lakeshore path. Towards the start line as we were waiting for our heat to be called, I could see many people take a break from their run to watch us. Then during our first piece we were about 750 meters down and we could hear cheering from the boathouse. This was unusual for us as there are not usually people at the boathouse all the other times we pass by and during actual races we do not normally hear cheering until the last 500 meters. Naturally, this motivated us and we pulled even harder. Next came the last 300 meters where we passed right by the Terrace at Memorial Union and even though it was Saturday morning there was still people out who could watch us sprint as hard as we could. Lastly, we pass through the finish line where some of the Fraternity houses are and it was as quiet as it commonly is for a Saturday morning and most likely waking them up. However, I do want to clarify that while racing I did not realize any of this until afterwards because there is not much more your mind can think about while racing other than follow your pair partner, pull hard, go, and trying to forget the pain you're in.
We then rowed back to the boathouse to grab a small snack, stretch and talk about the race. Fifteen minutes later, we were getting hands back on the boats to launch for race number two. This race day was done in approximately three hours. That's what I like to call efficiency! It is awesome to say that we can handle any type of situation and we handle them well, which is elite in my opinion.
So, in case you did not know, we have a race against Minnesota soon in Madison on Lake Mendota and I have given you some of the best places to watch! You cannot go wrong watching from any of these spots.
We now have a short week as we headed out early Thursday morning to the Clemson Invitational where there will be some big teams and big races.
MADISON, Wis. -- Even though we were off from travelling, we were still able to get in some good racing this past weekend in what we named the "Easter Challenge." On Saturday, the Varsity and Novice Openweights as well as the Lightweight Varsity and Novices scrimmaged each other. This all happened while some members of the men's team actual had a race against MSOE and Minnesota. So, you could say there was a lot going on and the boathouse was filled with people.
We have not had a race on Lake Mendota for a while, so seeing that many boats out on the water made it feel extra special and like a real race day. Having all the boats out there also made casual bystanders stop what they were doing to watch and take pictures from Lakeshore path. Towards the start line as we were waiting for our heat to be called, I could see many people take a break from their run to watch us. Then during our first piece we were about 750 meters down and we could hear cheering from the boathouse. This was unusual for us as there are not usually people at the boathouse all the other times we pass by and during actual races we do not normally hear cheering until the last 500 meters. Naturally, this motivated us and we pulled even harder. Next came the last 300 meters where we passed right by the Terrace at Memorial Union and even though it was Saturday morning there was still people out who could watch us sprint as hard as we could. Lastly, we pass through the finish line where some of the Fraternity houses are and it was as quiet as it commonly is for a Saturday morning and most likely waking them up. However, I do want to clarify that while racing I did not realize any of this until afterwards because there is not much more your mind can think about while racing other than follow your pair partner, pull hard, go, and trying to forget the pain you're in.
We then rowed back to the boathouse to grab a small snack, stretch and talk about the race. Fifteen minutes later, we were getting hands back on the boats to launch for race number two. This race day was done in approximately three hours. That's what I like to call efficiency! It is awesome to say that we can handle any type of situation and we handle them well, which is elite in my opinion.
So, in case you did not know, we have a race against Minnesota soon in Madison on Lake Mendota and I have given you some of the best places to watch! You cannot go wrong watching from any of these spots.
We now have a short week as we headed out early Thursday morning to the Clemson Invitational where there will be some big teams and big races.
Saturday, October 25
Tuesday, May 14
Monday, May 06
Thursday, March 14
