Photo by: Anna Leach
Callie at the Catch: Challenge Accepted
September 21, 2017 | Women's Rowing
Becoming versatile to make us better
Whitewater, Wisconsin, native Callie Herbert is back and giving regular updates again this year from Porter Boathouse and wherever else rowing takes her and her teammates. A four-time swimming state qualifier in high school, the senior stroked the varsity eight to 11th-place at the 2017 NCAA Championships.
MADISON, Wis. -- The daily routine is beginning to sink in, with free breakfast being a highlight of the day. We row in the morning, go to class, and row or lift in the afternoon. Not only is the schoolwork starting to build up, but also so is the rowing. We are getting in many meters, many strokes, and some good race pieces in.
What makes this all a little bit more interesting is the challenge our coaches have given us that we are all determined to accomplish: to be able to row both sides equally as well.
In a sweep boat there are two sides, port and starboard. Some of us are port, some starboard, and some can already do both. It tends to be what is most comfortable for each individual.
But rowing both sides is not an easy thing to do at first. The stroke is the same, but our bodies are doing it opposite. The load is on the opposite side since the oar is on the other side of the boat, we reach at the catch the opposite way and our hands are now doing the opposite thing and trying not to feather with the outside hand. There are so many little details to rowing that makes having an open mind extremely important, especially when rowing on the side we are not used to, yet.
So everyday is a new day and another day to get better. We could be rowing port one day and starboard the next, but it does not matter to us anymore because we have accepted this challenge. If we can accomplish this. or rather I should say, when we accomplish this, we are going to be even faster as a team because now in an eight, we will each have eight seats we could be in instead of four. This is something us rowers like to call "free speed."
We are ready to take that next step forward and having a blast and a lot of laughs doing it.
MADISON, Wis. -- The daily routine is beginning to sink in, with free breakfast being a highlight of the day. We row in the morning, go to class, and row or lift in the afternoon. Not only is the schoolwork starting to build up, but also so is the rowing. We are getting in many meters, many strokes, and some good race pieces in.
What makes this all a little bit more interesting is the challenge our coaches have given us that we are all determined to accomplish: to be able to row both sides equally as well.
In a sweep boat there are two sides, port and starboard. Some of us are port, some starboard, and some can already do both. It tends to be what is most comfortable for each individual.
But rowing both sides is not an easy thing to do at first. The stroke is the same, but our bodies are doing it opposite. The load is on the opposite side since the oar is on the other side of the boat, we reach at the catch the opposite way and our hands are now doing the opposite thing and trying not to feather with the outside hand. There are so many little details to rowing that makes having an open mind extremely important, especially when rowing on the side we are not used to, yet.
So everyday is a new day and another day to get better. We could be rowing port one day and starboard the next, but it does not matter to us anymore because we have accepted this challenge. If we can accomplish this. or rather I should say, when we accomplish this, we are going to be even faster as a team because now in an eight, we will each have eight seats we could be in instead of four. This is something us rowers like to call "free speed."
We are ready to take that next step forward and having a blast and a lot of laughs doing it.
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