Indiana University Athletics
From the Head of the Hooch - Michelle Marchese
11/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Nov. 6, 2006
Indiana competed at the Head of the Hooch regatta in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Saturday, Nov. 4, and the Hoosiers' first novice eight earned a silver medal with a second-place finish in the freshman eight race. Michelle Marchese, a freshman from Upper Arlington, Ohio, was the coxswain for that crew, and shared her experiences with IUHOOSIERS.com.
The Head of the Hooch regatta seemed to bring a little bit of everything. It brought high school, club, collegiate and master rowing teams to the Tennessee River. It brought both novice and varsity, and it also brought excitement as well as disappointment.
My experience at The Hooch was a positive one. I was in the first novice eight, and when we were rowing up to the starting line, I had a feeling that we were going to do well. Our goals were to stay composed and consistent on the recovery (the crucial time the blade is out of the water), keep the pressure strong throughout the whole piece, and to finish in the top three. I am a coxswain, so I don't row, but I can sense things that the rowers sometimes can't during a race. For example, I have to keep the rowers motivated to pull as hard as they can on every stroke, and I know that sometimes they can't tell if the pressure is slacking. I also have to be aware of the other boats around us, both ahead and behind my boat, to make sure we aren't being passed or if we're able to pass a boat in front. During the race we weren't passed by any boats, but we walked up on and passed three crews. After the race was over I didn't know what to expect from the results, but (assistant coach) Fran (O'Rourke) told us that we achieved our goal of making the top three by finishing second overall.
The second novice eight exceeded their expectations as well, as they finished seventh, even though their goal was to finish in the top 10. Both the novice boats did very well for their first races, so it was a great regatta to end the fall season with.
The varsity boats had a slightly different outcome from the novices. Because varsity races have much more intense competition, it becomes harder for our varsity boats to finish where they want to. It turned out that the first varsity eight finished 11th with the second varsity eight just 10 seconds behind the first, finishing 13th. However, don't think that these crews are just going to give up now and are pleased with the results. I could tell after their races that they weren't satisfied. I know that they are ready to take winter training on with full force, as are the novices, so that we can get first place next time.
This was my second time at The Hooch, and this time was just as fun as the last. Racing Southern crews such as Tennessee, Clemson, Texas and UCF in the fall can help us set the stage for where we stand in the spring when we race them again at Central Sprints. I think Indiana definitely made its mark on a few crews, and now we're ready to do it again for spring season.
