Indiana University Athletics
Spring Break Stories - Jenn Maslanka
3/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
March 14, 2006
CLEMSON, S.C. - The Indiana rowing team is currently training in Clemson, S.C, for its spring break training trip from March 12-18. The Hoosiers will write in to IUHOOSIERS.com from time to time to let everyone know how the team is doing. Freshman Jenn Maslanka is the second to report in from Clemson.
We woke up this morning to another beautiful day of weather in Clemson. Spending the last two months, since our training trip to Tampa training indoors, had left all of us hungry to get out on the water. Our boats have gotten faster, stronger and are rowing better together since our Tampa training trip. Today, the Novice boats made some significant changes in practice to build on our improvements from the first day and from all of our work in the off-season. All of the technical aspects of our strokes seem to be finally clicking. Some of the novices will be racing for the first time, and this week will really help us to prepare.
The words of Coach Carmen Mirochna continue to remind us that "this is competitive rowing," meaning that our seats are never secure. We are always being tested and evaluated. This morning, our practice consisted of drills to perfect our technique with the last half of morning practice spent doing competitive pieces between the two Novice boats. During those competitive pieces, it was evident that every single person was pushing themselves to their limits to make their boat pull ahead.
After resting up, the whole team headed back down to the lake for our afternoon practice. All three eights, the two novices boats and one varsity, went out for our first combined practice. We rowed competitive two-minute pieces, approaching each piece with the intensity and seriousness that we would if we were racing another team. Everyone was giving their all, and it was a good practice highlighting our team's competitive spirit. It was the first race-like experience we've had in Clemson so far. Everyone has individual and team goals and together we are working hard to achieve them. We're eager to see what our competition has to offer and how we will compare to them in our first race of the season.
