Indiana University Athletics
Spring Break Rowing Diary: Cassady Bethel-Thompson
3/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
March 15, 2007
As Indiana's rowing team takes part in its annual Spring Break training trip in Clemson, S.C., select members of the team will be checking in with IUHOOSIERS.com to relay how the trip is going. The team will train in Clemson from March 10-16, and will race Clemson, Marist and Purdue on Saturday, March 17. Thursday's journal entry comes courtesy of senior Cassady Bethel-Thompson.
In this morning's practice, the top three varsity 8s got a little taste of racing before the big race on Saturday. In our warm-up we practiced racing starts; these include a couple of shorter strokes to get the boat moving from a dead stop and help establish a spot against the other crews. After those five strokes comes a 10 high, which is 10 strokes at a very quick pace to jumpstart the boat at the beginning of the race. The start sequence of a race is extremely important in setting up how the rest of the race will go. It is a critical point, and it was really great to get to practice it while racing some other crews.
The racing this morning also was a great indication of just how close and competitive all the members of this team are right now. All of IU's crews were pretty close this morning, increasing daily competition and making our team as a whole faster with every stroke. The 2V8 and 3V8 are still in the process of making final lineups for race day and today helped that along.
Our first race of the season is only a few practices away, but things are moving along really quickly. The team has made a ton of progress this week so far, and the next few days will help seal the deal. The excitement is mounting, and as race day approaches, the entire team is continuing to prepare to be as fast as it can be. We are all very excited about the race on Saturday and are looking forward to the start of our racing season.
