Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Rowing Welcomes Wisconsin for Saturday Scrimmage
2/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Feb. 27, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana Rowing will play host to the Wisconsin Badgers this Saturday, Feb. 28, in a split session scrimmage at Lake Lemon. In the morning session, the crews will go head-to-head in three 1500 meter races. In the afternoon session, Indiana and Wisconsin will face off in four 1000 meter races.
Indiana Head Coach Steve Peterson is looking forward to the opportunity for the Hoosiers to get in some high-quality early season work against a high-quality team.
"Wisconsin is historically a very strong program and has been at the NCAA Championships the past few years," said Peterson. "So we should be able to learn a lot from the races this weekend. Any time you get the opportunity to do some work early in the season with a quality opponent you find out a lot about yourself."
Peterson is also looking forward to taking full advantage of the benefits of a scrimmage in lieu of a traditional 2000 meter race.
"This scrimmage format - multiple race pieces over two sessions in one day - allows us to really see and work on things that we normally are not able to," said Peterson.
Unlike other sports, once the crews leave the dock for the starting line in a standard 2000 meter rowing regatta, coaches are not allowed to coach or communicate with their crews. Crews also get only one opportunity to come down the course, so there are no opportunities for halftime "adjustments" or coaching tips. In the scrimmage against Wisconsin, coaches will be allowed on the water and allowed to communicate with the crews, as well as make lineup changes and technical adjustments based upon what is going on with each race.
Pieces are set to get underway on Saturday morning beginning at 9 a.m., the morning session lasting until approximately 11 a.m. The afternoon session will run from approximately 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
