Indiana University Athletics
IU's Asja Zero Competes at Croatian National Rowing Championships
10/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Oct. 14, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - IU freshman Asja Zero recently competed successfully at the Croatian National Rowing Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. The racing took place on Lake Jarun on September 24-26, 2010. Zero doubled-up in the competition, racing in both the Junior Single (rowers 18 years old and under), as well as the Open Single during the championships.
The weather proved to be just as much a challenge as the competition, as rain and wind battered the competitors throughout the racing.
Zero's first race of the competition was the first round of heats of the Senior Women's Single. As it turned out, the conditions waned for a short time during her race and Zero raced to a solid second place finish, qualifying for the grand finals.
"The first day was my best race in a single because I was able to make myself go, even though that race was not in my category and I fought within the older category," said Zero. "The rain stopped falling right before the start of our race so our handles were not wet and we had one less thing to worry about. I was able to reduce the pain mentally in every part of the race, when I made a little technical mistake I immediately pulled 5-10 strong strokes to gain back that one not so excellent stroke. I was concentrating on my race, not on others the whole race, and that race was my best mentally-done race."
Zero carried on that success into the grand finals the following day, where she took home the bronze medal in the Senior Single against athletes with a great deal of experience at the World Championship level. This was a great success for her, and makes her one of the strongest scullers in Croatia.
Two days later, Zero was back on the race course for the finals of the Junior Women's Single. Much like the previous days of racing, Zero again proved she is one of the top scullers of her country. Despite the challenging conditions and strong competition, she found herself again on the medal podium after the racing, this time taking home the silver medal.
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