IU Rowing Opens Spring Season with a Thriller

Saturday, March 17

Clemson, S.C.

9:00 AM

Indiana University

Clemson w/Boston University, Iowa, Syracuse, Purdue, Marist

The Hoosiers will race in the Indiana Invitational on March 25 at Eagle Creek in Indianapolis.

3/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing

March 18, 2012

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana rowing team opened the spring season with ideal weather on Lake Hartwell in Clemson, highlighted by the Hoosiers' thrilling 1st Varsity 8 race on Saturday, March 17.

Clemson entered the race as the favorite, ranked No. 16. Syracuse, Boston University and Big Ten rival Iowa also presented a challenge for the Hoosiers in their first race of the year. Purdue and Marist rounded out the field.

Through the first 500 meters of the race, Indiana and Clemson built a small margin over Syracuse, Iowa and Boston. However as they moved into the second quarter, the Hoosiers and Tigers separated themselves from the rest of the field. As the top two crews moved through the halfway point, Indiana made another big push and started to move away from the ranked Tigers. Throughout that 500 meters, Indiana extended their lead over Clemson to almost three seconds. However, the Tigers would not go quietly and started to make a furious comeback as the race moved into the final quarter of the race. With 250 meters to go, Indiana still held a seven-seat advantage over Clemson, but Clemson was moving on Indiana. Stroke after stroke the Tigers inched back on Indiana. With about 50 meters to go it appeared as though the Hoosiers had successfully held off the Tiger sprint, when suddenly one of the rowers in the Indiana crew caught (what is called in rowing terms) "a crab." A crab is when the rower does not release the water cleanly at the finish of the stroke and the blade gets stuck in the water, often times slowing the shell down for several strokes until the athlete can get it released from the water. In this case, with only 5-10 strokes left in a very close race, every stroke counts and a crab like that can be the difference between winning and losing. For Indiana, the crab only cost the Hoosier crew one or two strokes, but it allowed the Clemson crews momentum to carry that crew up even with Indiana as the two crews crossed the finish line.

After reviewing the video at the finish line, it was determined that the two crews finished the race in a dead heat. (WATCH)

"Obviously we were disappointed to not walk away with the win from the Varsity 8 race," said head coach Steve Peterson. "The crew did a fantastic job through the first 1500 meters of the race and was solidly in a position to win the race over several very fast crews. To allow Clemson to get back into the race in the last 250 and then falter like that in the last few strokes was frustrating. But that is nature of sports. We were completely in control of the race with 500 meters to go, and were in a position to put them away, but we didn't. A lot of credit goes to the Clemson crew for having the discipline and tenacity to fight back like that at the end. As frustrating as this is, I can already tell the rowers have learned a big lesson from it, and are going to be stronger moving forward in our season because of it."

Indiana's 2nd Varsity 8 crew finished fifth with a time of 7:07.89, beating out Purdue (7:31.43) by nearly 24 seconds and Purdue's (7:51.04) lightweight crew. In the 1st Varsity 4 race, Indiana finished in third with a time of 8:04.58, beating Iowa (8:16.23) by 12 seconds. IU's 1st Novice 8 crew finished third with a time of 7:19.04, beating Marist (7:20.93), Iowa (7:24.40), Purdue (7:31.78) and Boston (7:38.08). The Hoosiers' 2nd Novice 8 crew finished in third with a time of 7:43.14, beating Boston (7:56.14), Purdue (8:02.11) and Marist (8:09.09). In the 2nd Varsity 4 race, Indiana placed second with a time of 8:11.78, topping Clemson's B crew (8:20.12) and Clemson's Novice crew (8:30.78).

1st Varsity 8
1. Clemson/Indiana, 6:46.21
3. Syracuse, 6:51.57
4. Iowa, 6:52.78
5. Boston Univ., 7:01.3
6. Purdue, 7:12.08
7. Marist, 7:29.50

2nd Varsity 8
1. Iowa, 6:52.81
2. Clemson, 6:53.31
3. Syracuse, 6:55.57
4. Boston Univ., 7:05.56
5. Indiana, 7:07.89
6. Purdue, 7:31.43
7. Purdue Lwt., 7:51.04

1st Varsity 4
1. Clemson, 7:51.46
2. Syracuse, 8:02.89
3. Indiana, 8:04.58
4. Iowa, 8:16.23

1st Novice 8
1. Clemson, 7:11.30
2. Syracuse, 7:18.56
3. Indiana, 7:19.04
4. Marist, 7:20.93
5. Iowa, 7:24.40
6. Purdue, 7:31.78
7. Boston University, 7:38.08

2nd Novice 8
1. Iowa, 7:31.10
2. Clemson, 7:38.29
3. Indiana, 7:43.14
4. Boston Univ., 7:56.13
5. Purdue, 8:02.11
6. Marist, 8:09.09

2nd Varsity 4
1. Clemson A, 8:00.25
2. Indiana, 8:11.78
3. Clemson B, 8:20.12
4. Clemson Novice, 8:30.78

Indiana Lineups:
1st Varsity 8
Cox: Alex Burkle
Stroke: Grace Mendel
Asja Zero
Elles Niessen
Cara Donley
Shifumi Terasaka
Madi Shields
Katie Laine
Jackie Riedel