Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Louisville
Two Top 20 Crews Square Off on Lake Lemon
9/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The last time the Indiana and Louisville rowing programs faced off was June 1, 2014, on Eagle Creek in Indianapolis. It was the NCAA Rowing Championships and the stakes were much higher. Indiana would finish 11th overall and Louisville 17th.
Three and a half months later, the rivals faced off this morning in an informal scrimmage on Lake Lemon in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the start of a new season for both programs and although the goals of the racing are very different, the racing was just as competitive.
The weather was beautiful and the water perfect for the workout as each school would have two varsity eights and fours racing head-to-head in a multi-piece format. The eights would race three 8-minute pieces while the fours would race four 5-minute pieces. In both cases, the ratings for the workout were capped between 24 and 28 strokes per minute.
Although formal results were not taken, Head Coach Steve Peterson was pleased with the results.
"Because of unusual circumstances, we have been on the water less than a week. Given that, I was very pleased with how we rowed. Louisville is a very good program and the rowers did a great job working to hold their own against them."
"We definitely have a lot of room for improvement technically, and we know we will get a lot stronger physiologically over the course of the year with the training we will do. So to be starting the year already at a competitive level is a good thing.
"Also, we can really see how last years extremely young team has matured due to last years success. Despite the lack of preparation for today's scrimmage, their competitiveness and confidence really came through."
"I am really excited for the upcoming season and look forward to it being another successful one for us."
Next up is Iowa in the second of IU rowing's four fall scrimmages. The Hawkeyes will come to Bloomington on October 4 to face off in a similar format scrimmage against the Hoosiers.
