March 4, 2002

Lauren Yoder is a junior from Charlotte and a member of the UNC rowing team. Throughout the year, she will provide TarHeelBlue.com readers with an inside look at her team and the experience of being a varsity athlete at North Carolina.

Hello Carolina Rowing fans!

Theme of the week: Challenge. As members of a varsity sport, we face constant challenges day-to-day and week-to-week. This week, in particular, though, held some very specific challenges. The team has done a nice job of tackling them.

The most recent challenge, and perhaps the one of most interest to you, was the Carolina Dash - the regatta this weekend versus Duke at University Lake in Chapel Hill. I'd like to say that we swept the competition in all events on this cold, rainy day, but that didn?t happen. Actually, we only saw one victory in the 12 races we raced (we had four boats entered: a Varsity Eight, a Second Varsity Eight, a Novice Four, and a Novice Eight. Each boat raced three times down a 1,000-meter course - shorter than the regular sprint season's 2000 meter standard course.) The one win was posted by our Novice Four in their third heat race. Congratulations to them!

Despite only a single win, we came away from the day with a wealth of good information, new insights into racing, energy, and renewed drive to take into spring break training, which will begin next Friday, March 8, when we depart for Florida.

I can't fully explain the sensation of competing, but I know that this weekend's races sparked something in me that has been dormant (though not non-existent) throughout winter training. The exhilaration of the race reminded me all over again why I row. There are things that we need to work on, yes, but I'm excited for the season, for the opportunities and possibilities and for seeing where winter training has gotten us so far. Its always nice to see hard work translated into something tangible.

Our Second Varsity Eight started out strong in each of its races - ahead of Duke by as much eight seats off the start. They were overtaken in each race by the end, but as the heats progressed, their performance improved. In their last heat, they closed the gap between boats to three seconds from a consistent five second margin in the previous two races.

The Varsity Eight also put in a good effort and performance. Again, they were overtaken by Duke in each of the races, but finished the last race closer than the ones before. To be able to improve through each race is significant. It means that no one gave up, and that everyone stepped it up to give more, despite being tired from previous races.

Joel cited that we are a young team overall with a lot of work in front of us. Only two of the Varsity Eight rowers are seniors and one is a recent former novice. We welcomed Jess Ziebell to varsity just this week, and she stepped in well for this weekend's challenge.

The novices also put in a good effort. This was the first official racing they have done. They were up against some tough competition from the Duke's recruited class, especially since only one of our novice class had rowed before coming to college. But they handled the racing situation well and are on track for some exciting progress.

"I can't but feel good about today's racing, even if I'm not thrilled with the results," Joel said after the regatta. I agree with him. I got a lot out of the day, even if we couldn't chalk it up as a "w." Today's racing got me fired up. We got a chance to see where we are and what we need to work on. Now it's time to move forward and act on those things. Thanks to those who came out for the race. It was great to see you all.

Your Tar Heel Pal,

Yoder