April 11, 2007

Throughout the season, members of the UNC rowing team will provide TarHeelBlue.com readers with an inside look at the Carolina program and the experience of being a varsity athlete at UNC. This installment, the 16th of the 2006-07 school year, is by Maegan Wareham, a junior from Carmel, Ind., Pa.

I look to my left and then to my right. I am surrounded by an armada of eights ready to jump off the start of the line. Adrenaline is pulsing through my veins and I'm waiting for the anticipated "Attention....ROW!" Finally, the start is called and all five eights go flying down the start of the course, neck and neck in competition. Water flying, blades colliding, coxswains commanding their crew to be the one to pull ahead, it is complete chaos. Then suddenly, two boats break away from the crowd. One crew in black and white and the other in a variety of colors that can't be made out from the shore pull out lengths ahead of the rest. Bow ball to bow ball the intensity is at its peak approaching the last 250-meter sprint. At last, the referee calls paddle for the first and second boats crossing the finish line. Barely able to breathe I look frantically at the launch for results. Who won the race ...Virginia? UNC? Clemson? No, the victors are the Crayola Crayons followed closely by the Convicts.

It was not our usual race but it turned out to be just as competitive. On the weekend of March 30th, the entire women's team packed up our trailer and vans and headed to Lake Wheeler for the official Blue/White scrimmage. The race turned into quite the event, hosting five eights worth of team members from both the varsity and novice teams. The boats were selected at random with even numbers of varsity and novice members per boat. Once given the boat lineups, each team created a theme: Convicts, Crayons, Super Squad, Jammin', and one unidentified group wearing all black and face paint. Dressed in prison stripes, capes, masks, face paint, and tie-dye, we raced three 2,000-meter pieces back and forth on Lake Wheeler. The Crayons pulled it out in the sprint and were the winners for the first piece, but the Convicts dominated the second and third pieces of the day.

All boats put forth great effort and posted competitive times. Sadly, in the midst of all the racing and fun, some damage did occur with the equipment. Because of the intensity that all of us were putting forth on each piece no one was willing to be the crew to stop when the shells came too close. This led to the destructive blade contact. Several of the oars were either chipped or cracked in the collision and forced a long delay in the racing as they needed to be replaced with the spares on shore. However, it was just a bump in the road for the competition and once the oars were replaced everyone's focus quickly returned to the race. Once back on shore, family, friends, and spectators were treated to unlimited food and a relaxed afternoon in the park. Overall it was a great day of racing ... I mean come on, Carolina won!

But Lake Wheeler was not the only place that 2K's were taking place. Deep down in the underbelly of Woollen Gym, both the varsity and novice teams took 2K tests on the erg machines. Not only did each team perform to the coach's expectations, but the majority of the team set personal records. This was an amazing feat for the varsity team considering it was our first 2K test of the spring season and many of us had not taken one since last May. The novice performance was also very impressive, posting one of the fastest team averages that a novice squad has had in a long time. They are biting at our heels every day and are going to be ready to compete for our seats on the varsity squad next year. Between the 2K's on the water and the 2K's in the erg room, we are clearly improving our speed but never settling and it is beginning to show.

So it doesn't matter if you are a Crayon, Convict or Supersquad fan, because no matter what, it makes you a Carolina fan, and we're on our way to the top. Next stop, the Knecht Cup...