Oct. 31, 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 first of the 2007-08 school year, is by Shannon Wilson, a junior from Greensboro, N.C.

Carolina Rowing is entering its third month of training since returning to school in the fall and the focus that we've seen so far is astounding. On October 14th we had our first official regatta of the fall season at the Occoquan and the results we had were just what we were looking for. In total we had three first-place finishes, two second-place finishes, two third-place finishes, and every other boat placed in the top 10 of their respective races. However, it wasn't just the results that were positive, it was also the drive and fight that each athlete exhibited.

We've been working all season on being more competitive and we've been achieving this by competing in everything we do, whether it's an erg test, a weight room lift, or a run. These competitions really give us a chance to push ourselves as well as our teammates and give us an opportunity to find out just how far we can go. And sometimes they can be a little fun. So far these competitions seem to be paying off since we're having one of our most successful fall seasons. In addition to our promising results at the Occoquan we also beat Duke's varsity 8 in one of our fall scrimmage pieces.

Next up we have the Head of the Hooch, which is by far my own personal favorite fall race. With over 1,000 boats competing and some of the top rowing programs in the country in attendance we're going to be facing our toughest competition yet. However I believe that everyone is going into this race with confidence in our abilities and knowing that we've worked harder and can compete better than any other team that is there and that is what will make the difference.