Nov. 9, 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 second of the 2007-08 school year, is by Cara Van Dorn, a senior from Greensboro, N.C.

Carolina rowers spend most of the fall season pretending to be at the Hooch. Coxswains are constantly asking the rowers, "What would you give if you were at the Hooch?" knowing that the Head of the Chattahoochee is the culmination of the season: a chance to show ourselves what the last few months have meant for our fitness and our development as rowers. The Hooch is a chance to scare some of the nation's best competition into viewing the Tar Heels as a threat in the spring season. So when we are on a still-dark University Lake in the morning doing a practice piece and a tiny person shouts over the microphone to pull how you are going to pull at the Hooch, you can believe that the power goes up.

This year, although there were a few hiccups during the course of the two days of racing, the Hooch was a success. In the eights the Tar Heels' first boat got caught up in some commotion and went off course, resulting in a time penalty and leaving them in a disappointing 15th. The second boat finished 22nd. The winds picked up in the afternoon, and so did the Heels' racing. In the Championship 4+ race, UNC finished 5th (only 0.1 seconds behind University of Lousville), 21st, and 23rd. Carolina's Freshman Four finished 3rd, making Kelsey Grich, Kristi Roblin, Audrey Moseley, and Andrea McGovern, coxed by Sarah Nolan, the first Tar Heels to receive medals at the Hooch in 2007.

Sunday's small boat competition proved even more successful for the Heels. Although Andrea McGovern had equipment troubles during her Championship Single race, Cara Van Dorn earned another bronze medal for the Heels as a Novice Single. Lisy McIntee and Megan McMullin raced their pair to an impressive 2nd place finish in the Open 2-, with the other pairs finishing 7th, 12th, and 13th in the same race. Overall, Coach Haney was very encouraged by the Tar Heels' performance over the weekend, saying that she is glad to see that the work in small boats has paid off. Carolina entered more boats at the Hooch than ever before, and we now have the hardware to show for it.

So fall racing has come to a close. No more blind head races, no more racing at a stroke rating under 20, and no more pitch black mornings on University Lake--at least not this year. The Tar Heels now hit the erg room for winter training that the coaches have designed to build a fitness foundation for the spring, to ease us into sprinting, and to toughen us up mentally. Unfortunately, for some of the Heels, winter also means surgery. Sarah Low has recently undergone her second surgery and should finally be rid of the compartment syndrome in her calves. Paige Wall prepares for exploratory knee surgery in the coming week in hopes of alleviating chronic and debilitating pain.

So, for the next few months, your Carolina rowers will be sweating on the ergs, dreaming of the catches we spent all fall mastering, and nursing our wounded back to health. Practice time is reduced, but intensity is increased. For rowers, winter is the time that the goals seem the most distant, but dedication matters the most. After a successful fall, the Tar Heels are prepared to dig in and do what it takes to make the spring the best that Carolina rowing has seen yet.