Nov. 12, 2002

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 North Carolina. This installment, the ninth of the 2002-03 school year, is by Lauren Tarabokia, a junior from Apex, N.C.

Happy Winter Training, Carolina Rowing Fans!

Where did the fall go? November 8th, our last day to practice on the water for the fall, snuck up on us too fast, but as we all arrived at the boathouse on Friday for a beautiful afternoon practice, we were all ready for some serious racing.

In coxswain-picked line-ups we raced up the 1,000-meter course, treating every piece like a "grudge-match" (grudge-matches are usually saved for the last piece of the day, where we lay it all on the line, to be the first to get open water between our boat and the other boats; this is a "winner takes all" race.). Each boat's efforts were visible in the seat-for-seat racing that took place. As the sun set over University Lake and practice came to an end, I think everyone could be proud of the individual and team improvements we've made since August.

And no one has any plans of stopping here...

On Thursday evening a team meeting was held to reevaluate our fall goals and set winter training goals for the coming weeks. We definitely know what we want to achieve in the spring and a strong and focused winter training is how we are going to do it. The team meeting gave everyone the opportunity to voice her feelings and opinions about our team goals. These goals are posted in the erg room along with our spring goals as a constant reminder of how important each workout is to our spring racing.

Now it is time to jump right in, because "actions speak louder than words," and we are all ready to start meeting, and even exceeding, our training goals. On Monday we kicked off our first day of winter training with a good, hard 6,000-meter erg test. Everyone gave it all they had, and it is really incredible to not only feel like we are getting faster, but to be able to see it in the numbers after we test. Great job, ladies!

Thanks to our coaches, the erg room looks better than ever! We have bigger mirrors, brighter lights, pictures all over the walls, and "Carolina Rowing" painted in large letters on one of the walls. In the coming weeks varsity and novice women will practice together, challenging one another every "stroke" of the way!

The novice women are really fired up as they come off of two great fall racing performances in the Rivanna Romp and the Head of the Hooch. The novices have shown great intensity and perseverance, and I know that all of Carolina Rowing is fired up to see what else these women can do.

Spring racing, here we come!

Yours in Carolina Blue,

Lauren