Permanent link for Another Day of Rowing and Team Bonding in Clemson on March 5, 2024

Sarah Lawrence

Today was day three in Clemson. This morning's practice I was in a women’s varsity 8+. We worked on having a proper lay back and pivot position and catch timing. Coach McKenzie was my coach this morning and she created a fund drill to make laying back at the finish and pivoting less scary for the new novices in the boat. I was sitting in 4 seat and was focusing on my blade and seat timing. I could feel and Coach McKenzie could see the improvement by the end of the practice. 

During the break between practices the women grilled hot dogs by the water and even though I can not eat hot dogs, I really enjoyed spending time with my teammates outside of practice. I did end up refueling for afternoon practice at a local Clemson business with a couple of other varsity women. After eating we walked around campus enjoying the amazing weather we had today. 

This afternoon we had the same lineups but Coach Troy was coaching my boat this practice. We did some drills to work on catch timing, having a good ratio at low rates and then transfer that to high rates, and we also put our start sequence together. I was focusing mostly on twisting round the pin and keeping my pivot the same through my stroke but my favorite part of practice was working on the start sequence. It felt so energizing to have everyone build power and speed together as one to move the boat. After practice we headed to the dining hall for dinner and everyone got to relax and hang out before we headed back to the hotel. My roommates and I watched a movie and then called it a night. Overall today was a great day of rowing and making memories and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the spring season holds.

 

Izak Sahutske

Today was a good day. We got a total of around 28,000 meters on the water in between our first and second practices both in 8’s. Today was also the first day where we spent most of our time rowing by all 8’s on the feather and near the end of the second practice we did some starts. They were a little bit rocky at first, but after a while we got the hang of them and they were a lot of fun. I rowed in the new men’s 8 for the first practice and oh my lordie is that boat fun. She can sing like Aretha Franklin. 

For lunch me and a couple of the other guys went to a raising canes. We went to zaxbys yesterday so naturally we needed to go to canes today to see which one is better. For my money, I’ll take zaxbys, but that was not the popular opinion amongst my teammates. 

Raising canes was on the Clemson campus so we walked around a little bit. The campus is beautiful and HUGE. A lot bigger than we thought it would be. We stopped by the bookstore and some of us got shirts to remember the trip by.

This trip has been so much fun and I have done everything I can to take it all in and live in the moment. But no matter how good of a job I do, I don’t think I could ever get it all. 

 

Arley Wagley

My third day in Clemson! This morning I woke up and another coxswain and I split a red velvet waffle! In the a.m. I was with Coach Kyle in one of the two men’s varsity eight. We started with a chalk talk and a demonstration on a slider led by Coach Kyle. We had a good warm-up of swing pick and once we got out there and lined up with the other varsity men’s eight, we worked on drive sequence, steady state, and dropkick drills. The dropkick drills were my favorite, because even though they are super helpful for the drive, they’re also a little bit of fun. They  include bobs, a men’s team favorite where they bob their blades in the water before returning to a named position. 

The men are constantly cracking jokes at appropriate times, which makes every single row with them hilarious and upbeat. I was focusing on blacking the blades into water, their blade depth, and we have been focusing on suspension a lot this trip. We had a lot of laughs in the a.m. and snuck in some more bob drills. After a quick dock, the men wanted to make it a competition to see how fast they could get the boat out of the water and off of the dock for the other boats (55 seconds!) Making small things like this into a competition or just seeing how fast they can go really adds a fun and competitive spirit into our practices every day. After putting the boats away I retired to my room for a nap, most people went out to lunch and some even stayed and grilled hot dogs! all plans sounded super fun but it’s important that I get my rest since the practices are fun, but it’s important that i’m alert and awake!! 

For the pm practice after my nap we had a new line up and returned to the water! It was beautiful and hot outside! We started with study state after a good warm-up, did some drive sequencing and legs only! After picking up by all eight and focusing on our set a bit we got to do some starts! Another team favorite where we simulate starting a race. This is great practice for me to use my coxswain voice and apply my voice to their rhythm. The men in my boat loved this, and absolutely killed the drill. We spent some time seeing how long we could glide with a good set after the starts. After the loss of my glasses in the Clemson reservoir and a nice smooth docking from yours truly, we all ran off to dinner where they serve lots of good food, but the highlight was the beignets served for dessert that were a hot commodity. Afterwards, we all returned and took showers and a lot of the team headed down to a public dock where we spent some time, laughing and having fun together before I returned to my room and talked a little bit about our day and some strategy for tomorrow’s before ultimately heading to sleep. One of my favorite parts of every practice is being able to ask everyone how the role was and getting to hear how everyone’s day in the boat went, It’s such a good way to bond and learn about my team.

Categories: Rowing
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