by Kathyrn Phelan

The Grand Valley rowing team was more than ready for Florida sunshine after the 2000m erg test that concluded winter training in Allendale. They drove south and were met with the enthusiastic spirit of spring break, mostly from college students who flocked to Panama City with a notably different agenda. Excitement and energy permeate the city, but the rowers have kept their focus, tackling daily time trials in pairs and posting long rows on a lagoon that hosts jelly fish, pelicans, and dolphins.

Temperatures have hung in the high 60s so far this week, which means that the long spandex has remained buried in suitcases and the rowers have been able to take full advantage of their surroundings. The beach is only a five minute walk from the hotel, so the rowers have swum, played Frisbee, attempted the Army’s obstacle course, and enjoyed being the only sober people within a twenty-mile radius.

The team is staying at The Inn at St. Thomas Square, which provides them with comfortable rooms for which they have an ongoing appreciation, since naps are often an inevitable part of the day. Each room has its own kitchen and bathroom, and the inn also boasts a swimming pool, sauna, and tennis courts. The team spends their off time enjoying these amenities, as well as exploring, nursing blisters, and lounging around at the resort with teammates. Many athletes have taken the initiative to head out on extra runs or technical rows on their own.

On the water, lineups are constantly changing to keep pairings fresh and practices competitive. Men and women’s boats work together during both technical workouts and sprint pieces in order to learn from each other’s technique and challenge each other’s speed. The variety of the workouts, rotation of coaches, and teamwork between the men and women’s crews have created a fun, dynamic rowing environment in which coaches are already seeing improvement.

Coach Michiel Bartman, a three-time Olympic medalist and the head coach for Vesper Boat Club, has joined the coaching crew this week, delivering daily technical talks from the seat of an erg, demonstrating as he speaks. His experience, sense of humor, and calm, relaxed demeanor are an invaluable component to the training.

The rowers are working hard, but are still energetic and excited to be out on the water (and for now, off of the ergs). They are proud of the dedication that has brought them this far, and ready for the work that will take them the rest of the way.

by Kathyrn Phelan

Michigan was snowy and 30 degrees when the Grand Valley rowing team drove 24 hours to Florida, where the weather was sunny and 30 degrees.  Undaunted, the rowers unburied the long spandex from the bottom of their suitcases and steeled themselves for three practices a day in the cheerful albeit freezing Florida air.

Time on the water was largely spent tweaking and perfecting technique.  The coaching staff shifted lineups, varied boat size, and took video of the athletes in order to focus on their technical improvement.  Coach Bancheri also delivered “chalk talks” in the mornings, which illustrated the topics to be covered during practice and reinforced knowledge of the rowing stroke as it culminated throughout the week.

Justin Wegner, a novice this year, said, “I feel like I am a technically better rower by learning how to row longer and more relaxed.  I got to know Varsity rowers better and it was good to row with experienced athletes.”  Varsity rower Jeff Slater agreed that the trip was beneficial in saying, “A lot of progress was made with the younger guys, and I honed in on my own technical skills.”

The team members worked diligently and without complaint, posting erg workouts, dynamic stretching, on-water drills, long practices in sometimes choppy conditions, and in many cases extra erg workouts or runs on their own.  Older varsity athletes reviewed videos with their novice teammates, and novice got a chance to bond with their varsity counterparts.  The team even started their new year with an erg workout on the morning of January 1st to kick off what promises to be a successful new year.  As Tamara Hillman said, “Because the novice and varsity were mixed together, it helped them to see what they have to look forward to at the varsity level.”  Becca Struder, another novice who made the trip, added, “I learned a lot. The coaching staff helped me improve my stroke. Getting to know the rest of the varsity team also made a difference.”

The rowers slept in cabins right on the lake, but lacked an oven, stove, or fridge.  The campsite conditions mandated creativity and the team rose to the challenge: each night one cabin was responsible for taking a trip to the grocery store and preparing a meal for the sixty rowers and coaches.  Using only a grill, aluminum tins and a microwave, the team invented ways to make pizza, tacos, chili dogs, breakfast burritos, pork chops, salads, dirt cake, and puppy chow.  Novice and varsity teammates compiled ideas and resources to create a successful dining plan.

Determined to enjoy Florida regardless of the coldest winter the area had endured in sixty years, the team took trips to two beaches, went on a shopping spree, and a few members of the men’s team explored Universal Studios.  Instead of swimming at the beach, everyone took advantage of the empty miles of sand to rent and drive mopeds and beach cruisers (essentially little golf carts).  The rowers and coaches chased each other around in them, played volleyball, ran along the sand bar, read in coffee shops, and grabbed some ice cream at Coldstone. The Sukolsky family, whose daughter Kristin was a coxswain at Marietta for Coach Bancheri, grilled for everyone at the beach and provided beach toys for an afternoon of fun.

As the team loaded the bus on the last day of the trip, the sun shone and the temperature rose enough to mandate shorts and t-shirts for the first time.  Although jokes permeated about the team’s bad timing or bad luck with weather, spirits were high.  The rowers spent a week living in cabins with cement floors, using communal bathrooms with cold showers, enduring rough water, frost-covered docks and two twenty-four hour bus rides.  But they did not let these factors dictate the experience.

By the spring racing season, they will have forgotten the frigidity of the unseasonably cold weather, but they will remember the chaos and hilarity of trying to get everyone showered before dinner on New Years Eve.  They won’t be thinking about where they slept, but they’ll remember how great a nap felt after a good workout.  The athletes could have focused on the challenges and inevitable frustrations, but they chose to focus on card games between workouts, cheering each other on during erg pieces, and sitting up a little straighter in the boat.  Instead of bereaving the loss of part of their winter break, the rowers reaffirmed their commitment, tightened their technique, grew closer to their teammates, and look forward to a successful racing season in the spring.

The Laker Navy finished up the fall season strong with the Novice competing in the Frostbite Regatta at Notre Dame, the Varsity racing from the boathouse to Grand Haven. The Novice finished with three men and women’s eights. All novices worked hard and it was a successful day in South Bend. The annual Frostbite provides the crews a chance to experience sprint racing before the championship season begins.

The Varsity performed well over the twenty-one mile stretch of the Grand River. The De monding van de Grote (Mouth of the Grand) was a first for the GVSU crew. The course went from the boathouse in Allendale to the Mouth of the Grand River in Grand Haven, MI into a stiff headwind the better part of the day. The VM8+ rowed to a 2:20:12.1 finish, completing the course in the fastest time. The 2VM8+ rowed a 2:28:20.4, winning the men’s trophy through a handicap. Likewise, the VW8+ finished in 2:34:16.5 and the 2VW8+ in 2:42:12.0, with the 2VW8+ taking home the women’s trophy through a handicap. The Laker Navy is now headed indoors to begin preparations for the spring season.

by Dayna Campbell

This weekend, every member of the Laker Navy took the six-hour journey to Indianapolis to compete at the Head of the Eagle regatta. It was a clear representation of how much the fall workouts have helped the athletes improve. A total of nine boats received first place honors, six got second, and four got third place. There was immense effort put into each and every race by all rowers. “This race was different from Head of the Grand [Lansing] because there were many more crews and each team had that much more time to prepare for this one. It was a close race, and we just have to learn from it, reports sophomore Mitch McClain about his Men’s 2nd Varsity boat race.

1st Place