Kicked off this morning by being woken up by my alarm at 6:30, I then lurched out of bed and had a great start to the morning with the girls I roomed with, we brushed our teeth and made our way down to breakfast. Breakfast consisted of a typical, but still great, continential breakfast. Coach B gathered us all, gave us a pep talk then sent us on our way to the vans.

Our morning van ride was still very talkative despite the early morning. I’m starting to feel really close to my fellow teammates, and am really enjoying their company. We got to the Manatee County Fort Hamer Park Rowing Training Facility and got our boat lineups. Varsity Women rowed the Jedlics and also mixed in with us novice in the Scott and the Irwin. Boys did their own thing, very manly, like always. We worked on technique, and did progressive/stationary drills. I honestly could feel an instant improvement. We then took a quick barbeque style lunch break (which was so graciously provided by GVSU Alumni) and then got back to it! We rowed again, did more drills and technical rowing, and then took the boats out of the water, packed up and headed back to the hotel.

We left the hotel almost immediatly and headed for the beach. It took about a half hour and we made a quick stop at 7-11 for slurpees. We had a blast at the beach! Played lots of ultimate frisbee, and swam in the ocean. I’m really enjoying this trip, getting to know my teammates and definitely improving my rowing technique, and this is only day two.

Athlete: Costas Ciungan
Year: Sophomore
Men’s Team
GPA: 4.0

I woke up this morning in Michigan with temperatures in the teens. I got myself ready to go to sunny Florida for Winter Training with weather in the 70′s. I am the editor, web manager, or a.k.a the blog master and coach Bancheri wanted to keep his eye on me I guess.

I did a couple last minute things before heading to the airport this morning in Detroit to come to Florida.I arrived in Florida and coach Bancheri was there to welcome me and pick me up. We arrived at our hotel and was welcomed by my team mates and it was at that point I realized how much I missed my team. This should be a great Technical Winter Training Trip with beautiful weather, lots of rowing, and many blogs. So come here to Grand Valley Rowing for daily blogs and see what new adventures we get into each step of of the way.

What’s blue, white, and red all over? The Grand Valley Rowing team after a day of practicing in the sun! This morning we had our last practice in Ellenton, where we rowed to Mexico and back. Ok, not really, but after an almost 4 hour practice in which we tallied about 20 miles, it felt just as far. Lindsay Marshall and I kept ourselves entertained by looking for sharks, dolphins, jellyfish, and by the end of the row, we were searching for the dock. I’m half-kidding, we really got in a lot of valuable technique work and drills, and focused on suspension and driving with the legs during the stroke. On the way home the women’s boat tried to hold off the men for the last half of practice, and I’m happy to say we were mostly successful. We even found the beach…and by that i mean we almost got beached on a sandbar, but don’t worry – we made it out and back on the briny blue with no problems other than a few wet socks. After our practice we loaded up the trailer to take to Naples, where we were going to have our “New Year’s Eve Regatta”. We made it back to the hotel in the nick of time to check out, and then we were on our way to Naples, home of our very own Ryan Kasely and his family, who are very generously housing the team for a few days, and helping us celebrate New Years Eve.

Athlete: Lindsay Marshall
Senior ’12,
Hometown: Woodhaven, MI,
Major: Exercise Science

After a productive morning practice in Ellenton, the team packed up and headed to Naples for a inner squad New Years Eve Regatta and a lovely dinner at the Kasely’s. Once we rolled into Naples we quickly unloaded the boat trailer and got on the water. Naples Bay, which we rowed on, was filled with a number of boats that we had to bob and weave during our pieces, but no worries, we made it out safely. During our “Regatta” we did 15, 300 meter pieces, and for the second to last piece we were pleasantly surprised with a police boat starting our race with his horn; it gave a good laugh for a long, hard day. Also, we talked with a few people on a boat near by and found out they were from Birmingham, Michigan… small world! Once we finished our pieces we quickly packed the trailer and headed to Ryan’s house. To thank the Kasely’s, the captians presented them with a Grand Valley oar to show our appreciation. After a long day of traveling and practicing, it was wonderful to have a GREAT home cooked meal. We are finally done with our meal and now rearing up for a fun and exciting New Years Eve night. The team plans to spend New Years Eve night at Ryan’s house to hangout and bring in the new year together! This past year has been an exciting year and we are all hoping 2012 bring an even better year to come.

Athlete:Ryan Kasley
Hometown: Naples, FL
Major: Public Administration

We began the day with a long, steady-state row down the Manatee River through miles of mangroves and out towards the Gulf of Mexico. It was another day of perfect sunny weather in Florida. The men’s and women’s V8’s stayed side by side while Coach B followed closely by in the launch. Everyone was able to get a lot of individual attention. We were also videotaped so we could review technique with Coach later in the day. We put in about 18 miles all together.

After practice we de-rigged the boats and loaded the trailer with some of the boats to head down to Naples, Fl. Then we grabbed lunch and checked out of our hotel in Ellenton. It was only a short two-hour trip to Naples. When we got there we unloaded the trailer and rigged the boats and prepared for the “New Year’s Eve Regatta” on the Naples Bay.

The regatta was a series of 14 one-minute pieces from the Naples Yacht Club to the Auxiliary Coast Guard Station. It was really fun to get some sprint work in. But it was even more entertaining to try and dodge 150 foot super yachts coming in and out of the bay! Then towards the end of the pieces, a marine policeman came up to us in his boat to ask what was going on. All the rowers were praying that he would make us get off the water, but to everyone’s surprise he wanted to start one of the races with his giant air horn. So we started our second to last piece off of the policeman. Never a dull moment with the Grand Valley Rowing Team.

After the regatta, we packed up and headed towards my house for a great New Year’s Eve dinner of spiraled ham and baked ziti. After dinner we showered and got ready to celebrate the New Year. Me and the guys started a bonfire in my backyard, turned on the arcade style basketball hoop, and put on Dick Clark’s New year’s Eve Special.

5,4,3,2,1. Happy New Year’s from the Grand Valley Rowing Team!

Athlete: Kelsey VanAmberg
Hometown: Mantistique, MI
Major: Cell and Molecular Biology

This morning the GV rowing team was in Naples, FL. We stayed with Mitch and Faye in thier home. They were very hospitable and kind, providing us with beds, blankets, towels, showers, and food. We got to sleep in for the first time in a while. For once we didnt have to be awake and in the vans by 5 am. It felt really good to be able to relax all day and take a break. We got ready and had a breakfast of pancakes that Mitch and Faye made for us. Then the entire team went to the beach together and spent the whole day there.

We made sand chairs by digging holes in the sand and building up a back rest behind it. We put our towels down, layed in them, and crashed. Lots of people, myself included, fell asleep, of course resulting in lots of sunburn for the team. Some people walked down the beach to the pier to get ice cream and food, while others swam in the ocean and played frisbee. Wherever the rowing team goes there will be ultimate frisbee. Later they moved to shore and played in the sand, resulting in minor injuries but lots of fun for everyone, even those just watching. We took lots of fun team pictures and a created a very large and painful human pyramid.

After we left the beach, we got back to the houses and got all dressed up for dinner. The team split up into different groups that went to different restaurants. Later on tonight we plan on watching the video of ourselves rowing yesterday and picking out the things that we did well. So even on our day off we will work rowing in somehow.

Athlete: Courtney Panter
Hometown: Davison, MI
Major: Political Science/ International Relations

This training had been pretty eventful, so it was nice to get the day off. For one, being able to sleep in was a gift in itself. Going to the beach made it even better. We left for the beach around noon, and like always, the van rides were amazing. I feel like being constantly together has helped everyone get closer together as a team.

When we got to the beach, it was practically a full on sprint to the ocean. Even on our day off, most of still got a workout in playing ultimate frisbee. I learned the valuable trick of building a beach chair in the sand, huge bonus. At some point everyone got the chance to venture to the nearby pier, which was beautiful. And the biggest plus of the day, getting a tan! Not looking forward to returning to the blizzarding arctic known as Michigan. Overall though, today was perfect!

Athlete:Ed Avena
Major: Exercise Science
GPA: 3.0
Varsity Sophomore
Hometown: Detroit, MI

Today, coach decided to give the team a well-deserved day off from practice on the water so that we could get a chance to have some fun in the sun and what a great day to do it with the bright sun and clear skies. Everyone was well rested from the New Year’s celebration that included a bonfire from the night before with not having to get up early to row. It felt great to finally get the chance to get some good sleep on comfortable beds that were provided by Ryan Kasley’s family. Breakfast was waiting for the men who stayed at Ryan’s for the night as soon as they woke up. We were all excited to get the team together so that we could go enjoy one of Florida’s great beaches. After breakfast, we had some down time and as soon as we got the motivation to get off the couches and beds, we went outside to experience the warm weather. Playing basketball with the kids and hanging out sharing stories of past rowing experiences made the time past quickly.

As soon as we knew it, the women came up the driveway dressed in their beach gear. After everyone got here and the men were done getting ready, we were off on our way. The rowers in vans gawked with admiration as the vans passed giant houses with flawless structure and bushes that were so proportionally cut. The first few steps in the white, warm sand felt great while we made our way to find a good spot to set up. After digging out and fashioning out some sand lounge chairs and testing out the water, a group of us went off to play ultimate frisbee. When we were finished throwing around the hand saucer and watching some good diving catches, we called it quits to be invigorated from cold water. Other team members either went down to the pier, walked along the beach, or just laid out in the sun.

Being at the beach was a wonderful time to have some fun and relax with our fellow teammates and not to mention all of the color from the sun we acquired. After the long day at the coastline, we were all tired and ready to get back to the vans. We will be going out later as a team to get some dinner and walk around downtown. Tomorrow we will be waking early to travel to Sarasota to row and check into our hotel after. It will be nice to have some good rowing weather so that we may continue our winter training with the intention of getting faster.

Athlete: Kersten O’Brien
Major: Nursing
Hometown: Saginaw, MI
G.P.A.: 3.5

Our tour through Florida continued on our sixth day as we repacked and left Naples for an early drive to Sarasota. After 5 days of sun, we ran into rain for the first time as we unloaded and rigged boats.

Our first practice of the day consisted of technique and timing drills, choppy water, and thankfully skies that were sunny as the weather cleared up before we went on the water. Practice concluded with a promise from Coach B. that if we finished rigging and cleaning everything up, he’d treat us to lunch.

A meal at Sweet Tomatoes was our delicious reward. Needless to say, we weren’t very ready to practice immediately like we thought we were. We were all excited when we ended up at Siesta Key beach instead. Although it was a bit windy, we enjoyed the warmth before the frost advisory went into effect for the night (although I’d definitely prefer “cold” being 55 degrees than the cold in Michigan now!).

Our final practice started later in the afternoon, and it had gotten quite a bit windier. Everyone got good experience dealing with rough whether though, and our row helped us to put our morning work into practice.

Finally, we all got to decide on dinner and actually settle into our new living arrangements for the week. While most of the team is at Bentley’s Resort, some of us are staying with the Flanders family – we’re very grateful for their wonderful hospitality! In the morning, we’ll have practice before deciding what to do with our afternoon. We’re all excited to spend the week in Sarasota, bonding, having fun, working hard, and enjoying the warm weather!

Athlete: Anthony Anzell
Junior
Major: Biomedical Sciences
GPA: 3.5

After a nice relaxing day off full of beach time and ultimate Frisbee, the team packed up and left for Sarasota at six in the morning. We arrived in Sarasota at about 7:45 A.M. and prepared for a good day of practice. The weather at first seemed pretty grim with a dark heavy overcast lingering above our heads. While we rigged the boats it cleared up enough for us to go out. Although there was a strong wind we got a good first practice in working on our technique in continuing to perfect our strokes.

After our first practice we took a little excursion to the #2 beach in the United Sates! Siesta Beach! We walked down the shoreline enjoying the white soft sand cushion our every step and the warm salt water running past our feet with every crashing wave. We ended our adventure by having the team take a couple pictures together with the beautiful blue ocean in the background.

We then continued our day by checking into the Bentley’s hotel and went to our second practice. With the Florida air being brisk, we layered up and set out to sea. As we were rowing the wind was picking up, which sent small rollers over the gunnel of the boat and into our laps. As we battled through the waves and the wind we beached in the middle of the bay. But with teamwork and our brilliant coxswains we were able to keep us going and get us back to the docks safe. After our second practice the team packed everything up for the night and enjoyed a beautiful Florida night.

Athlete:Elissa Besson
Hometown: Davison, MI
Major: Pre-med

Today began with alarm clocks ringing bright and early at 4:30 A.M. We loaded up the vans and were on our way to Sarasota, FL by 6:00 A.M. When we got to the park we unloaded the boats and started rigging everything. After everything was set, we finally got on the water. On the water we did stationary drills to help with our posture and technique while rowing.

After our first practice we all went out to eat at a restaurant named Sweet Tomatoes. It was delicious. There was so much food and I think we all probably ate way too much, but it is okay because we will work it all off later. After lunch, we had our second practice, a 30 minute walk on the beach. The sand was so soft, it felt like heaven! After our beach excursion we headed to the hotel, unloaded the vans and prepared for our next practice.

Our last practice consisted of a lot of waves and a lot of wet clothing. We had a little trouble with the weather, although I am sure it is still better than Michigan, and it was a little rough, but it was definitely an experience that can help us in future races.