The University of Tampa crew team made their fall debut in the waters of Oak Ridge, Tenn. last Saturday, placing in two events.
The varsity rowers kicked training into high gear, using the event as a way to train even harder in the sort of atmosphere they would like to get used to.
“It was fine,” head coach Bill Dunlap explained of the team’s performance. “Fall racing is training racing.”
The laid back attitude in the fall allows the team to get comfortable with one another and also makes it easier to see what combinations work the best together.
After the event, Dunlap knew what needed to be worked on in order to be sure that when time comes for the real competition, he will have a group of girls ready to pull their weight.
“We’ll be juggling people around [and] working with different lightweight combinations,” he said.
This type of race was new to many rowers, with a much faster pace than what they were used to. Along with the new speed of the race, the competition was also very tough.
Many of the teams offer a wide range of scholarships to their rowers, while UT is not known for giving many athletic scholarships.
The Spartans anticipate that they will be competitive with the best non-scholarship teams at their next fall race on Nov. 8, in Augusta, Ga.
Olivia Glynn can be contacted at oglynn@ut.edu.
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