Wingnuts and Washers From the Weekend

A presser about Dayton's silver in the JV eight at Dad Vail originally called the boat the "lightweight eight." Perhaps they did a Bucknell after all. This link, though, goes to the "2nd varsity" story.

The Stanford and LMU pressers about PCRCs are here and here.

Sprints stories are up for Wisconsin, Princeton, and Radcliffe.

Wisconsin also won the inaugural Konrad Ulbrich Team Trophy, another feather to put in the Badger cap. Also, a few people mentioned that one of the Wisco rowers was a bit wobbly on the awards dock after the race. Unbelievably (because I watched the medal presentation) I missed it all. You know, rowers always joke about passing out on the last stroke of the race, but few actually pull it off. This woman apparently came pretty close and nothing more can possibly be said about giving your all. What a testament not only to the intensity of the race, but to the spirit and heart of that athlete.

The Stage is Set

All the players in today's drama played their roles perfectly. Wisconsin and Princeton both won, as their opponents fell into ranked order behind them. In Indianapolis, Wisconsin beat Stanford by 3 seconds, Georgetown by 11 seconds, and Ohio State by about 30 seconds. In Boston, Princeton beat Radcliffe by 11 seconds.

Both Wisconsin and Princeton were 3 seconds up on Stanford, while Wisconsin has been consistently 11 seconds faster than Georgetown, who was only 5.5 seconds off of Princeton. Wisconsin beat Radcliffe at Knecht by 22.5 seconds, as compared to Princeton's 11 seconds.

We can look at all of that and say that Wisconsin deserves its number one ranking, with Princeton a close second. I look at it and say one more thing - the momentum belongs to Stanford. The Cardinal seems to be the boat that is gaining speed faster than the others. Dare I suggest that this might be Stanford's year? Rowing is funny like that - it doesn't matter how fast you are during the season, it only matters how fast you are at the end.

Well, tuck the mental picture of Stanford standing on the medal dock in Camden in the back of your mind as we move on to more conventional thoughts. Eastern Sprints on May 13th has all the makings of a clash of Titans. While on paper Wisconsin appears to have the edge, the reality is that it's just too close to even hazard a guess. Georgetown and Radcliffe (who also seems to have gained a fair amount of speed) won't let Sprints turn into a two boat race, but we'll all be waiting to see what happens the first time Wisconsin and Princeton line up next to each other this season.

In the 2V, which will be a Sprints event for the first time this year, Princeton handily defeated Radcliffe by 24 seconds. We have yet to see Wisconsin race an actual 2V, so they'll be a complete unknown going into the regatta. More Wisco - Princeton drama.

Princeton's four won their race by 21 seconds. In freshmen races, Radcliffe remains undefeated as they beat Princeton by 16 seconds. The Wisconsin freshmen beat heavyweight boats from Purdue and Ohio State.

Knecht Cup Eights - They're Baaaack

There was no shortage of questions coming into the eights event at the Knecht Cup - could Georgetown maintain its slight 1 second edge over Radcliffe, how fast would Wisconsin be in its first race of the year, and could any other eights stay up with the three Sprints schools?

Heat 1 looked like a rowover for Wisconsin, and so it proved to be as the Badgers finished 29 seconds ahead of the Radcliffe 2V, with Buffalo finishing another 4 seconds back. Needless to say, Wisconsin was in control from the start.

Heat 2 quickly became a two boat race between Radcliffe and Georgetown. Radcliffe pulled away in the second half as the Hoyas, clearly executing a race plan, cruised to the finish rowing low and long. A moderately surprising Duquesne boat finished third to knock Lehigh out of the grand final.

By the time of the late day final, it was clear that Wisconsin was the crew to beat, and that Georgetown and Radcliffe had bigger worries than who was the fastest between them. Ultimately, the final played out like one more year tacked on to Groundhog Day, with the Radcliffe and Georgetown boats filled with Phil Connerses, praying to wake up from their nightmare. By the 1000 meter mark Wisconsin was ahead to stay, winning the event by 11 seconds. Georgetown and Radcliffe had a battle going for a while, until the Hoyas pulled away to take second, 12 seconds ahead of the Black and White. The Radcliffe 2V took fourth, followed by Buffalo and Duquesne.

Wisconsin hasn't actually won Knecht since 2002, reflecting what has been traditionally a late starting crew. At this point, I would normally talk about how little time Wisconsin has on the water this early in the season, and it holds true for this year as well. Because of the squirrelly weather, though, I'm not sure if it's been much less than the other northern crews. Has Wisconsin become an early starting crew, or has the water time simply evened out? Or, even more frightening, are the Badgers off to their usual slow start with the usual amount of speed yet to be gained?

The Georgetown-Radcliffe duel also proved to be anticlimactic, as the Hoyas opened up space between themselves and the Black and White. Radcliffe continues to have a bumpy season, reflective of the rebuilding effort going on in Cambridge.

Turning to the freshmen, the Radcliffe eight continued to dominate, winning the event by 12 seconds over Princeton, which was 3 seconds ahead of Wisconsin [and] Georgetown[, who crossed the line in a virtual dead heat. (The official results incorrectly reported Georgetown's time.)] and Philadelphia rounded out the field. Princeton and Wisconsin also made it to the grand final of the heavy frosh eight event, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

Wisconsin's performance at Knecht was impressive, if not entirely unexpected. Things were a bit more interesting on the West Coast however, and we may need to rethink the rankings...

Regattas This Weekend

The South finally swings back into action on Saturday at Georgia Tech's John Hunter Regatta on Melton Hill Lake. The regatta includes a five boat light four race and a three boat light eight race. The light four event includes Auburn, Chattanooga, Clemson RA, and two Georgia boats. With the exception of Chattanooga, these boats met at SERCS, and the two UGA boats won comfortably. We'll see if this will simply be an UGA race or if the other crews have increased their speed enough to give the Bulldogs a run for their money. In the light eight Georgia, Auburn, and Virginia Tech square off. I don't recall any of these crews racing a light eight this season so this race should be wide open.

Wisconsin kicks its season into gear as it's scheduled to race in the Indiana Championships. This is mostly a Wisco-Notre Dame-Indiana heavyweight affair, but since it's on the lightweight schedule it looks like the Badgers will get a few races in (I'd pay money to see them knock off a Notre Dame heavyweight boat). I would call the start of the Badgers' season, "highly anticipated." Going after their fourth straight national championship with some senior losses and a new coach will make for one exciting run by Wisco. It's not that I don't think they'll be in the hunt, in fact, just the opposite - I'm anxious to see how they do it this time. Will they peak differently, will they row differently, will they race differently? Will the new era continue the old?

With Wisconsin and MIT racing this weekend, all of the top ten schools will have opened their seasons.

2007 Season Preview - University of Wisconsin

Over the past three years, the Wisconsin Badgers have been masters of the peak. The metaphorical peak, of course, but also the physical peak. In the last three Knecht Cups, they've never finished better than second (2005), yet they've won two of the last three Eastern Sprints and, of course, they've been national champions the last three years in a row. Better than any other crew, it seems, Wisconsin understands that the goal is to win IRAs and the rest of the season exists to serve that goal (well, almost). While undefeated national champions can be awesome, even transcendent, there is nothing quite so exciting as standing at the finish line at Sprints and IRAs wondering if the Badgers will peak at the right time again this year. But now, Wisconsin crossing the line first at the end of the season is no longer a surprise, in fact it's expected. We live in the Age of Wisconsin.

The Badgers begin the defense of their third national championship on April 7th at the Indiana Championships. This race is listed as tentative and while the heavyweights race Indiana and Notre Dame that day, I don't know who the lights might race (Purdue?). Whomever it is, this race will serve as a tuneup for the Knecht Cup which comes a week later. On April 21st Wisconsin beats up on some heavyweight crews on home water at the Midwest Rowing Championships. A week later comes the Best New Race of the Year, which is now expected to be in Indianapolis, against Georgetown, Stanford, and Ohio State. In mid-May are Sprints, followed by IRAs at the end of May.

There is no California trip for the Badgers this year and I'm a bit surprised because I thought they had been alternating the Crew Classic with Windermere. With Windermere and Knecht on the same weekend, they've decided to skip the trip west and head east instead. [Update: See comments for the explanation]

With only three rowers coming back from last year's IRA boat, this year we'll see if the Badgers are rebuilding or reloading. Also new this year is head coach Erik Miller. It's a pretty difficult job taking over a program that just won its third national championship, but the excellent athletes at Wisconsin coupled with the support of the University will help make the transition a smooth one.

In last year's preview I spent some time explaining why I think a strong Wisconsin program is good for lightweight women's rowing. I won't go through it all again, but I will reiterate that "As an exception to the Football Theorem, the Badgers’ program provides hope that one day the theorem will no longer hold." (Football Theorem: the size of a school's women rowers is directly proportional to the prominence of its football program.) Wisconsin has brought a refreshing, Midwestern, Big 10 style to the sport of lightweight women's rowing and has provided a worthy opponent for the rest of the lightweight league (too worthy for many!). The Badgers must like those targets on their backs because they're wearing them again this year. Last year was one of the most exciting years in lightweight women's rowing in a long time, and Wisconsin did their part. I'm sure they'll do it again this year.

And as to the rebuild or reload question - I'd bet on reload.
(Calendar updated)



Download high res version here.

More Respect for Wisconsin

I've noted here before that Wisconsin gets the respect it's due, not just from the University, but also from the local news media. This was seen once again in an article last Thursday in the Wisconsin State Journal. The paper was discussing the Wisconsin's women's hockey team's chances for a second consecutive NCAA championship, and noted that the Wisco lightweight women are one of only two Wisconsin teams to ever win back-to-back championships. Interestingly enough, the paper described them as NCAA championships. We all know that there is no NCAA championship for lightweights, etc., etc., but the point here is that in a world where people have trouble understanding a national championship that isn't sponsored by the NCAA, the Wisconsin women's achievement is taken as seriously as those that are. It's this kind of atmosphere that contributed to the Badgers' ability to win the last three national championships.

I'll bet there aren't too many nitwits like Jordan Bice searching for his manhood around the Wisconsin boathouse. (I will not link to my post on Bice.)

More Kudos for Wisconsin

The Capital Times in Madison noted the Badgers national championship in its top stories of the year. It was a pretty good year for Wisconsin sports and, given that it was the third straight title for the lightweight women, it's easy to argue that they led the way.

More Recognition for Wisconsin

A lot of big time football schools use football game TV timeouts to honor the achievements of sports other than football. The team typically runs out onto the field while their championship is announced, they give a quick wave, get a few pictures taken, and run back off. It's good PR for the team and good PR for the athletic department. Last Saturday it was the Wisconsin lightweight women's turn. (Please note, I didn't take this picture.) Further proof that Wisconsin does it right.

Sometimes It's Just Not Fair

Today's article about Wisconsin's national championship coaches includes heavyweight coach Bebe Bryans as the head coach of the national champion Wisconsin lightweights. Nothing against Coach Bryans, but as we all know, Mary Shofner coached that crew to the championship. It would have been interesting to know if Bryans could even name the eight Wisco rowers. In fairness to the coach, however, Shofner is no longer at Wisconsin and I'm sure she would've had Coach Shofner represent the lights if she were still at the school. In fact, Coach Bryans has pointed to the lightweights as examples of the excellence for which her heavyweight teams strive. Nonetheless, it is a bit galling to see a heavyweight coach represent a championship lightweight crew when heavyweight coaches' support for lightweights is so questionable.

Bryans (who does note Mary Shofner's departure) points out that the squad lost six seniors last year.

[Update: See comments for an excellent point I forgot to make.]

Wisconsin Enjoys River Challenge

Enjoy is a funny word to use for a head race, but I'm pretty sure it's appropriate for this race. Wisconsin faced no lightweight rivals and, other than the Wisconsin heavyweights, faced only heavyweight club programs. The lightweights finished fourth (behind three Wisco heavy boats) and tenth in the fours and fourth (behind two Wisco heavies and a Purdue heavy boat) and fifth in the eights. No pressure, no hype - a nice way to open the season.

Lehigh didn't race in Milwaukee and has revised their schedule since my last post. Looks like they'll get in six races this fall, including all of the Philadelphia regattas. Next week for Lehigh is a race against Delaware, which will probably only boat heavyweight crews.

Early Start for Wisconsin

I've often talked about Wisconsin's weather-forced late start in the spring, but I haven't noted that they get an early start in the fall. Well, they're off! This weekend Wisconsin races at the Milwaukee River Challenge. It's an odd race - two 2.2 mile pieces ten minutes apart - but most importantly, it's a race. Most crews aren't racing until October, and then usually get in about three races. If you count Class Day, Wisconsin races five times in the fall. The queen of fall racing, though, is fellow Milwaukee River Challenge competitor, Lehigh. Lehigh races nine times in the fall! I don't know if the lightweights race every time, but the opportunity is there.

Shofner at Stanford

A reader left a comment saying that Mary Shofner is now an assistant at Stanford under new head coach Yasmin Farooq. Farooq coxed at Wisconsin as an undergraduate and certainly would have followed the Badger lightweights' progress over the past three years. [Update: Mary Shofner is listed as the women's coach for Stanford recruits.]

Wisconsin Schedule

Wisconsin's 2006-07 schedule is out and the fall looks much as it did last year - Milwaukee River Challenge, Head of the Rock, Head of the Charles, and Head of the Iowa. The Badgers are the defending collegiate lightweight eight champion at the Head of the Charles. Interestingly, the heavyweights skip the HOCR but make an East Coast trip by sending some of the team to the Princeton Chase.

There were six collegiate lightweight eights racing at the Charles last year. It would be nice to beat that number this year. Crew applications are due September 1st, so the draw should be out in a few weeks.

Miller to Lead Badgers

Erik Miller has been named head coach at Wisconsin. Miller will have the difficult task of following three-time national championship winner Mary Shofner. Miller has a sparkling rowing resume, having spent eight years as a member of the US national team. He spent those years as a lightweight so he should be in tune with the unique peculiarities of lightweight rowing. He served as an assistant coach for the Wisco men and for the Wisco summer collegiate women's camp so he was a known quantity for Bebe Bryans. One thing seems certain, he knows what it takes to compete at the highest level so we'll see how he brings that knowledge to his athletes.

Under the heading of old web pages never die, check out Coach Miller's old site. [Update: Well, they do die when the owner realizes it's been linked to and replaces the content.] You can get an idea of some of the workouts he went through while on the national team as well as few other things about him (the accompanying picture, for example). Stand by for a lot of "rusties," Badgers. It also turns out that cooking and BBQ are hobbies of Coach Miller, so I guess the Wisco women can expect a lot of cookouts at his house (turkey burgers, of course).

Coach Miller went to the University of Washington which doesn't have a lightweight men's program, yet he raced for the US as a lightweight. This is something I've noticed among lightweight national team women as well - it seems as though most national team lightweights come from heavyweight programs. Where are the Wisco, Radcliffe, Georgetown, and Princeton national team lightweights? A few theories come to mind, but they're for another time.

Coach Miller walks into the best of situations and the worst of situations at Wisconsin. The best because he will be coaching the three time national champions. The worst because he will be coaching the three time national champions. They can't win forever (can they?), and with the improvement we saw in the field last season, there are plenty of worthy successors. I don't know how much you'll need, but good luck, coach and take care of the top lightweight program in the country!




[The news about Coach Miller's hiring was posted in the comments section of FITD by a Wisco lightweight while I was on "hiatus." Thank you for that posting and please keep them coming. Thanks to a reader, FITD was first with the scoop. As you may have guessed, this post means that FITD will be back for at least another year. (Some of you are smiling, some of you are cursing; just so you're not yawning!) Even though it's the summer, I've missed a lot. I'm getting my head back in the boat and should be up to speed soon. As always, please send me your news, comments, and suggestions. I pay attention to them all and because you all know much more about lightweight rowing than me, you're the best source of information I have.]

Wisconsin Under Shofner

Just as you know an artist by her work, so you know a coach by her crews. Over the past three years, her entire tenure at Wisconsin, Mary Shofner’s crews have been champions. During a period when women’s lightweights have been getting faster and more numerous, the Badgers have been National Champions every year. More than simply fast, Shofner’s Wisconsin crews have been models of technique. They’ve been smooth, fluid, and long. In the 2005 IRA final, when Princeton was still making a race of it coming into the last 250, both crews went into their sprint. Within two strokes you saw that it was over; Wisconsin would win. The Badgers actually seemed to get longer as their rate came up. They were an image of swing. In my mind, that moment defined Wisconsin lightweight rowing. Most would point to the 2004 twelve second mauling of the IRA field instead, but that victory was so fantastic as to seem almost unrepeatable. It was ’05, when Wisco showed its typical poise and responded to pressure with, “Oh yeah? Watch this.”

As Mary Shofner leaves the University of Wisconsin, we should all be grateful for what she helped the Badgers bring to the sport. When she arrived, Wisconsin was a bridesmaid program that just couldn’t quite get its bowball over the line first. She leaves behind the foundation of a dynasty. Wisconsin’s rise has been one of the best stories in women’s lightweight rowing. The program has thrived at a Big Ten school, where heavyweights usually rule. It thrives at a school in “flyover country” and shows Eastern crews that women know how to row in the Midwest too. It became the premier program in a boathouse with a long and rich rowing tradition. It brought red and white checked tablecloths to IRA tents and cowbells to the shores of the Cooper River (ok, so not everything is good). It brought competition and respect to lightweight rowing and throngs of new fans to the sport - no one travels as well as Wisconsin. Perhaps the most fitting tribute to Coach Shofner’s crews came from a Princeton rower I overhead at IRAs this year. Responding to the chest beating the men were doing about East Coast vs. West Coast crews, this rower said, “The thing about Wisconsin is, they don’t run around crowing about being from the Midwest, they just go out and get the job done. The men could learn something from that.” We all could learn something from that.

I don’t know where Coach Shofner will coach next, but where ever it is I wish her success.

Lightweight Scholarships

There's been a bit of a debate on these pages over whether any schools offer scholarship money for lightweights, in particular Wisconsin. At one point, I mentioned that they did and was corrected by a reader who said Wisconsin did at one time but no longer does. This story about a lightweight high school rower says she's going to Wisconsin next year on a "a partial crew scholarship." I'm not sure that's probative of anything though, because I frequently hear of girls going to Ivy League schools on "rowing scholarships."

CRCA Regional Coaches of the Year

I'm a little late on this, but back on May 23rd the CRCA announced its Regional Coaches of the Year. My initial thought, of course, was that Jim O'Conner, the Georgetown lightweight varsity coach would be a great choice although he'd have to duke it out with Mary Shofner, of course. Unfortunately the ballots were due May 17th, prior to the Hoya's 3rd place finish at Sprints, and way before their 2nd place finish at IRAs. Oh well... But then, I took a look at the ballot. Low and behold, neither O'Conner nor Shofner were even eligible! Perhaps the CRCA doesn't accept lightweight coaches as members (the riff raff, you know), except that there is a lightweight committee. (Wonder why there's a lightweight committee and not a heavyweight committee? Those heavyweight coaches should complain.) Perhaps he was eligible as an assistant (those lightweight coaches aren't really head coaches now, are they?). Well, I don't know about that, but I do know he didn't win. It may be that O'Conner just isn't a member of the CRCA. Can't imagine why a lightweight coach wouldn't want to join an organization that "exists to unify collegiate women’s rowing coaches, to act as a collective voice, and to inform collegiate women’s rowing coaches on issues related to rowing." [Italics mine]

Oh my gosh, maybe it's all because - gulp - the CRCA doesn't care about lightweights!

A Reader Confirms Coach Shofner's Departure

A reader has posted a comment (see comments below) saying that Mary Shofner has informed her rowers that she is leaving Wisconsin. No word yet on her plans.

Clear as Mud

The Wisconsin coaching position is now posted on their web site and the Working Title is "Varsity Women's Lightweight Coach" while the Official Title is "ASST COACH(N54LN)" A lot about this posting looks like an assistant's position (e.g. salary, although it does say minimum), but the principal duties section says, "This coach will be responsible for all aspects of coaching and developing an extremely competitive Division I Lightweight program, as well as contributing to the overall administration of the women's rowing program." It doesn't mention to whom the position reports. The head lightweight coach may be considered an assistant to the head Wisconsin women's coach. If Dusty Darley is leaving, I would think that this position would be listed as Novice Women's Lightweight Coach. Maybe a third coach? As I said, clear as mud.

Coach Shofner Leaving Wisconsin?

A reader has posted a comment here saying that "There was an email sent to the CRCA list that the Wisco lightweight women's position is open. The full posting is expected later this week."

At this point I would consider this a rumor, although this seems to be a pretty good source. This could also be the assistant's position, although I'm sure the poster would've caught that. If anyone has any more information, let me know. I'll try to track it down myself as well.