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10/22/06-Rowing
St. Mary's rowers plan to train all winter Orchard Lake
BY CHRIS LAU, FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
The storied Orchard Lake St. Mary's rowing team concludes its fall season Saturday at the Jack Speakmon Memorial Regatta in Columbus, Ohio, then heads into winter workout to prepare for the spring season.
Led by new head coach John Ray, an assistant for the previous eight years, the Eaglets are coming off a second-place team finish at last year's Midwest Championships. They also sent two boats -- the varsity four and varsity lightweight four -- to nationals.
This year, the Eaglets are looking to do even more. In the fall, the team's varsity eight and varsity lightweight eight beat St. John's (Toledo) at their Sept. 30 homecoming regatta. Several boats also had solid finishes against Canadian teams at the Head of the Thames regatta in London, Ontario, on Sept. 16, including the varsity lightweight four, which came in third.
Several team members chatted with us about the fall, the upcoming winter and more.
QUESTION: Would you review the fall season for us?
ANSWER by senior coxswain A.J. Doyle: We're gotten a lot done. It was fun to go to Canada. We competed very well against some very tough Canadian teams. We competed against some crews that we'll see in the Canadian championships, and we did pretty well, so we're looking forward to the future.
Q: What are the plans as far as winter workouts go?
Coach John Ray: These long races in the fall are for building your aerobic base. Then, over the winter, we're going to do workouts to increase stamina, build muscle. Toward the end of the races, that's when you really cash your checks, when you can pull through. So the objective for all the coaches is to get our rowers more muscle and more cardiovascular conditioning. We spend a lot of time on the ergometers, a lot of time in the weight room, a lot of time running up and down the stairs, and there'll be a few special fun things that I especially like. We'll get back on the water, and clean up what has come unglued with their strokes, first week of April.
Q: What was the homecoming regatta like?
Senior rower Matthew Augsburger: We all only got to race one race because the weather conditions were horrible. The heavyweight eight won the race by nine seconds. The lightweight eight came in second, and St. John's boats came in last. We were going to have an alumni race, but that, unfortunately, ended up getting cancelled because of the weather. But it was nice to reconnect with alumni and share experiences of last season and talk about how they're doing in college.
Q: What has rowing done for you?
Senior lightweight rower Kevin Kowalski: I've been rowing for four years. It has taught me unity, to work as a team. If we don't all row together, it won't work. It's surprising how rowing can bring out the individual in someone, but also bring out the unity and teamwork as well.
Q: What do you look for in the future in rowing?
Sophomore rower Sean Johnston: I'm looking to learn special skills like teamwork and leadership, how to shoot for the best and reach for goals, like winning Midwest.
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