Rowing team gears up for a challenging year
Mitchell Rankhorn
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Sports
The UTC rowing club is training hard on the Tennessee River as they prepare for the upcoming season.
Rowing Coach Robert Espeseth said the varsity team, consisting of 12 men and 12 women, is looking forward to a competitive season.
According to Espeseth, the team is training hard for their first competition a little over a month away. Practices started two weeks ago for the crew team, Monday through Friday.
He said the crew practiced the first week on rowing machines and other workout equipment. Then in the second week they were able to get out on open water.
"I think the nice thing about this is that you don't need any experience like other sports," Coach Espeseth said. "You don't need any background. All you have to do is walk on and play."
According to the coach, the team had several walk-ons in the first few weeks, joining only a hand full of seniors on the team. He said the club will continue to look for new members.
However, Espeseth said he was apprehensive about the new rowers.
"We had an okay season last year and hope to have another good season this year," he said. "But it is hard to predict how the novices will do."
The club's first regatta, the Chattanooga Head Race, is Oct. 4 and will be an all day event.
"The regattas are like track meets. Track meets have the 100 meter, 200 meter, and so on and so on. We have the eight man and four man races," the coach said.
Some of the other rivals they will face this season are the University of Georgia, Vanderbilt, Clemson, University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Georgia Tech.
Rowing Coach Robert Espeseth said the varsity team, consisting of 12 men and 12 women, is looking forward to a competitive season.
According to Espeseth, the team is training hard for their first competition a little over a month away. Practices started two weeks ago for the crew team, Monday through Friday.
He said the crew practiced the first week on rowing machines and other workout equipment. Then in the second week they were able to get out on open water.
"I think the nice thing about this is that you don't need any experience like other sports," Coach Espeseth said. "You don't need any background. All you have to do is walk on and play."
According to the coach, the team had several walk-ons in the first few weeks, joining only a hand full of seniors on the team. He said the club will continue to look for new members.
However, Espeseth said he was apprehensive about the new rowers.
"We had an okay season last year and hope to have another good season this year," he said. "But it is hard to predict how the novices will do."
The club's first regatta, the Chattanooga Head Race, is Oct. 4 and will be an all day event.
"The regattas are like track meets. Track meets have the 100 meter, 200 meter, and so on and so on. We have the eight man and four man races," the coach said.
Some of the other rivals they will face this season are the University of Georgia, Vanderbilt, Clemson, University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Georgia Tech.
