Spring 2013 Recap

It's been quite the semester at Nebraska Crew! We've had our ups and downs and below we'll give you the recap of what we've been up to this semester.

Our first intercollegiate competition in Topeka, KS at the Pepsi Indoor Rowing Championships back in February already gave us one of the highlights of the season when the team took home the first place team points trophy! There were also numerous individual medalists and PR's on the roster.

Spring Break in Austin, TX was memorable as always where we were blessed with good weather, great water and a wonderful week for the team to practice and bond. Thanks to Austin Rowing Club and Holiday Inn on Town Lake for hosting us.

Novice women at practice at Spring Break

Unfortunately, upon our return to Nebraska, we were met with snow and freezing temperatures. Our water time was limited out at Branched Oak and we were all begging for that Texas sun again! Our first regatta, our own Corn Row was upon us, but due to some unforeseen circumstances the team decided to cancel the race.

However, we still moved on with our annual Alumni Banquet that evening. We had over 100 attendees! We also put up some Nebraska Crew related items in a silent auction including some vintage oars, a quilt and dinner plates. Our team members were able to meet some of our alumni as well as speak to them about our progress so far. Thank you to all who came out and we hope you had a good time and look forward to seeing you next year!

Our first regatta of the season was the Upper Midwest Collegiate Sprints hosted by Creighton University in Omaha, NE. It was great to finally compete after the long winter. The novice women and novice men's 8's took home third place in their respective races. The women's team returned to Carter Lake in Omaha a couple weeks later to race Creighton again in a dual.

Novice men's 8+ at Upper Midwest Collegiate Sprints

Unfortunately, bad news met us once again when we found out the Lake Shawnee Spring Classic in Topeka, KS was cancelled due to low water levels. It was a sad and sudden end to the season but we're still proud of all that we've accomplished. At our last day at Branched Oak, we still recognized our Oarsman of the Year, Sarah Rothchild, and our Spirit Award winner, Daniel Farrar.

Team picture at the last day at Branched Oak. 

This semester, we've had the opportunity to do more fundraisers and recruit one of our largest novice classes in recent years. We've acquired new ergs for the boathouse and all of our oar blades have been repainted red with a white power N logo. We are also in the process of fully repairing our tank through UNL Campus Recreation for use in the fall.

One of our newly painted oar blades.

We're excited to see what we can accomplish next season on and off the water. We hope you'll join us on this journey by staying connected through this blog, Facebook page and Twitter.

Our officers team for Fall 2013:

President/Coxswain's Coach
Jane Seu

Vice President
Emily Curtis

Treasurer
Morgan Yates

Public Relations
Caitlin Miller

Secretary
Janessa Onwiler

Maintenance
Dylan Mangel

Safety Officer
George Pagano

Novice/Varsity Women's Coach
Phil Thorngate

Novice Men's Coach
Alexa Hazelton

Varsity Men's Coach
Paul Smith

Spring 2013 Updates and Schedule

We've already been hard at work this semester training for the spring season. Teams are spending their mornings ergging, weight lifting and building up their physical and mental conditioning. Needless to say, we can't wait to get back on the water! 

Here is our spring 2013 schedule. Our rowers look forward to racing and seeing our supporters and alumni at any or all of these events!

Noodles and Company Fundraiser

Lincoln, NE (14th and P)

February 15, 4pm-9pm

Pepsi Indoor Rowing Championships

Topeka, KS

February 23

Creighton Ergatta

Omaha, NE

March 2

Spring Break Training Trip

Austin, TX

March 16-23

Corn Row Regatta

Lincoln, NE

April 6

Upper Valley Midwest Sprints

Omaha, NE

April 7

Creighton Dual

Omaha, NE

April 20

Lake Shawnee Spring Classic 

Topeka, KS

April 27-28

Our annual Alumni Banquet will be the evening of April 6 at the Nebraska Union, following the Corn Row regatta. Alumni should be receiving invitations and a newsletter in February. RSVP information will be enclosed. We hope to see everyone there! 

Featured Rower | Paul Smith

Name/Nickname: Paul "Smalls" Smith

Year: Senior
Hometown: Omaha, NE
Major: Civil Engineering
Officer Position: Novice Men's Coach, formerly 2.5 years of Chief Rigger (aka Maintenance officer)

Favorite Erg Piece:

Honestly, the 2k. Sure, it's brutal, but it's consistent. Same thing every time, same race strategy, and it's something that is a great gauge of how much you are improving as a rower.

Favorite Cox'n call: 

"This is your race course. they do not DESERVE to be on your race course! And you will SHOW them that!" - Abby Yates, Midwest Rowing Championships, 2009

"The question is not how far. The question is, do you posses the constitution, the depth of faith, to take it as far as is needed?"- Emily Veys, Midwest Rowing Championships, 2009

Favorite Rowing Memory: 

ACRA, summer of 2011. Took a women's pair and a men's 8 down to the American Collegiate Rowing Association Championships in Gainsville, Georgia. Practiced 6 days a week @5am for an entire semester, then took spring break and 2 weeks of summer to put in 3-a-day practices to get ready for the biggest competition that Nebraska Crew had sent a boat to in recent years. We then stuffed 12 people, all of our luggage, and our 10 oars into a 12 passenger van and went on a 20-some hour car ride down to Georgia. Greatest boat I had ever been in, and it still has yet to be beat. 

Horsetooth Ache, Head of the Des Moines

On September 22nd, Nebraska Crew traveled to Fort Collins, CO for the Horsetooth Ache. This was a 20,000 meter course on the Horsetooth Reservoir and was certainly a challenge for novice and varsity alike. We were able to field a novice women's eight, a novice men's eight, a varsity women's four and a varsity men's pair. We got to compete against other Colorado rowing clubs, including the club from Colorado State University, who graciously hosted us at the campgrounds just off the reservoir.

On September 23rd, the team participated in a few morning sprint races in mixed Nebraska-CSU boats.     It was a great way to end a fun weekend of rowing.


On September 29th, Nebraska Crew headed to their next regatta in Des Moines, IA. Highlights include second place finishes by the Novice Women's 8 and the Novice Women's 4. Great job, ladies!

We'd also like to give a shout out to the Omaha Rowing Association. It was great seeing you guys in Des Moines!

Novice Women's 4 finishing second place at the Head of the Des Moines

Our next regatta will be Quad Cities in Moline, IL on October 13th followed by Head of the Rock on October 14th in Rockford, IL.

We'd like to thank all our alumni and family who continue to support us throughout our season. We wouldn't be able to compete without you.

Fall 2012

Nebraska Crew has been working hard these past couple weeks getting ready for the new season. We have been recruiting new novice, finalizing our regatta schedule and getting our first practices in of the season.

Prospective novice will be joining us this weekend as we head to Milbank, SD for our fall training trip. We look forward to our first practices on the water and getting to know new members.

Our regatta schedule this fall is as follows:

Horsetooth Ache
Fort Collins, CO
September 22, 2012

Head of the Des Moines
Des Moines, IA
September 29, 2012

Quad Cities Regatta
Moline, IL
October 13, 2012

Head of the Rock 
Rockford, IL
October 14, 2012

Frostbite Regatta
Wichita, KS
November 4, 2012

Ergathon, our fall fundraiser, will be held on September 14-15, 2012, leading up to the Husker game against Arkansas State. We'll be out at the Union Plaza from Friday morning until kickoff. More details to come.

We're really excited for our upcoming season and want to thank everyone ahead of time for their support!

US Women's Eight Takes Gold for second straight Olympics

Congratulations to the US Women's Eight for defending their Olympic gold medal! The US dominated the race and finished a half-length ahead of Canada, who took silver. The Netherlands finished third.

2012 London Olympics

Photo credit to nbcolympics.com

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London opened yesterday and will continue until August 12, 2012. Rowing has had a rich history as part of the Olympics and provides great exposure to the sport, particularly in communities like Nebraska where rowing is relatively unknown. For those who may not have much background in rowing or for those looking to follow all the action this Olympics, here is a brief overview followed by links to other articles and websites:

Olympic rowing races are 2000 meters long and rowers reach anywhere from 40 to 47 strokes per minute. There are two disciplines of rowing, sweeping and sculling. Sweeping requires the use of one oar per rower while sculling uses two oars per rower. Coxswains are used in the men's and women's eights to steer the shells and guide rowers through races.

The Olympics will feature 14 different rowing races:
Sweep
Men's pair without coxswain (M2-)*
Women's pair without coxswain (W2-)*
Men's lightweight four without coxswain (LM4-)*
Men's four without coxswain (M4-)*
Men's eight with coxswain (M8+)*
Women's eight with coxswain (W8+)*

Scull
Men's single sculls (M1x)*
Women's single sculls (W1x)*
Men's lightweight double sculls (LM2x)
Men's double sculls (M2x)
Women's double sculls (W2x)*
Lightweight women's double sculls (LW2x)*
Men's quadruple sculls (M4x)*
Women's quadruple sculls (W4x)*


*Races with US boats competing

Some interesting facts:

• The United States has the most overall Olympic medals in rowing with 84.
• The United States Women's Eight are the defending Gold Medal champions for the 2012 London Olympics. 
• Many consider retired British rower Sir Steven Redgrave the greatest British Olympian of all time for winning five consecutive gold medals in five Olympic games from 1984 to 2000. The feat of this accomplishment is even more impressive considering the fitness demands of rowing. At the 2012 Opening Ceremony, he received the torch from David Beckham and passed the flame to the seven young athletes, who ultimately lit the Olympic cauldron.

photo credit to abc.net.au




If you're looking for some more websites to follow this summer, NBC Olympics: Rowing provides a comprehensive overview, including a brief history, competition format and of course updated race results and viewing schedules. USRowing is also a great place to look for news and information on the United States Olympic Rowing team. 

And for your reading pleasure between races, here are some articles recounting some great moments in rowing history, 1936 US Men's Eight victory in Berlin and the 1976 Yale Women's Crew making a statement.

We also hope you'll like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay updated on our own rowing competitions in the coming seasons.

We wish all the US Rowing athletes the best of luck and look forward to watching them succeed in London!