Columbia Crews Make Fall Debut in Head of Charles Regatta
10/19/2006 10:00:00 PM | General, Women's Rowing, Heavyweight Rowing, Lightweight Rowing
More than 100,000 spectators, drawn to the banks of the Charles as much by the festivity and predicted good weather, as the rowing itself, will descend on the picturesque Charles to watch 8,000 competitors in a vast variety of events.
The competition will be welcomed by the Lions, who have practiced assiduously, but competed only against themselves, since early September. They will row in head-style races with timed starts and as many as 50 boats in one race.
“We have an enthusiastic group,” heavyweight coach Mike Zimmer notes, “and I expect that will translate into improving performances. I am looking forward to racing [Sunday].”
“The lightweight crew has been training hard for the Head of the Charles,” men's lightweight coach Marc DeRose says, and head women's coach Melanie Onufrieff agrees.
“This year,” she says, “we have a fun team that likes to train and has a great attitude. To add to the veterans from the junior and senior classes, we have a large sophomore class with tons of potential that has already made us a deeper, more competitive squad. We'll use this and the other fall races to gauge our progress and continue to build strength and fitness toward going fast in the spring.”
The lightweights also have their sights set on the spring.
“We're very excited about our squad, which has several talented sophomores joining the varsity,” DeRose says. “The EARC is highly competitive and its teams are the top in the country. We work very hard to be among the top rowing programs in the EARC.
“I have confidence in our team. I think they have what it takes to be competitive in the EARC.”
Zimmer also welcomed a large group of newcomers to his heavyweight squad this season, the largest for the Columbia heavyweight program since he became its coach.
“We have been working hard this fall on unifying the technique among all the classes,” he observes, “and getting the younger athletes up to speed. That process has been going well, and I am happy with the steps our underclassmen have been taking.”
Still, the Head of the Charles can be a daunting challenge for a young crew. With just three seniors on his varsity, Zimmer notes, “I expect the learning curve is still pretty steep. I hope we can have a clean race at the Charles and post a result that reflects the hard work we've been doing. I'm looking to race well this weekend and improve on it for the Princeton Chase.”
The Chase, October 29 on Lake Carnegie, will be the second fall competition for Columbia's varsity rowing squads. The freshman and novice teams make their collegiate debuts October 28 in Philadelphia's Head of the Schuylkill.
