Saturday Scrimmage at Indiana Opens Fall for Rowing
September 19, 2014 | Rowing
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville rowing team will race outside competition for the first time in the 2014-15 season as the Cardinals travel to Bloomington, Ind., for a Saturday scrimmage against Indiana on Lake Lemon.
It is the third straight season Louisville has opened the fall with scrimmage races against the Hoosiers and will conduct a series of racing pieces in various boats. Like last season, the goal for the Cardinals will be to group the boats more evenly rather than grouping the crews in a stacked format.
"This is an opportunity for us to see some early season competition against a team that finished 11th in the nation last year," said Louisville head coach Derek Copeland. "We try to make the boats even so that we evaluate where we're at early in the fall and get back in the rhythm of race competition. We also had some specific standards off the water on the erg machines to determine the travel squad and most of the team has reached those levels."
One change for Louisville with this year's scrimmage at Indiana is the more limited time on the water for the Cardinals in advance of the first racing test. Since preseason training began in late August, the rowers have spent more time on the indoor rowing machines at the G. Garvin Brown III Rowing Center and less time in the boats on the Ohio River.
"In past seasons, we've spent a little more time on the water at this point in the year but for this season, we're taking a more patient approach on the water early in the fall with the goal of being better later in the spring," explained Copeland. "We want to see more gains in our speed as the spring season goes deeper rather than leveling off. This training plan should also fit better with what's happening with the semester schedule and the academic demands with a goal of finding the highest level of success we can attain in the classroom and on the water."
The scrimmage races in Bloomington open a busy fall for the Cardinals, who will host the annual Red & Black Regatta on Oct. 4 before traveling to the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Nov. 1. The fall will conclude for Louisville at the Rivanna Romp in Charlottesville, Va., on Nov. 16.
Fans can follow Louisville rowing on Twitter (@UofLRowing) at http://twitter.com/UofLRowing.
