The Michigan women’s rowing team excelled in every race
against No. 20 Duke and its varsity four boat beat No. 6 Virginia
by open water on Saturday at the Big Ten/ACC Double Dual at Lake
Monticello in Virginia. This was a vast improvement from last
week’s regatta against Ohio State, in which Michigan walked
away with just one win in six races. The Wolverines recovered from
last week’s loss by taking four of their six varsity
races.
“Last week we rowed, this week we raced,” Michigan
coach Mark Rothstein said.
The Wolverines vastly increased their speed, making it a
difficult day for their opponents. In the morning, Michigan
dominated Duke, winning all of its races by open water. Improvement
was the word of the day for Michigan.
“We raced better this week,” Rothstein said.
“Even our losses (to Virginia) were not by that
much.”
After changes in the afternoon, Michigan’s
highly-successful morning results could not carry over, it only
managed to win the varsity four race over Virginia, dropping both
the varsity eight races. This single win did give the Wolverines a
bit of hope for a rematch at the NCAA Championship.
“We get another shot at Virginia,” Rothstein
said.
When Michigan competes against Virginia again, the battle should
be engaging. Despite the Wolverines’ loss, the races were
relatively close. Just 1.8 seconds separated the two varsity eight
boats.
But Virginia won’t face the same Michigan squad it did
this weekend if the Wolverines continue to improve.
“We want to keep stepping it up a notch,” assistant
head coach Emily Ford said. “We want to keep doing what we
are already doing (in terms of competition and race strategies),
only better.”
Ford feels that Michigan is racing well, but it needs to be
better. The team knows that it must improve on the technical
aspects of its strokes if it wants to have success for the
remainder of the season. These alterations are a must because the
competition is just going to get more intense from here.
“There are no easy races on our schedule,” Rothstein
said. “We want personal growth — we want to win
though.”
But winning is not everything.
“I want to see their hard work pay off,” Ford said.
“I want them to feel good about their rowing
ability.”
Michigan will test its ability again against Michigan State on
Saturday.
Results
Morning Session
First Varsity Eight
1. Michigan 6:49.2
2. Duke 6:53.2
Second Varsity Eight
1. Michigan 6:43.6
2. Duke 7:02.5
First Varsity Four
1. Michigan 7:45.7
2. Duke 8:01.6
Afternoon Session
First Varsity Eight
1. Virginia 6:38.0
2. Michigan 6:39.8
Second Varsity Eight
1. Virginia 6:55.0
2. Michigan 7:02.7
First Varsity Four
1. Michigan 7:45.3
2. Virginia 7:53.5