The No. 8 Michigan women’s rowing team traveled to Lake
Ovid on Saturday to defend its superior ranking over in-state
rival, No. 10 Michigan State. But even with all the motivation, the
Wolverines still lost the regatta 17-6.
“We just need to regroup,” Michigan coach Mark
Rothstein said. “There are areas where we can get
faster.”
Michigan needs to speed up the pace before the races even start,
making sure that all rowers are in the boat and ready to race. Once
in the boat, it would prepare the Wolverines to take charge of
their races.
“We need to be more offensive,” Rothstein said.
This means that Michigan can improve by being more aggressive.
This is the only way to increase speed.
“We need to get our confidence back,” Rothstein
said. “We aren’t fast right now and we need to make
changes.”
Losing back-to-back regattas to Ohio State and then to Virginia
may have knocked Michigan’s confidence down a notch, but
it’s still no excuse for their performance against Michigan
State. Rothstein still has high hopes for Michigan.
“We have a good team that is still capable of a great
season,” Rothstein said.
Michigan’s second varsity boat beat Michigan State, with a
time of 6:52. This single win denied the Spartans from claiming an
undefeated regatta against the Wolverines.
“Our second varsity boat did well,” Rothstein said.
“Those are the kind of races that the team can use to build
upon. It was the highlight of my day.”
Building off of a single victory requires practice. The ability
to improve from week to week is the source of the Wolverines’
motivation.
“We have to come back strong in two weeks (for the Big Ten
Championship),” Rothstein said. “I was impressed with
Michigan State. Their first varsity eight was fast and showed
determination in its race, and we were unable to counter
that.”
Michigan suffered a damaging loss this weekend, but still is
motivated to work hard and improve itself before the competition
gets fiercer.
“We need to find a way to get on par with the teams
beating us,” Rothstein said. “The nice thing is that
we’re going to see the teams that have beaten us —
Michigan State, Ohio State and Virginia — again. We have a
lot of work to do.”
The Big Ten Championships will take place on May 1 in Iowa
City.