The Rowing Club has had a strong season this semester, having competed in two regattas over the past month. Both of the regattas they competed in are “head” races, meaning that the different teams and boats for each event start at different times, and the total time to race the course is used to determine placement.
The first regatta was the Head of Des Moines, held on Sep. 25, in Des Moines, IA, and was 2,100 meters. In this regatta, “Despite a rainy morning… our Varsity men secured first, second, and third in the Men’s Open 4+,” wrote Emmerson Hewette, President of the Rowing Club. The second regatta was the Head of the Mississippi in Minneapolis, MN, on Oct. 2, was 4,820 meters. In this regatta, there was adverse weather with high winds, but the Varsity men secured first, second, and third in the Men’s Open 4x, second in the Men’s Open 2x, and the Novices also got second in the Men’s Novice 8+.
What was going to be their final event of the season was a relatively new tradition called Head of the Portage. This event was scheduled to be held on Oct. 18, but due to poor weather, it was canceled. It will not be rescheduled, as winterization for the boats is scheduled for the same day as the event. This event usually starts a mile east of campus at Breakers Beach, which is around 20,000 meters one-way.
To get ready for the regattas, the Rowing Club practices early nearly every day of the week. During the week, half the team practices on-water while the other half is at the SDC. Practices often have to be rescheduled due to weather. Professor Trent Wickman, Advisor for the Rowing Club, said, “They’re so driven and super responsible. These people get up and practice at crazy hours.”
Regarding the offseason, Hewett wrote, “We’ve been having some fun with mixing up boat lineups and getting members to try sculling.” Sculling is a different style of rowing where each athlete has one oar in each hand; usually, the club does sweep rowing, in which athletes have one oar grasped with both hands.
The club has also been working on fundraising, working multiple hockey and football games, as well as raking leaves for community members and donors. Right now, they are also hosting an auction until Nov. 15 to rename one of the boats they recently bought.
More information about the club and how to submit an auction bid is on the website row.students.mtu.edu/.
