After all of last year’s successes, the UW women’s crew teams and their new coaching staff are looking to recapture the energy that led to a strong 2003 campaign.
Bebe Bryans kicks off her inaugural season as head coach and couldn’t be more excited to be in Madison.
“I bring a lot of experience to the table,” Bryans said. “I’ve done this for a long time at this level, so I don’t have to learn how to do this job while trying to get to know the team.”
Bryans named her coaching staff this past July, which includes Amy Appleton, Nicole Borges, Mary Shofner and Dusty Darley. All of these coaches have previous ties to the University of Wisconsin and will look to lend their experience to the team.
Bryans realizes that her coaches are young, but notes that they have a variety of strengths that she believes will translate into a successful coaching staff.
“This combination of staff is going to work well together,” Bryans said. “The athletes have already noticed that from practices.”
Last season, the women’s crew teams both had stellar years. The varsity team placed eleventh overall at the NCAA Rowing Championships and the lightweights took home their first ever national championship, winning it by close to 12 seconds. Bryans believes that following performances like these, her team will build off the program’s success.
“They’re honestly just excited to see how fast they can go,” Bryans said. “These girls really want to go fast and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.”
This season’s roster consists of 65 varsity members and between 110 and 115 open and lightweight rowers. The teams didn’t graduate many rowers this past year and Bryans is confident that they’ll be able to “live up to expectations.”
Each girl puts in three or four hours of both aerobics/cardio and weight lifting a week, as well as an hour of time on the water every morning. Bryans concedes that the workout regimen is quite trying at times, but says that the girls need to be in peak physical conditioning if they hope to top their last few seasons.
Women’s crew mainly competes in the spring, but they have four meets coming up this fall. The Badgers open their season with the Milwaukee River Challenge Saturday. In October, they travel to Rockford, Ill. and Elkhart, Ind. Their final competition this fall will be the Princeton Chase, in New Jersey.
“The fall is just racing to have fun,” Bryans said. “We go out there, see if our practice is paying off, and more than anything just break up the monotony of constant practices. In the spring is when we really rock and roll.”
One of the biggest meets this spring will likely be the Big Ten Championships in late April. Last season saw four out of the twelve teams at the National Championships coming out of the Big Ten.
“The Big Ten is going to be incredibly competitive this year,” Bryans said. “The [Big Ten] Championship this spring will probably be a preview of the Nationals.”
The entire organization is looking forward to the completion of the new UW Crew House. Scheduled to be completed on November 15 of this year, it will be over four times the size of the old crew house and will cost a reported $8.35 million. This new facility will have room for over 100 boats, a rowing hall of fame, team workout rooms, a kitchen and a moving water rowing tank for up to twenty-four rowers.
“It’s going to be an amazing facility and we’re really excited about it,” Bryans said. “That’s one thing on the horizon that has really been keeping us motivated.”
