Just one week after the ice has broken on Lake Mendota, the men's crew team is ready to showcase its talents in a classic dual against Michigan to start its spring season.
Due to cold weather hindering the team's training, the crew team has had limited time to prepare for the dual. However, UW head coach Chris Clark has become accustomed to these conditions.
"When I first got here, I used to stress out about not being prepared for the first couple of races. Now you just have to go with it," Clark said. "It would be similar to our football team only having a week to prepare for their first game. … You just deal with it."
Though the Badgers may not be completely prepared on the water, they are by no means out of shape. As usual, Wisconsin has spent the winter months in a grueling training period which included weight training, test sets on rowing machines, countless hours in the rowing tank and various cross-training exercises.
"You just do as much as you can differently because it gets a little tedious doing all the same exercises repeatedly," Clark said. "We are mentally ready for this because we had those three months of winter training, but as far as the rowing, you can never be prepared this early."
So the Badgers could get the feel of the water during the winter months, the team traveled to Texas for two weeks of training. Wisconsin also competed in two regattas last fall — the Head of the Charles and the Head of the Iowa.
At the Head of the Charles, the men's squad finished sixth out of 26 boats in the Championship Four race. The varsity eight crew claimed ninth in the Championship Eight, but was the fourth college finisher overall.
The Head of Iowa proved more successful for Wisconsin, as the Badgers swept the competition, placing first in all six races entered. The Badgers took the top three spots in the men's open eight and men's novice four, as well as claimed the top five spots in the men's open four.
Despite a huge setback, Michigan has been off to a promising start as of late. Traveling to the Lubber's Cup, Michigan's trailer hit a patch of black ice and flipped. The damage from the wreck resulted in five unrepairable shells.
A little shaken, the team was able to borrow shells for the competition, which proved fruitful as Michigan won eight out of nine events. A week later, the Wolverines swept the Cincinnati Bearcats in five races at a home dual.
"You can't underestimate Michigan," Clark said. "They will get the full measure of our attention.
"We can be racing Olympic champions or we could be racing a local high school team, and you have to be just as prepared because you never know what is going to happen," Clark added.
The dual is set to kick off at 8 a.m. on Lake Mendota. If weather conditions remain stable, spectators will be able to watch races finish on the Memorial Union Terrace.
"It's going to be exciting to get on the water," Clark said. "All I can ask is that everyone performs as well as they can by the end of the day. … Hopefully we can win every race."
