It has been a while since the women's crew team played host to a double dual meet. Now, just two weeks shy of the Big Ten Championships, Wisconsin No. 16 women's openweight and No. 3 lightweight crews will be able to compete against Michigan and Michigan State at Lake Wingra Saturday in the Big Ten Double Duals.
"We are very excited and actually we haven't been about to host a double dual in years," UW head coach Bebe Bryans said. "We are really psyched to have these teams come to town.
"Everyone is going to bring their best, including us. It should be some really fun races to watch. We are excited."
Wisconsin will bring its best, despite only being able to practice on Lake Mendota for a few weeks. The ice broke on Lake Mendota approximately two weeks ago, so both crew teams have been in a scramble trying to figure out the top positions for each boat.
With the Big Ten Championships fast approaching, Wisconsin has taken full advantage of every training opportunity. According to Bryans, every stroke matters.
"We haven't had all that much water time, so every day and every stroke has been magnified," she explained. "We have to get better and we expect to get better every time we go out. We will be at our absolute best come race day Saturday and we expect to be that much better two weeks later when we see them again at the Big Ten Championships."
Wisconsin has hastily put together a spring training schedule that best takes advantage of the limited time UW has to race.
"Everyday is race day," Bryans added. "We don't waste anything, because we can't."
The coaches received some help last weekend in trying to solidify the lineups at the Indiana Crew Classic.
At the Classic, the Badger openweight team won five of the seven races it entered. Claiming victories for Wisconsin were the varsity eight, the varsity four, novice eight, second novice eight and second varsity four. Overall, Wisconsin finished 5-1 to Notre Dame and swept Indiana 4-0.
The lightweight crew team last competed at the Knecht Cup on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. The team took third at the competition.
Despite Michigan and Michigan State not having a lightweight team, UW will still compete in the Double Deals this weekend on Lake Wingra.
Lake Wingra was chosen for the competition over Lake Mendota due to its predictable features.
"Wingra is much more protected and so we can set up the racecourse there," Bryans explained. "We have a buoy racecourse, where on Mendota we don't, we just have perimeter buoys. So that makes a difference. With Big Ten competition, there are certain guidelines that we have to follow, one of which is that we have to have a buoy course."
Competition begins at 9 a.m. Saturday with the second novice eight boats. The final event, featuring the first varsity eight, will commence at 3:45 p.m.
"We are still in the formative part of the season and even though we are halfway down, we are just getting started," Bryans said. Every race, we have to build on what we have learned from the week before … We will see [Michigan and Michigan State] again at the Big Ten Championships, but this is the lead up to that. So, of course we want to be successful here."
