Rowing narrows gap between it, Wisconsin

The Duke rowing team took part in the Tom White Invitational Spring Training Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee Saturday, competing against Wisconsin and Louisville. Wisconsin swept the Blue Devils early in the day, winning all four races of the morning session. Duke fared better against Louisville in the afternoon, capturing all three races and posting a 1-2-3 finish in the Varsity 4 at the end of the day.

The crew remained in Durham over most of the break, training for the spring season in which flatwater sprints replace the longer whitewater courses of the fall. Coach Robyn Horner granted a brief, three-day respite from the workouts to allow the crew a short vacation before heading up to scrimmage in Tennessee. Despite the losses to Wisconsin, the team was pleased with its use of the break for training.

"Each year the finishing margin between the Wisconsin boats and ours decreases," said freshman Crystal Wakulich, seven-seat on the junior varsity 8+ boat. "This year we heard that the Wisconsin coach was worried about us, because we've been improving so much each time we race them."

This year's varsity 8+ boat finished a mere 9.2 seconds behind the Badgers, a perennially successful team that has an impressive history of finishes at the National Championship Regatta. The second Varsity 8+ boat finished 12.8 seconds behind Wisconsin. This closing gap must have been satisfying for Duke assistant coach Shannon Daley, who crewed with the Badgers as an undergraduate.

The wins over Louisville were also significant for Duke, as the Blue Devils demolished a team that they barely edged out at the Central Regional Sprints last year. This time around Louisville's closest finish was over 15 seconds behind as Duke cruised to victory in the Varsity 8. The 1-2-3 finish in the Varsity 4 proved Duke's continuing improvement more than any other event of the day, as Louisville's boat finished more than 30 seconds behind Duke's third-place finisher.

"For me, the most exciting race was the Varsity 4," said Wakulich. "Louisville was so far behind, we stopped worrying about them and were racing each other."

Although the A boat finished about 10 seconds ahead of them, the B and C boats remained close the entire race. In the end, the C boat finished with a time of 7:51.8, a mere half of a second ahead of the B boat's time of 7:52.3.

The rowing crew travels to Lake Hartwell in South Carolina this Saturday to race with Clemson and Tennessee. The competition should be a good testing ground for the Blue Devils, as Clemson will host this year's ACC Championships at Lake Hartwell in late April.