With speed as its strength and stamina as its drive, the UCLA women’s rowing team is looking forward to put its hard work to the test, according to coach Amy Fuller Kearney, in its upcoming Saturday meet against Loyola Marymount.
The Bruins have built a strong team this year, having great representation from each college year, creating a great dynamic between the women, coach Kearney said. This dynamic creates efficient leadership, making a stronger team with effective communication.
Because the Bruins have not had a chance to race the full 2,000 meter race this season, they are looking forward to this weekend as they get a chance to test their speed as well as examine where their strengths and weaknesses lie. This allows the women to form a focus and improve in the upcoming months.
“In the early stages you kind of have to figure out what your crews are doing and how to build on their strengths and develop their weaknesses, ” said Kearney.
“The only thing that we can control is ourselves … we would not change our plan based on our opponent, we would change based on what kind of fitness we have and what kind of athletes we have every year.”
Based on the last scrimmage, the Bruins learned that they needed to focus on discipline and timing. Throughout the past several months they have focused on the technical aspects of the strokes, but facing LMU this weekend will be a great chance for the athletes to see how much further they need to work on a variety of other aspects, like their speed and communication with each other.
“I think we are looking to gain more racing experience; it’s early in the season and anytime we get to race, it’s fun for us … I also think that we are looking to improve the little things that you can only improve in a race … like tenacity and the ability to be together for the whole race,” said senior captain Erin Wenzel. “It is important for us to use each race as an opportunity to get better.”
With last week’s scrimmage resulting in great outcomes, the Bruins are looking forward to having a fast, competitive year. This weekend will be their first time to race in the full 2,000m race, hence making it a great opportunity to test out the new lineup. With a young team of multiple freshman and sophomore contributors, the senior team members can rely on all members of the team.
The overall goal, as mentioned by both captains Wenzel and senior captain Natalie Pettee, as well Kearney, is to get everyone completely together on the timing and teamwork.
“This is the first race in the season and it is usually one of our first races of the year so it’s always an exciting way to kick off spring season, so we are looking to put down a fast time and to keep improving from where we have been,” Pettee said. “It’s going to be a fun race.”