Rowing Starts Fall Season Saturday at the Chattanooga Head Race
10/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Alabama Rowing team gets the 2009-10 season underway Saturday at the 17th annual Chattanooga Head Race on the Tennessee River, marking the start of the Crimson Tide's fourth season of NCAA competition.
"This race is always a good bellwether of what we're going to try to accomplish and what we can accomplish in the fall," head coach Larry Davis said.
Although it is not the most intense race on the schedule, the Tide will see some stiff competition from more established, top-tier teams that will help Alabama gauge their speed and determine the steps they need to take to improve in future races.
The Tide will send out 12 boats this weekend with some rowers pulling double duty to offset injuries to key members of the varsity. Regardless of the crew the Tide puts on the water, the team will be looking to keep pace with rival Tennessee.
"The good news is, whatever happens we'll be even faster next time we see (Tennessee) because we'll have a few more people on board by then," said Davis. "If we can be within 15 seconds of them then we've made a major improvement. That would make a real positive start to the fall; that means we've done some of the things that we need to do."
The Lady Vols will be a mainstay in competition this year, participating in many of the same races as the Tide. Alabama looks to take this race and build off of it for future races against other top-20 crews.
"If you push (any team) hard enough and you row fast enough, you can crack them and that's what we want to do," Davis said. "We don't want to be intimidated just because somebody has a big name."
Even with inclement weather and some injuries creating issues for the Tide in terms of training this fall, the team has been able to keep their focus, a key to off-season success and a momentum-builder going into this new season. Some of this focus can be attributed to a squad that contains the first real group of seniors to go through the program since its inception as a varsity program in 2005.
"So far, I thought the students have kept their focus a lot better," said Davis. "I think we've been able to perform more consistently and I think a lot of that goes to the fact that we have some good senior leadership."
With their most experienced crew and some key additions through recruiting, the Tide looks for this season to be one of their most successful to date. The fall season starts Saturday and runs until the team returns to Chattanooga on Nov. 7, for the Head of the Hooch Regatta.
