Rowing Wins Three of Five Races in Dallas Saturday
4/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
DALLAS, Texas. - Alabama rowing was in Dallas on Saturday for a one-day regatta against SMU, Texas and Central Oklahoma on White Rock Lake, where the Crimson Tide won three of its five races, including a tightly contested finish in the Varsity 4.
After a rainy day of practice on Friday, conditions were much improved on race day Saturday.
"The conditions were very good," said Head Coach Larry Davis. "The wind picked up a little as the day went on but overall the conditions were much more favorable compared to what we saw yesterday. The sun was out and it was much nicer.
"Anytime you can win three out of five against good competition, that's a good day."
Alabama took home wins in the Varsity 4, 2nd Varsity 4 and the 2nd Varsity 8 while finishing second in the 3rd Varsity 8 and third in the Varsity 8. The 2nd Varsity 8 turned in a time of 7:06.4, nearly 10 seconds ahead of second place. The Varsity 4 was neck-and-neck with Central Oklahoma throughout the entire race, as Alabama narrowly edged out a win with a time of 7:53.4, ahead of UCO's 7:55.7. Alabama's two boats in the 2nd Varsity 4 took the top two spots, finishing in 8:04.2 and 8:14.5, respectively.
No times were recorded for Alabama in the 3rd Varsity 8, but the Tide's boat finished in second place, trailing Texas but beating out SMU. It was a new combination in the boat that was very competitive against a good Texas team.
"In the 3V8 race, that's the first time we've rowed that combination," said Davis. "They ran a strong race against a very good Texas crew. They have potential to pick up some speed. We'll see Texas again and a few weeks at the conference championships so it was good to be competitive against what is shaping up to be a really good Texas team."
The Tide's Varsity 8 boat finished third in its race, crossing the line in 7:05.8.
"We continue to perform well in a number of our boats," said Davis. "Our Varsity 4s and the 2nd Varsity 8 have been doing very well, but we need to work on our rhythm in the 1st Varsity 8. There's still some work to be done. They rowed a hard race and were in it all the way though, but we aren't getting the best speed on race day. It's more of a rhythm thing than a work or tenacity thing. It's a subtle thing to work on but one of the toughest things to improve, especially when you're out there competing and pushing as hard as you can."
Alabama will resume competition in two weeks at the Big XII Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on Melton Hill Lake. Two days of competition begins on Saturday, May 16 and concludes on Sunday, May 17.
3V8
- Texas: 6:52.7
- Alabama: N/A
- SMU: N/A
2V8
- Alabama: 7:06.4
- SMU: 7:14.52
- Central Oklahoma: 7:24.0
1V4
- Alabama: 7:53.4
- Central Oklahoma: 7:55.7
- SMU: 8:05.8
2V4/3V4
- Alabama A: 8:04.2
- Alabama B: 8:14.5
- SMU A: 8:43.6
- SMU B: 10:09.4
1V8
- SMU: 7:01.1
- Central Oklahoma: 7:03.1
- Alabama: 7:05.8
