After indoor success, Penn State crew ready to get on the water

In the midst of winter practices, the crew team has been gaining momentum. With the spring season on the horizon, the rowers are full of confidence and spirit.

"I think we are going to see big things this year," rower Ryan Cirz said.

This winter's indoor practices and competitions have been mainly on ergometers, machines that simulate the basic rowing technique and possess odometers.

One source of the rowers' confidence is their success at the Pittsburgh Indoor Rowing Championships, held on Feb. 7. In this competition, several crew team members placed and the team finished fifth overall. Cirz, in particular, triumphed in the men's heavyweight novice division. His time in the 2000-meter race was a stellar six minutes and 38.3 seconds.

"Ryan's first-place finish showed that everybody on the crew team is pumped for this coming season," said rower Bill McLain.

In comparison to rowing on the indoor machines, rowing outdoors presents much greater difficulty to the rowers.

"There are a few more intangibles, such as current, wind, balance and quality of blade work that affect the speed of the boat," coach Colin Upson said.

Besides conditioning, technique and speed, the crew team also stresses teamwork in indoor practices. Timing practices, done by lining rowers up on ergometers and having them row in unison, are essential in creating a harmony of blade work and greater boat speed.

The start of formal outdoor practices is currently scheduled for March 17. The crew team plans to do this season's rowing on a lake in Stone Valley. However, the team hopes to move its home site to Foster Joseph Sayers Dam in Bald Eagle State Park by next fall. Sayers Dam would afford the team nine miles of water in which to row. This expansive lake would allow the rowers to host more regattas and invite more colleges to their regattas.

The team's plans for spring break include five days of intensive training at Camp Cooper in Summerton, S.C. Morning and afternoon practices out on the water should provide 30 to 35 hours of valuable experience for the novices and the technique needed for the varsity rowers. The excellent weather and water conditions in South Carolina will give the crew team a drastic change from their indoor practices at Penn State.

"It will provide better water conditions since our lake doesn't thaw out until March," McLain said.

The main obstacle facing this year's crew team is its finances. An eight-man boat can cost up to $20,000. In light of this fact, the team has been doing fund-raising at football games and car washes. The rowers have also sought other sources of revenue.

"We're in the middle of a big push to get corporate sponsorship in order to buy a boat," McLain said.

In the meantime, the rowers have to deal with an eight-man boat that lost its rudder in a race last year as well as a two-man boat in dire need of upgrading.

"It's tough to be competitive with sub-standard equipment, but we make the most with the equipment we have," said Cirz.

One more indoor competition, the Bucknell Erg Sprints on Feb. 28, remains. Outdoor intercollegiate competition officially begins with the Bucknell Invitational on April 4. The team goal is to do well at the Dad Vail Collegiate National Championships in May.