Permanent link for GVSU Rowing Club � Spring Break Blogs 2022 - Day 5 � Wednesday, March 9th on March 14, 2022

Eddie Pfannes – Varsity Man

This Wednesday, we continued our adventure in Clemson! The morning started a little unusually with flashes of lightning bolts and the booms of thunder. The rain had been present before, but the storm had intensified in the night. The team met in the lobby for breakfast as the rain continued to fall. The team worried what might happen with the storm as we prepared for practice, and we were given our answer with Coach Dan’s call to delay practice by 30 minutes.

By the time we arrived at practice, the sky had begun to lighten up and the rain had lessened in intensity. The team was split into their respective squads, and the varsity men ended up working with Coach Troy for the morning. In the full men’s 8+, we practiced a few drills before jumping into a Cat 5 workout (relatively low intensity with some bursts). We had fun, and our temporary coxswain, John, did an amazing job.

After practice, a few rowers went to Moe’s. The food was brilliant and the conversation among teammates was engaging. The burrito was exceptionally delicious to me.

The second practice of the day rang in the sun, and with it, more good times. The lineups from the morning were shuffled into an 8+ and a 4+, and the workouts featured exploration with our meters. I came off the water smiling.

As of writing this, a group of guys are planning on seeing “The Batman” in theaters, with me as their driver. Since there is no morning practice tomorrow, we should be able to enjoy a little bit later of a night out. When we get back, I look forward to crashing into the bed in my room and getting some well-deserved rest.

 

Stephanie Bruck – Varsity Women’s Coxswain

Hello, my name is Stephanie & I am a senior women’s coxswain! I have been super excited to get back on the water from winter training, so being in Clemson has been pretty great! Unfortunately, we woke up early Wednesday morning to the sound of rain, thunder & lightning. After getting ready in the morning & having breakfast, practice was pushed back a half hour due to the lightning. 8am rolled around & it was still raining, but there was no more lightning so we headed to the boathouse. Clemson Rowing has been graciously letting us use their boathouse to store our boats & launch off their docks. 

For the first practice, the women split into two 8’s. We went out into the rain & started with some drills. The main focus of the day was slide control. We traveled up to the city 2k course & worked on continuous rowing while controlling the slide. The rowers got in some good CAT 5 work & then we headed back to the docks. It was a wet row, but definitely productive. 

Between practices, a group of women traveled to downtown Clemson to get some pizza & went shopping! It was a great time to converse with some of the other women on the team & explore the town.

The second practice was dry, thankfully! We hopped back in the same line-ups as the morning practice to have the same focus of slide control. We did more steady state with bursts of 10 strokes between 22-26 spm. The main focus was slowing the slide & catching quickly!

We finished out the day by heading to the Southern Wesleyan Dining Hall to eat dinner! They had some great food to fuel up on! It’s been a great week so far, and we only have 4 more practices till we head back to snowy Michigan to continue our spring training.

 

Parker Reynolds – Novice Man

My name is Parker Reynolds, and I’m a junior here at GVSU. I’m a first year rower. More accurately, I’m a brand new rower that’s not even a month into rowing yet! I’m really enjoying it so far, and this spring break trip and getting onto the water for the first time has been great.

Today, the novice men did seat racing in the morning and a practice focusing on starts in the afternoon. I was a coxswain for both. Coxing can be pretty stressful at times, but I’ve been enjoying learning this new role. Coach Kyle was pleased with our practice yesterday, so he bought us pizza for lunch today after we were done racing. Then, we finished out the day by going to watch the new Batman movie. It was a very full day but a really fun one.

 

Bryanna Ergang – Novice Woman

Today is our fifth day in Clemson! I started my day at 6:30am, got up to get ready, then headed down for breakfast. Practice was delayed thirty minutes because of heavy rain and storms in the area. Eventually, we headed out to row at 8am. The novice women started off the morning with a cold and rainy row in the Jedlics. We spent a lot of time doing steady state to stay warm and a few technical drills like back it down, 0-100, and the pause at 3/4 slide throughout this first practice.  

After the first practice, my van went into downtown Clemson for lunch and got Chipotle and coffee at the Grace Coffee Company. I got a burrito bowl from Chipotle, and since I don’t drink coffee, I got an iced chai tea latte with their cinnamon bun flavoring (highly recommend!). 

After a fun afternoon, we drove back to the hotel and got to change into some dry clothes! My hotel roommates and I all layed on the floor and relaxed for a few hours before heading out to our second practice of the day. 

The second practice of the day was about a whole 10° warmer!! The novice women headed out in the Jedlics for the second time today and mostly did drills focusing on backing in the blade and power application. 

With the second practice over, we were all super hungry when it came to dinner. There was pasta, burgers, and pizza to choose from. I chose pasta along with some potatoes! Nothing super special, but it definitely filled me up. After dinner, we got in our vans and started driving back to the hotel. 

In my van we always say our “happies” for the day after dinner. My “happy” was that the PM practice had much better weather than this morning and we got a lot of good work in. Once we arrived back at the hotel, some of us gathered in the lobby to sit in on the open E-Board meeting. The meeting just went through regular rowing and team maintenance that needed to be addressed, and it was over in about twenty minutes. Now I am back in my room and am headed to bed! Always remember, there are no bad days in Clemson!

 

 

Categories: Rowing
Posted on Permanent link for GVSU Rowing Club � Spring Break Blogs 2022 - Day 5 � Wednesday, March 9th on March 14, 2022.