Team grabs its blades, ready for Clemson opener

IU crew was cheerfully afloat when the fall season ended. A win against Notre Dame, Michigan and Northwestern while sharing a bronze medal with Purdue in October was IU's best-ever performance.\nThe Hoosiers, still buoyant and full of muscular enthusiasm, are raring to go this spring. They said they know they are faster, stronger and smarter. Racing will tell them by how much. \n"It's not nervous, like, 'Oh, man I don't know what's going to happen," said junior and Indiana Daily Student employee Laura Lazaridis. "It's nervous like 'Man, I want to get the season going.'"\nThe team heads today to Lake Hartwell in Clemson, S.C., for a week of warm-weather training followed by the season opener against the University of Clemson, Marist College, the University of Buffalo and Purdue March 19. \nSpring break training typically ends with a scrimmage, but Clemson invited IU to race. IU coach Steve Peterson saw a chance to further his goals. \n"Why not?" Peterson said. "Clemson is a team we have to be competitive with if we're going to move forward as a program. It seemed like a perfect opportunity."\nClemson finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference last spring and started its 2005 schedule last week by sweeping Eastern Michigan in five events. \nPeterson thinks Clemson might have a technical edge in the race because the Tigers have clocked more time rowing on the water. The Hoosiers, however, are as tough as any of their opponents, Peterson said.\n"I don't think we'll be outpowered by anybody, but we'll have to make sure we're rowing technically better," he said. \nStill, Peterson realizes that no team can be overlooked, particularly the Boilermakers. \n"Purdue is somebody we have to respect," he said. "They're a big team and should be pretty good."\nThe Marist College Red Foxes have won six of the last eight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships, while the University of Buffalo contend with stiff competition in the Mid-American Conference.\n"It's not going to be an easy race," Peterson said.\nBefore departure, the Hoosiers will complete their last hard week of practice in the winter training cycle. Peterson drilled the rowers in "lots of short pieces in good, healthy competitive racing situations" during the past five days, in addition to their three weight-lifting sessions. \nThe team will practice twice a day at Clemson at high intensity and low volume so it can recover from the demanding winter program and prepare for the race. Rowers will concentrate on technical aspects, work on starts and refine their overall race strategy, which includes preparing how to sprint the final segment of the 2,000-meter race. \nAssistant coach Fran O'Rourke said the novice crew, while experiencing the typical jitters that come with a first collegiate race, has been getting ready for racing conditions.\n"We're preparing them to pull hard with another boat next to them," O'Rourke said.\nIf all goes as he plans, and with some luck, Peterson thinks it's realistic that the Hoosiers can finish the season in the top half of the Big Ten and hopes to see his team in the finals of the Big Ten championship, to be held April 30 at Lake Lemon in Bloomington. \n"That would be huge," he said. "That'd be really big for a program like ours that's young and inexperienced. But it would mean knocking off some pretty solid programs." \nDoing that will keep IU rowers floating a little lighter, a little longer. \n-- Contact Staff Writer Bill Meehan at wmeehan@indiana.edu.