Rough Waters Ahead

Glistening arms stretched to the oars will bend and churn the water into foam in epic splendor when seven schools -- six of them nationally ranked -- compete for the Big Ten Championship Saturday on Bloomington's Lake Lemon. IU, the unranked entry, will play host to the regatta.\nShowing up this weekend will be defending Big Ten champion Michigan, ranked No. 3, along with the No. 4, No. 7, No. 14, No. 15 and No. 20 teams in the nation, according to Wednesday's Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/USRowing poll.\nBut that doesn't phase the conference's youngest program. IU's Varsity 8 rowers respect their exalted Big Ten guests and look upon their achievement with ambition. \n"It makes us want to represent the Big Ten as well as they do," said junior Ashley Airis, who cranks an oar in the Varsity 8 engine room. "We want to be as good as them so everyone can say that the Big Ten is the best conference in the nation."\nHoosier coach Steve Peterson believes the rankings "say a ton about the Big Ten" and sees them as a confirmation of the conference's ascendancy in the sport. \n"It says a ton about how new changes are occurring in women's rowing," he said. "To have six of our seven teams ranked in the top 20 is huge. One-third of the best crews in the country are Big Ten schools. It says the power is shifting in our sport." \nThe shift Peterson mentions began a decade ago, when Ohio State lured current coach Andy Teitelbaum away from the East-Coast rowing establishment. Peterson recounts when his friend Teitelbaum left Rutgers University in the Garden State for Ohio State.\n"Nobody understood why\nhe wanted to go," Peterson said. "Everyone thought he was nuts. But it was an early sign, and in hindsight he made a pretty smart move." \nA more recent defection from the east, where seat assignments were once a birthright, occurred two years ago, when IU hired Peterson. Landing Peterson, a World Champion and Olympic double sculler who had achieved notable success coaching women's crews while based on the tradition-laden East Coast, affirmed the transfer of rowing muscle to the land of milk and honey. \nWhat is more, Peterson enlisted Carmen Mirochna and Fran O'Rourke, up-and-coming assistant coaches at Cornell University, a school entrenched in the traditional rowing culture.\nIU rowing has taken a giant leap under its new coaches but is the obvious underdog when the team gets on the line Saturday. To make it to the afternoon Grand Final, the Varsity 8 will have to knock off two teams in the morning race against No. 2 seed Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan State and No. 6 Iowa. Peterson acknowledges that "it's a really, really hard thing to do" and is realistic about their objective.\n"Our very achievable goal would be to be racing down in the Petit Final against whoever the other two schools are and be in a dogfight with them," Peterson said. "I am not bummed out by that."\nA key word in IU rowing is "improvement." Whether rowers are pulling the erg or running stadiums, Peterson wants them to surpass their previous effort. His approach is one part uncomplicated philosophy and one part affable personality that creates an easy-going but highly competitive environment where self-motivation rules. \nAn area off the water in which the Hoosiers have made noticeable gains is the weight room. IU rowers have been spending quality time with the Standard brothers and sporting ripped torsos this season as a result. Hoosier rowers move metal in ways comparable to their mettle.\n"One of the signs of a great team," said IU Strength and Conditioning Coach Josh Eidson, "is how they motivate themselves when the coaches aren't around. That happens with the rowers. Their motivation is very high.\n"They take pride in the weight room and work extremely hard. They push each other and hold each other accountable. They understand the importance of being strong and are not afraid of lifting. They know lifting weights helps them in the boat."\nThe Hoosiers have become rowers to watch this year, but they aspire to be like their Big Ten opponents-rowers to watch out for. \n-- Contact Staff Writer Bill \nMeehan at wmeehan@indiana.edu.