Men’s rowing team rebuilding after two-year absence from club sports

Until a year and a half ago, men interested in rowing at IU were up a long creek without a paddle.\nWhile a men’s rowing club had existed in the past, it had gone defunct. However, a few motivated students took charge and brought the student-run club back to life.\n“It just seemed like an interesting thing to get in on the ground level,” said John Mitchell, a junior who is the club’s president.\nAfter coming up with the idea two years ago, Mitchell and current senior Brad Reis presented their case to the Club Sports Federation, and the men’s rowing club was re-established at IU. The previous club had already purchased boats and had also left an account with the school, giving the new club a few thousand dollars to aid its resurgence.\nWith the club established, the process of building a team commenced. The number of members has fluctuated between four and 18, with the current number settled at 15 – though new students interested in the club are welcome and come and work out with the team. Most of the club’s current members, including senior and club Vice President Mike Bowles, had no rowing experience prior to joining the club.\nHowever, those who stick around soon fall in love with the sport. \n“When you get out onto the water,” Bowles said, “it’s unlike anything else.” \nMany of those inexperienced rowers – including several freshmen who just began this fall – have developed into some of the team’s best.\nOne of those freshmen, Will Peabody, echoed the sentiments of Bowles. Despite never before rowing, Peabody and a group of friends from his dorm decided this fall to join the team just “as something to do.” Peabody said he enjoyed the team from the start, but actually being on the water is what hooked him.\n“I had never experienced it before coming here to IU,” he said. “The water is just so beautiful.”\nCurrently, the temperatures are too cold to regularly go out onto Lake Lemon, where the team shares a boathouse with the women’s varsity team. The team is preparing for the upcoming spring season by cross training. From 4:30 to about 7 p.m. five times a week, the team can be found running, lifting and using the rowing machines in the Student Recreational Sports Center or School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. Thus far, the club has only participated in two regattas, mostly due to the fact that many of the team members are so inexperienced. However, the team competed well this fall against more established clubs from schools like Minnesota and Michigan, gaining confidence and experience along the way. \nThis spring the team looks to benefit from the solid base it has established in the past year and a half by participating in at least three regattas. The team is particularly looking forward to competing against teams like Notre Dame and Purdue, among others.\nMitchell encourages anyone with the least bit of interest in rowing to come to a practice and see for if it is for them.\n“It feels like your body is going to fall apart,” Mitchell said about the 2,000-meter sprint spring race, “and then, the second you hear that horn blow after you cross that finish line, all that relief and the sense of victory ... whether you win or lose you really feel like you accomplished something.”