Weather shortens final home regatta

The IU rowing team had to battle the weather on Lake Lemon, facing choppy water and a brutal wind. The Hoosiers came away with victories in the two varsity eight boats before the conditions forced the varsity four, novice eight and novice four to be canceled.\nThe first varsity eight team posted a time of 8:39.1 with Dayton coming in close after at 8:44.1 while Eastern Michigan struggled with the fierce headwind and choppy water, posting a time of 9:50.6.\nWith a close victory already marked up, the second varsity eight won by 40.5 seconds. Without Eastern Michigan rowing, the Hoosiers posted a time of 8:40.6 with Dayton coming in second with a time of 9:21.6.\nThe weather conditions included a 15 - 20 mph headwind, said Nate Wiechers, IU media relations assistant.\n“Extremely challenging conditions to row in, and because safety was becoming a concern, we canceled the races after the second varsity eight,” IU coach Steve Peterson said. “Obviously we are happy we came away with a win ... but it was not a great performance for our crew.” \nPeterson said the weather greatly affected the speed of the race.\n“The rowers were really focusing on trying to row technically well in these extremely difficult conditions, and that, coupled with all of the waves and water that came into the shell during the warmup and race, made for a very heavy and sluggish stroke,” Peterson said. “To take on and beat national-caliber crews, we have to row much more aggressively – like we have been doing \nin practice.”\nAssistant coach Carmen Mirochna shared the same sentiment as Peterson.\n“Everyone has done a great job training,” Mirochna said in a statement. “Now we need to do it. This is not an easy sport.” \nPeterson said the frustrating parts for him are the bad conditions for the regattas the past two weekends and the lack of practice time on the water. The team has not had an abundance of pleasant conditions in which it could prepare.\n“Hopefully, when we take on Michigan State and Miami (Fla.) this coming weekend, the conditions will allow us to do that,” Peterson said. “We did let the conditions, as bad as they were, affect how we raced ... and that is something a good crew does not let happen. We had looked to row a much more aggressive race this weekend, and in the past few practices we have really been doing a great job of it. But we didn’t do that today.”\nThe Hoosiers will travel to East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday to row against Michigan State and Miami (Fla.).