Rowers gear up for scrimmage at Lake Lemon

Shoving off its fall season, the IU rowing team will compete in the Lemonhead Regatta on Saturday at Lake Lemon.

IU will be the only collegiate team of its kind competing in the event this year. The event features other non-varsity/collegiate teams, none of which will be directly competing with the Hoosiers.

In the past, other collegiate teams have competed in the event. But the ability to lure an opponent is haphazard at this early point in the season, when teams are usually just beginning to practice, coach Stephen Peterson said. Peterson said right now there are just “not a lot of people racing.”

Instead, the meet will function as a sort of intra-squad scrimmage that Peterson best compared to the Cream and Crimson spring game that the football team annually competes in.

A natural asset to the Hoosiers, the nearby Lake Lemon presents a perfect opportunity for the team to play host to convenient scrimmage events.

With the event, Peterson said he wished to take advantage of the situation and prepare the team for the little things on race-day that it just doesn’t prepare for in practice.

Eager to get an early start on the competition, the Hoosiers hope the race will give them a chance to get warmed up for the long season ahead, Peterson said.

Ultimately, the Hoosiers accompany that hope with the belief that putting in work now will pay dividends in the spring.