2 Hoosier boats impress in Clemson Invitational

The IU rowing team had its ups and downs in its last away regatta of the season last weekend on Lake Hartwell in Clemson, S.C. 

The Hoosiers’ boats were pitted against 19 other schools, many of them ranked and many of them Big Ten Conference competitors.

IU Coach Steve Peterson said the Clemson Invitational was a great gauge to see where the team stands.

“Going into the Invitational we had high hopes,” Peterson said. “Some of the best crews in the nation were there, and a bunch of the crews from that our in our conference were there. It’s a way to see where you stack up.”

Peterson said all of the teams did well coming out of the gates, but could not sustain that momentum. He said two boats stuck out among the rest.

The First Varsity Four finished third Saturday afternoon with a time of 7:31.9 to beat fellow Big Ten Conference member Minnesota for the first time in school history.

Junior coxswain Megan Duffy said the boat’s success was accomplished by cohesiveness and perseverance.

“A lot of things contributed to our success, a lot of things,” Duffy said. “A lot of it was team work and working with weather conditions. We took what was in front of us and we worked through it.”   

IU’s Second Varsity Eight finished fourth in their race Saturday with the time of 6:41.2 but finished just tenths of a second ahead of conference rival Michigan State.

The last time the two boats met was last week in the Big Ten Double Dual where the Spartans finished eight seconds ahead of IU.

Peterson said those two victories were IU’s high points of the Invitational, but many of the boats had a problem finishing the closing leg of the race.

He said the coaching staff is going to be working hard to prepare the rowers to finish out races in the future.

“It’s hard,” Peterson said. “We definitely had some good and bad moments. We put ourselves in a position to do well but couldn’t really edge out the competition in the last 500 meters. 

“We’re getting closer to where we need to be. We just need to finish and work on closing races.”

IU’s last home regatta of the season will be next week.

Duffy said the Clemson Invitational and the Dale England Cup next weekend are very important for Hoosiers moving forward.

“These races are really important,” Duffy said.  “This is the first time we will get to see Iowa (next weekend), and it’s great to see competition we will see in the next couple weeks. 

“We’re excited to see the competition on our own home turf, our lake.”