Lauren Henne’s Rowing Journal Entry No. 2

April 18, 2000

Lauren Henne (Hilton Head, S.C.) is a senior member of the Clemson Rowing Team and is the team’s captain. As a co-captain last season, Henne was chosen as the team’s Most Valuable Athlete as well as being a member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll. She will provide periodic journal entries to give fans an inside look at the Clemson rowing program.

Journal Entry No. 1

Week of April 3rd through April 9th

Novice preparation for the home race against Louisville Varsity trained and prepared for the weeks to come, with a focus on our first 1000 meters of the race.

These were some of the team focuses for the week:

Mental Toughness “Find the strength within to prove to yourself the worth of this commitment. To leave the race with no regrets is the mark of a true champion.”

“What you’re thinking, what shape your mind is in, is what makes the biggest difference of all.” Willie Mays

Personal Responsibility “A man carries his success or his failures with him…it does not depend on outside conditions…” Ralph Waldo Trine

“You must choose the thoughts and actions that will lead you on to success…” R.C. Allen

I would say that this week could be described as a boosting and building week. As the novice prepared for their race against Louisville, they were challenged to build a stronger sense of mental toughness and personal responsibility. They knew of the competition that lied ahead, and had to look at everyday as an opportunity to prepare.

As the varsity knew it was a training week without a race on the weekend, they had to be mentally tough and hold themselves personally responsible so that they could make improvements and get faster. They were also encouraged to boost the novice moral so that they would be excited for their race.

The race on Saturday ran fairly smooth with the “not so nice” weather conditions. There was a pretty good wind and an “on and off” rain that added to the challenge of the race. The novice showed some great effort in their races versus Louisville, but came up short. The Clemson varsity fours also raced each other for more racing experience. Overall it was a pretty quick weekend, but a great learning experience for the novice.

Week of April 10th through April 16th

Preparation for SIRA’s

These were some of our goals and focuses for the week:

Persistence “It takes a little courage And a little self-control And some grim determination, If you want to reach the goal.

It takes a deal of striving, And a firm and stern-set chin, No matter what the battle, If you really want to win.”

“If I do not practice one day, I know it. If I do not practice the next day, the orchestra knows it. If I do not practice the third day, the whole world knows it.” Ignac Paderewski

On Friday, April 14 we took off for Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The varsity is familiar with this course because we raced there twice last spring. After rigging the boats, we got on the water for a race walk through. Every boat learned the course and mentally prepared themselves for the race.

That evening, the whole team was invited to eat dinner at Brie Peters house for homemade lasagna, pasta, salad, bread, and ice cream. All of the rowers attended, while the coxswains had to attend their coxswain meeting. We shared an awesome meal together as a team in a very warm and gorgeous house. We thanked the Peters for their hospitality and got on the bus very full.

Saturday morning consisted of all of the heat races. In most cases, we had to place top three to advance to the semi’s. Every boat advanced. In the afternoon, we had the semi’s. In most cases again, we had to place top three again to advance to the grand finals, while the ladder three went to petite finals. Every boat qualified for the grand finals. The JV 4 had their final and had no problem finishing in first place, closest competitor trailing by 20 seconds. I think that every boat was pretty tired after racing two 2000 meter races in one day.

That evening we went to dinner in our boats. Then had boat meeting on our strategies for the following day. We went to sleep early to be well rested for the following day.

Sunday was a very successful day for Clemson Rowing. Almost every boat finished in the top three to medal. Everyone stepped up to the challenge, and rowed to their limits. Overall, Clemson should have won the women’s points trophy, but we’re not members of SIRA. We did however win the Daughtry Cup (of the Carolinas) between North Carolina, Duke, Tennessee, and ourselves. We left Oak Ridge in high spirits. What a great weekend we were blessed with!