2011 Clemson Rowing Outlook

Goal.

Our goal is to continue the success of the program by training to be the best. We are going to give the athletes the tools they need to succeed in the classroom, the weight room, land training, and on the water. If we do that, we can be competitive with the best crews in the country.

“I’m really excited about our upcoming spring season. We’re racing many of the best teams in the country and preparing for them will take a great deal of hard work. Specifically, we will draw upon a number of building blocks to help us achieve our goal this spring.”

Weight room.

The biggest change this year is a commitment to the weight room. From the first day of the season, our new strength coach, Josh Hudak, worked on getting our athletes stronger and preparing them both physically and mentally for the 2011 spring racing season.

Technical focus.

From our very first practice on the water this fall, we worked as a staff to get everyone proficient, both individually and as a group. This focus is important in increasing our technical proficiency as a program and it is a reoccurring theme throughout our practices.

Competition.

We are using as many practices as possible as opportunities to compete. Selection happens every day in everything that we do, from land practice to the weight room to competitive pieces on the water. Everything that an athlete does in practice will come into play when it is time to select crews to race.

People.

Our greatest asset is our people. Our freshmen are injecting a fresh burst of energy and speed into the program. We have a good balance of freshman athletes, both domestic and international, which have achieved success at the junior level, including the US national championships, the Junior World Championships, and the U23 World Championships.

“We’re excited about our freshman class this year. We have a number of great student athletes from all over the United States plus four new international student athletes from Italy, Hungary, Ireland and Peru. We feel that a number of our freshman are going to be able to compete for spots in our NCAA boats.”

Leading the freshman is a group of returning athletes that have been responsible for great success at Clemson. Over their years with the program, they have led Clemson Women’s rowing to three consecutive NCAA championships appearances as well as an ACC conference championship. For example, we have athletes who have come into the program and become immediately successful, having been to NCAA championships every year they have been at Clemson. We also have athletes who may have started with less success, but are now in a position to make the NCAA championships for the first time due to an outstanding work ethic and steady improvement. Both paths of success are invaluable in helping develop the freshman into the next Clemson champions.

Season outlook.

We are fortunate at Clemson to be able to host so many home races. We have fantastic facilities that draw great programs and our conference championship every year. This season is no different. To be the best we feel that it is important to race the best. We have set up a very challenging schedule, including a number of programs that competed at the NCAA championships last year. Racing programs from every region will help prepare us for our conference championship and the NCAA championships.