Lauren Henne’s Rowing Journal Entry No. 3

May 4, 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. 1Journal Entry No. 2

Week of April 22nd through April 29th

Atlantic Coast Conference Championship

Focuses for the week:

Attitude “A champion is someone who has an outlook of optimism. It’s an attitude: the ability to see the opportunity in the problem.”

“An athlete with no ambition is an athlete in poor condition. That applies in both a mental and a physical sense. There is no substitute for desire. It can make a mediocre athlete into a good one and a good athlete into a great one.” Nev Chandler, Sportscaster

“Choice, not chance, determines destiny.”

Belief “To be all that is possible, we must attempt the impossible. To be as much as we can be, we must dream to be more.”

“You’ve got to believe deep inside yourself that you’re destined to do great things.” Joe Paterno, College Football Coach

We ended last week with our regatta in Michigan. This trip ended up a huge disappointment to many of us. The most important thing that we could do after the long trip and a disappointing race, was learn from it. Our focus became to take what happened and find the best ways to change and improve on the problems.

This past week we prepared for the first official Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. The team was extremely motivated for this race.

We left for Lake Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia on Friday morning. We arrived and practiced on the water to get a feel for the race course. That evening we had our ACC Championship banquet at the Holiday Inn. It was a unique and special evening seeing all of your teammates, coaches, and competitors all dressed up. I was also privileged to briefly speak as the Clemson rowing representative.

By the time Saturday rolled around, I think everyone was eager to get on the water and have the race of our lives. The mornings events were ran as heats with only two lanes. The first ranked team and fourth ranked team raced, while the second and third ranked teams raced. The winners qualified for finals, and the others went to a petite final. Clemson and Virginia proved to be the fastest teams there, winning every heat they raced.

All of the afternoon finals consisted of a Clemson boat and a Virginia boat. All of the petite finals were North Carolina and Duke boats. This was a huge accomplishment for Clemson. Now we finally got our chance to race Virginia, last years runner-up in the NCAA Regatta. Every boat had a stellar performance. I don’t think there were any regrets left behind. Virginia ended up winning all of the races, but Clemson put up a good fight.

After the regatta, they announced the winning times and presented awards. Clemson was honored to have two rowers, Catherine Sloan and myself, selected as part of the All-ACC team. It was a very successful weekend. I think Clemson did a great job of setting the standard for future ACC Championships.