Day 8 – January 4th
Donald Jensen
Hometown: Grosse Il, MI
Major: Mechanical Engineering
This morning we started off the same way as the other by creating and devouring massive amounts of
food, especially milk, to prepare for the day ahead. We ran down to the boat house in the lovely Florida
weather and prepared our pairs for a technical practice. We were all very appreciative of this after the
past two days of going hard in eights and on the erg. We used the time to focus on improving our stroke
with an emphasis on the recovery. We did circle drills and pause drill to help us continue to strive for the
perfect stroke. Unfortunately while Coach Costas was going to help one of the pairs, his motor came free
of the boat and ended up in the bottom of the lake. So unfortunately this lead to practice being a little
more difficult without Coach Costas able to be with us. However it was still a very productive practice.
After returning to the house where we are all staying, we quickly made lunch and cleaned up from the
row. Most of the guys and girls went off to a local beach on Lake Minneola where we are rowing,
however I was still exhausted so proceeded to take a nap. Then after waking up we began our afternoon
practice. The mens team loaded up some eights and went out for great session of battle paddle. It was
exhausting but going out and banging heads on the water is always a blast. Then we headed home for
dinner.
For our last full coach surprised us with an amazing meal for dinner comprised of lots of Italian cuisine.
This 3 course meal was quickly destroyed by all of us and was greatly appreciated. And now we are all
hanging out and relaxing preparing for our last day of practice down here in Clermont.
Rachel Keller
Hometown: Carol Stream, IL
Major: Biomedical Science
Hello family, friends, and fellow rowing enthusiasts! Today was another fun filled day of rowing for the laker navy. We started the day off with morning practice at 8:30 am, everyone enjoyed the late start and extra sleep. Today was also the last full day of practice which is very bittersweet for most of the team considering the below twenty degree weather we will be returning to in Michigan.
The women were in fours this morning and we started off practice with circles drills, circle drills are drills where only one side of the boat rows so that the boat spins in a circle. We also started to do some drills on the half feather and full feather which we were all pretty pumped about since we’ve been on the square for most of our time here. After a great technical morning row we took a nice walk through town and walked past all the shops back to the town. One of my favorite things to see on the walk home are all the little lizards sunbathing on the sidewalk, their so cute!!
We had a nice long break today and returned to practice at 3pm. The sun was shining and hardly any wind was blowing, the perfect conditions for our 2 by 30 minute ski jump pieces. The pieces today really showed how hard we’ve been working and all the great improvements that have been made this past week.
After the row the women’s team hitched a ride in the back of the team truck back to our house where we had a quick break to shower and help prepare some food for the incredible dinner Coach B made for us. Tonight’s menu consisted of lasagna, noodles and red sauce, Coach B’s take on Mac and cheese, cooked spinach, bread, and delicious apple pie! We are all very thankful to end this trip with a excellent meal!
This trip has been a great experience and I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to come! With happy full tummies, the Laker navy is back relaxing at the house with just one more practice left in the morning then back to the great state of Michigan! Pull for the Laker Navy!!
Jacob Jones
Hometown: Onondaga, MI
Major: Criminal Justice
The morning started off with a quick practice, the varsity men were in pairs and one four. We were doing circle drills working on the recovery and the catch. The goal was to work on a smooth recovery and a quick but strong catch, we did this through circle drills with pauses and throughout the recovery. While working on drills a shoe in one of the pairs came off the foot stretcher, the men in the pair signaled coach Costas to come help them repair it. On his way to help the pair the motor on his launch came loose and fell into the water, he was able to grab the gas line attached to the motor. Costas was able to hold onto the motor via the gas line for a few minutes before it broke, at this point the motor sank and Costas was left holding onto a broken gas line. He called to other coaches to come and help him return to the dock, then men worked on drills for a few more minutes before also returning to the dock. This was then end of the morning practice, the coaches told us to be back by three o’clock for the afternoon practice.
After returning from practice and getting our food for lunch a group of us gathered and ate outside at the picnic table. After eating lunch and talking for about an hour we decided to go swimming, we went to a beach a mile from the duplex. We hung out there for a few hours before returning to the duplex to go to the afternoon practice. We spent time swinging before playing volleyball, there was no net so we counted the number of times we could hit the ball before it hit the ground. After playing volleyball for about an hour we went for a swim and took time to cool off from the heat. After spending a few hours at the beach we headed back to the duplex to regroup with the rest of the team.
Coach Bancheri rejoined the varsity men for the afternoon practice, he gave the men much needed advice throughout practice. The men spent the first thirty minutes of practice working on drills to help with a smooth recovery. The main part of practice was spent doing steady state with the two eights trying to out tow each other. During the steady state he helped me with getting more swing from my shoulders throughout the drive. This helped me to get a stronger and more efficient stroke, it also helped me to get a longer stroke to match the taller guys in my boat. I look forward to the last practice and seeing what Coach Bancheri has in store for the Varsity men.