On Saturday, October 26, the Jesuit crew team sent the novices down to Austin, Texas for the Head of the Colorado Regatta. Also known as the “Pumpkin Head” Regatta, the Head of the Colorado is hosted by Austin Rowing Club and is a two-and-a-half mile race on Lady Bird Lake. The two novice teams participated in one event on that Saturday, but this event proved to be a challenge since the novices were participating against many more experienced teams.
“Our novice team is really 99% freshmen,” explained Head Coach John Fife. “Other clubs and teams we competed against race seniors and guys who have been rowing [since] last spring in that event.”
However, although other teams choose to race in the novice division, the Jesuit crew team chooses to race differently.
“The rule allows you to start rowing in 2013, meaning January through May, and you can still be considered a novice this fall,” continued Fife. But, “at Jesuit, we don’t do that. If you started rowing last January and you rowed the season [until] last spring, we move you up to the JV/Varsity team this fall. We leave the novice category for the freshmen so we’re not taking seats away from freshman or novice kids who have started this fall.”
By reserving the novice team for actual novices and freshmen, the team plays fairly and allows experienced rowers to hone their skills at a higher level in order to become better.
The two teams raced in boats of 8 and finished 7th and 10th out of 10 boats in the race, which is a great feat for a beginner team.
Fife felt that “the reason we sent our freshmen to that race was to get them more racing experience and I’d say mission accomplished there. The freshmen learned some valuable lessons in that race. I think we learned some mistakes in our racing there which we hope to correct.”
Through learning from these mistakes, the novices as well as the JV and Varsity teams hoped to improve as they prepared for the Head of the Hooch Regatta in Chattanooga, Tennessee on the weekend of November 2-3.
Support your Rangers by going out there and wishing them good luck!
