Sept. 20, 2005
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THIS WEEK: The University of Iowa rowing team will travel to Des Moines Saturday to compete in the Head of Des Moines Regatta. Competition will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
THE COMPETITION: The Head of Des Moines is a three-mile upstream race. The start is located near the Des Moines Botanical Center and the course finishes approximately 500 meters upstream from the Prospect Park launch area. The races will be in a head race format. Teams will start the race one after another, with a 15 second break between each. The team that completes the course in the quickest time wins.
SEASON OUTLOOK: The Hawkeye rowing team has a new motto this year: “Survival of the fittest.” The squad hopes to end each race knowing they’ve pushed their hardest, but that they’ll be able to recover quickly. A few solid freshmen mixing with the veterans made team dynamics an important key to the preseason. The team is predominately young this year, but full of energy and focus for the season ahead.
HEAD COACH: Mandi Kowal is in her 12th year as head coach of the Hawkeyes. In the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Rowing Championships, she coached the Varsity 4+ teams to fourth and eighth-places finishes, respectively. Kowal began her rowing career at the University of Wisconsin in 1981. She was a two-time rowing World Champion in the Women’s Lightweight 4- in 1986 and 1987. She was named Female Athlete of the Year in 1987 by the US Rowing Association and was inducted into the United States Rowing Hall of Fame in 1997.
QUOTING COACH KOWAL: “The focus of this weekend’s race is to get physically prepared and be able to handle numerous miles. I’m interested to see how well we can hold up throughout several events. If we focus on the things we are working towards, the rest will come.”