April 24, 2006
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THIS WEEK: The University of Iowa rowing team will travel to St. Paul, MN, Saturday to compete in the Big Ten Championships. The University of Minnesota is hosting the event. The Hawkeyes will be competing against Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
EVENT SCHEDULE: During the morning session, preliminary races will begin at 8 a.m. and continue until 10:45 a.m. In the afternoon session, the petite and grand final races will start at noon and conclude at 2:45 p.m. Iowa will be racing in all events.
LAKE PHALEN: Lake Phalen is located in St. Paul, MN, approximately 13 miles from the University of Minnesota’s campus. The lake covers 198 acres, with a competition course of 1940 meters.
RANKINGS: Five of seven Big Ten rowing squads are ranked in the latest CRCA/USRowing poll. Ohio State (5), Michigan State (6), Michigan (8), Minnesota (17) and Wisconsin (18) made the list. Iowa and Indiana did not receive votes.
LAST TIME OUT: The Hawkeye rowers were last in competition on April 15, when they competed in a double dual in Madison, WI. Iowa’s lone victory came in the second novice eight race when they defeated Wisconsin Ltwt. and Michigan. They were swept by Michigan State, going 0-4 in the afternoon racing session. Iowa was defeated by Michigan in the first novice eight race and the first and second varsity eight races. In the novice four race, Iowa finished second to Wisconsin.
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- (1986-1987). 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 team has been looking forward to this race since September. They have had their sights on this regatta and have spent the past seven months preparing to compete better than they did in 2005. We still have five days of preparation left that we plan to use to the best of our ability. We want to make Saturday a very good day of racing.”