Oct. 16, 2006
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THIS WEEK: The University of Iowa varsity rowing team will travel to Boston, MA, this weekend to compete in the historical Head of the Charles Regetta. Racing will begin Saturday at approximately 8:45 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. ET, and on Sunday at 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. For other information on the Head of the Charles, visit www.hocr.org.
THE RACE: The three-mile course takes competitors upstream on the Charles River. Rowers will begin at the Boston University Boathouse and travel through five triple-arched bridges, ending near Artesani Park. The races will be in a head race format. Teams will start the race one after another, with a 15 second break between each entry. The team that competes the course in the best time wins. The Hawkeyes will compete in Club 8+ on Saturday at noon while the championship 8+ will race on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET in a large field of 58 teams.
HEAD OF THE ROCK: In the women’s collegiate championship eights the Hawkeyes placed two boats in the top five. The first boat finished second with a time of 16:42.60. Following close behind, the second boat for the Hawkeyes secured a fifth place finish in a time of 16:58.15. The Hawkeyes again had two boats compete in the women’s collegiate championship fours. The first Iowa boat took fifth place finishing in 19:17.23. Taking 12th place was the second boat for Iowa, posting a time of 20:27.60. The highlight of the day for the Hawkeyes came in the women’s open pairs where Kristin Kelly and Laura Kanaris took first place with a winning time of 19:23.66. Other Hawkeye boats finished fifth (19:50.81), seventh (19:57.08), 13th (20:24.48), and 16th (20:46.77) in this event.
HEAD COACH: Mandi Kowal is in her 13th 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: “We have been training for seven solid weeks and now the team has something fun to look forward to, the Head of the Charles Regatta. As an athlete and coach this is one of the most enjoyable rowing races in the country. The energy on regatta weekend is fun while still being mixed with a high level of racing intensity. This mix draws in crowds like no other rowing event. I see this as a reward for all the hard training done over the summer and fall. We have been making adjustments from our last regatta and look forward to upcoming challenges.”