On Sunday, October 9th, 2022, the Drake Women’s Rowing team traveled to Rockford, Illinois for the Head of the Rock Regatta, hosted by the Rock River Valley YMCA Rowing Club.
This race was the first true competitive race of the 2022-2023 season, as Head of the Des Moines, which happened on September 24th, Drake had the only collegiate boats entered in the race. At Head of the Rock, there were a total of 12 boats competing in the women’s collegiate eight race.
Drake brought three eights to the race first and second races competed in the women’s collegiate eight race at 4:20pm, and they brought a novice eight who competed earlier in the afternoon at 2:00pm.
Lineups:
First varsity eight:
- Savannah Smith (coxswain)
- Kiernan Blanchard
- Lindsay York
- Emily Peck
- Annika Fredeen
- Alana Rater
- Ilse Fredrickson
- Lily Evan-Cook
- Sara Wilson
Second varsity eight:
- Sarah Chastain (coxswain)
- Maggie Poltrock
- Rachel Weiss
- Mary Jonas
- Molly Hohner
- Lillian Bitker
- Zoe Zillgitt
- Bella Wolfe
- Cayden Anderson
Novice eight:
- Ella Bloom (coxswain)
- Caitlin Figge
- Claire Mulder
- Brianna Hudson
- Erika Roehrs
- Jazmynn Good
- Claire Martin
- Gracie Joblinski
- Briana Rodriguez
The Race
The race itself was 5,000 meters. There was a slight headwind working against the course, but no strong current.
During the beginning of the race starting at 4:00pm, about 500 meters in, it began to rain, however it stopped at approximately the halfway point. When the rain stopped, a gorgeous view appeared as a double rainbow crossed over the Rock River.
The race plan for both the first and second varsity eight was to start the first 500 meters at a stroke rate of about 28 strokes per minute, then build it up to 30 for the body of the race before pushing to a sprint at the end.
The team has spent the season thus far primarily practicing in pairs, nailing down their technique. When it came to race day, this showed in the togetherness of each of the boats.
Results
Drake’s novice eight, comprised of all rowers who learned to row starting in September, managed to snatch third place in their race, bringing home a bronze medal for the team. They received a time of 23:06.
The first varsity eight got a time of 17:32, and the second varsity eight got a time of 19:01.
Full results are posted by Regatta Master.
What’s Next
This is only beginning of the season for Drake. The spring will show what the team is capable of when it comes to the conference season.
For now, the focus will be to the next race where Creighton University will come to Des Moines on Saturday, November 5th.
