There are a lot of "behind the scenes" aspects to every athletic organization that people that are not on that particular team never see. I am, in this case, talking about weights. The rowing team and field hockey ladies share, pardon the slang, a super bomb weights coach named Laine. I think it's 50% fear 50% respect, but Laine can and will push you to accomplish things at 6 o'clock in the morning that you really don't want to do...ever. But you do it anyways because you know it makes the team stronger, and it's just simply amazing to be fortunate enough to workout in a state of the art area that over looks the football field, with highly trained staff. I could think of no better way to start the day, sunrise over the stadium is magnificent.

That is, until I hear the words "Versa Climber." If you have been lucky enough to encounter one of these machines, you probably just felt an icy chill run through your body at the mere thought of it. Personally, I like the burn and want to stay as light as I can for the boat so I opt to do cardio during weights, and a few other coxswains partake as well. Feel free to ask any of them, all of us at one point or another have experienced a nightmare or two the evening before weights that probably included something along the lines of Laine saying "Good morning coxswains, 3,000 feet on the versa as fast as you can, GO!" Senior Amy Coleman truthfully states, "It is a bad dream where you keep climbing but never go anywhere! And there is a nice little voice coming out of the machine (yes, it is interactive) that doesn't sound tired EVER ... Is this how the rowers feel when we are coxing?" It's a mix between cross country skiing, mountain climbing, erging, squats, and jogging. The rowers go through so much pain on the erg, why shouldn't we be subjected to some tough work as well? It not only makes me appreciate what the women do everyday, but also makes me really glad I'm a coxswain. I have an ultimate sense of respect for rowers - you guys amaze me. Maybe it's because I'm 5 feet tall and contain about 50lbs less muscle than the average athlete, but I have no idea how you guys do it - the athleticism, the intensity, it's awesome and sometimes I wish I could just give you a hug in the middle of a piece rather than tell you push it through the wall to reach your potential. But, that's not our job. We're here to get a boat to go as fast as humanly possible, to push somebody to PR, but I feel that in order to ask for that, coxswains should understand what it feels like to be at that point of exhaustion, and that's why every one of us is at weights bright and early.
So basically, the versa climber is our erg, and myself and any other cox that is asked, will proudly climb until our bodies are numb, because we respect our rowers.

We had a 2k last Friday. I had forgotten what those "pre-race" jitters feel like; it was like being woken up after hibernation. Even if it's done on dry land, the feeling in the air before a 2k is one of excitement and adrenaline. We all know how it feels to be sitting on the line and to look across at the competition. So you other teams out there, just know that we eat that up, we can smell your fear and use that as our fuel because we are like a controlled force of nature out of that line. Use that adrenaline and put it back into power and control and you're unstoppable. So enjoy looking across at us, because you probably won't see us again, you'll just see the reflection of cream and crimson in your coxswain's eyes. It's Spring-time, here we come.

And finally, to conclude this (very long) post, senior spotlight of the week, Ms. Pam Rachel Anderson:
Pam is a wonderful leader on the team, and an amazing person in general. She's an old soul, wise beyond her years and is incredibly giving. She is a modest person but a ferocious beast on the water. It's hard to find problems with Pam's technique; she's like rowing warrior.

I asked sophomore Katie Connor if she had anything she would like to comment on regarding Pam, and after clearing up the miscommunication that I was asking about Pam the rower, not Pam the cooking spray, she said "I worked with Pam a lot this summer in the double and she was always willing to help me improve. You can tell that she's really passionate about rowing and the team." Anderson was kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule and answer a few questions:
 
Q: What's a significant change you have seen in the team over the last couple years?
Anderson: In the 4 years that I have been on this team, there has been a lot of change in terms of the culture. The girls on the team are much closer than when I had joined as a freshman. I could honestly say that everyone on the team is a friend of mine, not just a teammate. When I first came to IU, I felt like I had a lot of really great teammates but now I feel like I have a lot of really great friends who are also my teammates.
 
Q: Where's the most painful place you have gotten a blister?
Anderson: Most rowers get blisters on their hands, without fail, every year. I have the good fortune of having awesome hands and I only ever get two or so blisters a year! But, there are things that we sometimes don't plan for and the worst happens. One day we unexpectedly ran after practice, and the only shoes I had were sandals with straps on the backs. After running in sandals, I had two huge blisters on the bottom of my feet. That made day-to-day things difficult, like walking ... there is just no way around that! Lesson learned: always bring running shoes to practice, just in case!
 
Q: Do you have any pre-race rituals?
Anderson: I treat every practice as if it was race day, and I treat every race day as if it were practice. Although my nerves are heightened more so on race day, I try not to do anything different. If I become anxious, I take a deep breath and remind myself that this is just another day on Lake Lemon. The only difference that precedes race time with practice time is that I listen to some pretty hard-core pump-up music before launching.

- Gayle Lewallen, Freshman, Exploratory Major