Dec. 15, 2011

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana Rowing's junior co-captain Kathryn Laine teamed up with Jonah Coste, who rows as a part of the Vesper Boat Club Elite Rowing Group in Philadelphia, Pa., to break to the world record for covering 100,000 meters by a male/female tandem age 20-29 on a Concept II rowing machine. The duo set a new world record time of 6 hours, 33 minutes and 36.2 seconds (6:33:36.2) averaging 1:58.1/500m split for the full distance.

"I always thought we could do it, because we were gaining speed, even though it wasn't by much, throughout the whole piece," said Laine on breaking the record. "At the end when it got harder, I still thought we could do it because we were so close to the end."

"I am very excited for Katie and Jonah," said IU head rowing coach Steve Peterson. "They really accomplished something special with this effort. Anytime you can say you have a world record - that means something. That means you have done something no one in the world has ever done before, and that is pretty impressive."

The world record was held by Andrea Carbome and Francesca Farabbi of Italy who had previously covered the distance in 6:41:13.4.

Laine met Coste when she was rowing for the women's U23 Elite Lightweight Program at Vesper Boat Club this past summer.

The basic rules were that the flywheel in the rowing machine couldn't stop spinning ever until 100,000 meters are reached, meaning that as one of the rowers finished a portion of the distance, the other would have to quickly jump on to keep the machine moving. In addition to that, each person had to at least 40,000 meters (of the 100,000 total) to be considered a world record.

"I heard that there were a bunch of Concept II world records, and I hadn't ever heard about them before, so I thought this was the most plausible record to beat," Laine said on why she decided to take on the task.

The pair began the assault on the 100,000-meter record at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14, and completed the distance around 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon.

"I think it could be cool if the IU rowing team could get together to do one of the large team records, but maybe after I have a little break from ultra distances," added Laine.

"I think what makes me especially proud of this is the fact that they approached me with the idea of attempting this, they organized everything, and they did it," said Peterson. "This is truly their world record. To me, this is a perfect example of what separates good athletes from great athletes. Great athletes are extremely self-motivated, don't need to be handed everything and really take ownership, both the good and the bad, in everything they do. Katie and Jonah did just that with this record and that is why this is special."

"Katie is a great example of what is making our team faster and faster each year," added Peterson. "She is not only a great rower, but a great athlete, who loves challenges. I am extremely proud of her effort to accomplish this and we are fortunate to have her as a leader on this team."