University of Minnesota Athletics
Q&A with the Novices
10/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
As the Minnesota rowing team took to the water on October 1 for their first competition of the year, the Head of the Mississippi Regatta, many of the athletes in Maroon and Gold were doing so for the first time. As part of the novice boats, GopherSports.com had a chance to catch up with three novices - Michaela Willliams, Julie Szczygielski, and Emma Traun - along with novice coach Claudia Herpertz.
Describe previous athletic history prior to the U of M, what kind of sports did you play? Activities you were in?
Michaela Williams: In high school I played volleyball, hockey, and ran track. I was a three sport athlete my whole life. I played hockey on varsity for five years, three years varsity for volleyball, and varsity track team for five years.
Julie Szczygielski: During high school I was a figure skater and have been in figure skating since I was five years old. It wasn't just a high school thing I've been doing it my whole life. I got to college and decided to try rowing.
Emma Traun: I've been rowing since the summer coming out of 8th grade. Before that I did volleyball and hockey and literally every other sport…didn't work out for me. I was not good at it. Finally, with rowing you don't have to have any coordination so it was the perfect fit. Just raw work ethic! So, I rowed throughout high school then I came here.
What made you decide to join the rowing team?
MW: For me coming into college and not being on a team was weird to me. I thought I came in wanting to focus on school and whatnot and then I got here and was like 'Oh I don't have a team. And I've had a team my whole life.' I was kind of sick of the sports I played since I have played them my whole life. Then I got a flyer that said 'Hey! Come to tryouts for rowing.' So I thought maybe I'd be good at it. Then after tryouts I was like, 'Hey, this is kind of fun!'
JS: I'm very similar to Michaela. I wasn't planning on skating too much in college so wanted to either try something new or try some club, low stress, low commitment, nothing major. Then I got the flyer for rowing in the mail and my dad was like, 'You should try this!' So I said, 'Okay!'
When I got here, I came to tryouts and tried it, seemed fun, it's hard, but worth it.
ET: I lived in Minneapolis my whole life and I just didn't think about coming here until my official visit. I fell in love with it and the team and the sport even more. I had to be here.
How have you guys been preparing thus far? What have you been doing to get ready for rowing in your first race?
MW: Erging, running, stairs and lots cardio.
JS: We run a lot. Lots of stairs or anything to do with cardio.
ET: We do a lot of work on the ergometer. Whatever we can to get fit, stay fit, work together. No day is an easy day but we don't want easy days!
What was the first race like? Anything like you were expecting?
MW: It's hard to describe but it's such a team thing and the whole team you're keeping each other going. You want to be the best boat out there. It's a 100% team thing.
JS: If you personally slack or take off a stroke you're letting a) your whole boat down and b) your whole team down. After giving everything and coming back in from the water and everybody together was just a big team or family like moment. It was awesome.
ET: Not my first race, but honestly, the fact that it was the first race with my new team. It was so empowering and want to work so much harder. I feel like we bonded a lot too. It felt amazing.
Coach Claudia Herpertz
How do you feel about this year's novice crew? This year's rowers who have come in?
CH: We just finished our third week so it's kind of nice to get the first race under the belt with three girls who have experience (rowed in high school) that we recruited. It's nice to have a combination of three eights oday. Ideally we'd like to get another one out there but not everybody was cleared to race. It's a beautiful day, I'm glad we were able to get out there. IT's always lots of fun. That's the most important part about today.
What have you been impressed with thus far (in terms of the athlete's progress)?
CH: Especially coming into this weekend, throughout the week it's fun to watch them come together. We just picked up a few random girls from campus and then seeing them come together as a group really only happens around this time of year. It's really exciting to see.
What is the one thing you guys will take forward from this race and work on going forward?
CH: We'll step it up another round and get ready for Madison at the end of October. Hopefully we will get four 8's out by then. I'm excited to get back out on the water on Monday and just take another step after the first race. We're just going to take it day-by-day and get better each day.
How do you feel about the rest of the season?
CH: Right now it's really day-by-day. In Novice land, there's not much in the fall but just make sure we're working towards Madison. We'll go indoors and put some good meters in on the erg. Then start traveling a bit and get them on the road. Right now it's just day-by-day learning and getting better at rowing.
