Nov. 30, 2007

By Grace Doepker

As many people already know my life is pretty much consumed with rowing and any free time I have is spent reading rowing blogs, news stories, results, etc. At the Head of the Charles I was talking to our head coach Derek Copeland about some recent postings on some blogs and he said something like "why don't you write a team blog?"

At first I didn't take him seriously and didn't think it was possible but he gave me an e-mail address and here I am.

First I would like to say I am an engineering major so writing is not my forte. As for rowing this is my fifth year in the sport and my first year here at Dayton. In high school I rowed for Dayton Boat Club where I was in the varsity 8+, varsity 4+, 2x and light 2x, and light 8+.

My novice year I won a bronze at the US Rowing National Championships in the women's junior 8+ plus most other races we entered. My sophomore and junior years were also productive years and ended with appearances at the US Rowing National Championships.

My senior year was a great and fast year culminated with a bronze at the Midwest Championships and an invitation to the youth national championships where we finished with an impressive eighth place finish.

Here at Dayton I have had the privilege to row in the Varsity 8 (which finished seventh in the club 8 at the Head of the Charles, and recently beat Ohio State), the first novice 8 (which was three seconds behind Ohio State's and the Varsity Four which beat Cincinnati in an impromptu race. I love both sweep rowing and sculling and I hope to continue sculling long after my college days are over. I am also one of the team representatives for Dayton's SACC (Student Athletic Advisory Committee).

Though it is only my first year here I can say that I love my team. The coaches are great and very hard working and the girls are nice, hard working and fun. I think it's fair to say we want to win and we want to have fun doing it. I also think we have some good goals set out for us and I think we have a good shot at reaching them.

For more information about the team, click on the following link:
Roster

And for the latest news with UD women's rowing, click on the following link:
UD Rowing News

I hope this blog becomes a tool to help us track our growth and accomplishments through the seasons as well as offer insights to the team, the sport, and the school for any outsiders who come across it.