University of North Carolina Athletics
Rowing Along: Meredith Krull
November 5, 2001 | Women's Rowing
Nov. 5, 2001
Meredith Krull is a senior from Raleigh and a member of the UNC rowing team. Throughout the year, she will provide TarHeelBlue.com readers with an inside look at her team and the experience of being a varsity athlete at North Carolina.
This week, novice and varsity squad members alike have been preparing for our final week on the water and the upcoming winter training. Both squads did 6k tests on the erg as a measure of where we stand just before winter training begins. In addition, we have spent practice time getting in as many meters on the water as possible before we go indoors.
One thing that everyone is looking forward to is what we in jest call the "Butt of the Lake" regatta. On Saturday, November 10, at 8 a.m., Carolina Rowing will put on this event at University Lake. Because our novice women do not compete until the spring, we hold this regatta for them. We call it "Butt of the Lake," because fall races are "head" races and they are named after the body of water they are on. For example, we raced at the "Head of the Charles" regatta. So, as a joke, we call this the "Butt of the Lake."
At this regatta we will have four 8+'s on the water doing short competitive pieces against each other. The coxswain and stern pair we be from the varsity squad, and the bow six will come from the novice squad. We do everything we can to make this just like an official regatta, but we have a lot of fun with it, too. Varisty rowers that are not in the stern pair of the boat act as coaches and regatta officials, drinking way too much coffee and enforcing "the rules."
What is so much fun about this day is that we get to come together and have a good time as one team before we enter winter training, probably the most physically challenging part of the year. It's really incredible to race and pull hard and be able to laugh and have fun at the same time. The lessons we learn at this regatta are ones that both novice and varsity bring to our spring regattas. We know that we came to be competitive, but we also make sure we have fun.
I hope that you will consider coming out to University Lake to watch this hilarious regatta. Directions are available on our Web site, so please come and check it out!
Yours in Carolina Blue,
Mer
