Do you have what it takes to row for the Wolverines?
Information Form
Please fill out this form to help us learn more about you
When you arrive on campus in the fall, you will be bombarded with lots of information from all the different student groups on the University of Michigan campus. It is easy to get lost in all this information, but keep an eye out for our stuff. We recruit heavily on campus and our recruiting paraphernalia is very visible. All incoming freshman males will receive an invitation letter to attend our informational "mass" meetings in the first few weeks of classes. We are also present at "Maize Craze" and at Rec Sports Day at Mitchell Field. We bring a boat out onto the Diag one day, and our athletes are always approaching tall, strong athletes to try out in the first few weeks of school.
Our mass meetings cover specific information on practice requirements, but I will cover some of the basics in this message as well:
We are a club sport in name. However, we behave like a varsity program, and before I go any further I must be clear that it is our intention to compete at the highest level of intercollegiate rowing. This is not a beer-drinking, social club or a fraternity of sorts. The fall is a bit lighter in terms of time, but eventually, when we get to the spring season it will be varsity-like in terms of time and effort. The commitment will end up being 2.5 hours a day in the spring, plus traveling to the various intercollegiate regattas.
We are the fastest intercollegiate club rowing program in the country and we defeat many varsity programs (some with scholarships) at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship. Men's collegiate rowing chooses not to be an NCAA sport, and therefore the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs men's rowing. This is important, because the IRA stewards have determined that club sports may participate in the IRA National Championships if the club sports have an administrator that can prove they follow the same IRA rules (basically a version of NCAA rules) of eligibility, practice time, etc., that the varsity sports do. Since we meet the criteria, we can and do participate.
At the 2005 IRA Championships the Varsity 8 finished 11th and had an overall record in 2005 of 70 wins, 11 losses. This is the highest finish of any club program in the event in history. We have also historically faired well in the Team Points at the IRA, with numerous Top 10 finishes in our program history. In 2002 we had our best finish ever, finishing 6th. In 2003 the team performed the best in our team history, and 2003 is considered the year of the first 'legitimate' national championship, as Harvard and Yale attended as programs for the first time.
2003 Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships
Ten Eyck Men's Team Point Trophy results - Top 25
1)Harvard 355.47
2)Wisconsin 340.56
3)California 306.93
4)Cornell 299.90
5)Washington 287.85
6)Princeton 229.22
7)MICHIGAN 215.96
8)Navy 191.18
9)Brown 190.68
10)Oregon State 189.24
11)Northeastern 160.24
12)Yale 155.87
13)Pennsylvania 138.15
14)Stanford 112.89
15)Temple 108.91
16)Boston Univ. 107.49
17)Cal-Davis 106.83
18)Purdue 93.57
19)Rutgers 79.50
20)Dartmouth 78.00
21)Columbia 62.18
22)St. Joseph's 59.23
23)Minnesota 55.47
24)Georgia Tech 50.89
25)Georgetown 42.65
Of the above teams, only Michigan, Purdue, Minnesota, and Georgia Tech are clubs.
2002 FROSH WIN SILVER
At the 2002 National Championships all crews performed well and were in at least the top twelve in 7 of the 8 events at the national championship. The team's best national finish was lead by our freshman eight, who won the silver medal! They won a tight race for second, edging out Princeton and California for the silver medal. This is the only time history that an eight from a club program has won a medal in that event at the IRA.
WARNER MAKES OLYMPIC TEAM
Steve Warner was the stroke of the U.S. Men's Lightweight Four competing in Athens. He graduated from Michigan in 2000, after rowing four years for the Wolverine team. Steve credits his experience at Michigan for preparing him to row at the Elite level, as the training, technique, and discipline needed at that level is what he was taught at Michigan. Steve also graduated with a 3.9 GPA.
The program also has several alumni involved in national team selection. Joe ('03) and Marc ('05) Rodriguez have represented Mexico in international competition. Matt Hughes '04 and Josh Brown '05 are both currently rowing at the Princeton Training Center in hopes of making their first national team.
Of the men listed above, Warner, Hughes and Brown all walked on as freshman at Michigan with no rowing experience prior to attending Michigan.
NATIONALLY VISIBLE COACHING STAFF
We have a very good coaching staff, which is another reason that the team performs so well. Associate Head Coach Charley Sullivan has coached in stints at Michigan since 1990, and has also headed up U.S. National team sculling development camps. He rowed at Princeton, class of 1986. The Freshman/Novice coach this year will be Cameron Fraser. Fraser rowed at Trinity College from 2001-2005 and has been an assistant coach on the U.S. Junior National Team in the summers of 2006 and 2007. This will be his first year coaching our freshmen. Bill Lockwood is the varsity assistant and has coached high school programs in Washington D.C. and the Ann Arbor Juniors. Bill was a 4 year coxswain at Boston College, winning numerous championships as the driver of the BC lightweights. Head Coach Gregg Hartsuff has coached here since 1992, and became the head coach in 1993. He was twice a U.S. national champion in the early 1990s, and was on the 2003 U.S National Team as a coach, and attended the World Rowing Championships in Milan, Italy as part of the U.S. contingent. Hartsuff still competes himself, winning a gold medal at Master Worlds in 2006 in a 4x, and in 2007 won the B1x at USRowing Masters Nationals.
We are a varsity-club sport at Michigan, which means that we don't get a lot of funding, but a few of the perks that are afforded to the varsity teams. The club members still pay dues and we do not award scholarships. Despite this, we still have a program that is focused on competing at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Men's National Championship each spring. In fact, nearly every member of the 2005 team won a medal at a championship regatta. So we have a lot of success, and the team is enthusiastic and serious about intercollegiate competition.
GETTING STARTED
We have a few days during move-in weekend where we bus you to our boathouse, show you rowing, introduce you to the coaches, show you how to row, give you a chance to win prizes and then feed you. We encourage you to take advantage of this 2 hour opportunity to give it a try without commitment beyond that day. If you cannot make it to an open house you can attend a mass meeting for instruction. After attending one of our mass meetings you will receive instructions on how to begin practicing. The first two weeks are a trial period, which at the end of we will have all athletes pull a 4,000 meter test on a Concept II Model C Indoor Rower, a machine that measures power output, and is used universally by all rowing programs for comparative testing. After the tryout test, we will select approximately 35-45 freshman/novice rowers and 6 coxswains to continue with the team on the freshman squad. While we would like to keep everyone we simply do not have the equipment or coaching resources to do this, so a selection has to be made.
Practices are mandatory. Our focus is intercollegiate competition. We are successful, and one of the reasons we are successful is that we behave like a varsity team.
That said, it is a great experience if you are willing to give it a chance. Feeling you and your crewmates gliding along the water moved by your own power is exhilarating when done well. Intercollegiate competition in side by side championship races is even more exciting. Many people find becoming supremely fit is also appealing. Through the process of becoming a better oarsmen you and your teammates learn some things about yourselves, and some people find even deeper meaning in the experience. If you are a competitive person, and want to be a part of a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletic program, this is an experience that could be available to you upon making the team. I encourage you to at least attend a meeting and meet myself and the rest of our excellent coaching staff, and learn more about the program.
Feel free to email me with additional questions and I hope to see you at a meeting.
Fall 2008 Mass Meeting Times for Michigan Men's Crew:
September 10th 7:30-8:30p.m. Mass Meeting at the Michigan League in the Koessler Room
September 11th 7:30-8:30p.m. Mass Meeting at the Michigan Union in the Pond Room
September 12th 7:30-8:30p.m. Mass Meeting at the Michigan Union in the Kuenzel Room
Sincerely,
Gregg Hartsuff
Head Coach
University of Michigan Men's Crew
(734) 764-0298 (office)
(734) 604-5611 (cell)
(734) 433-1383 (fax)
uofmcrew@umich.edu
uofmcrew@aol.com
*PREPERATORY WORKOUTS
One thing to keep in mind is that stroke rating, or cadence, is very important. We regulate cadence a lot, because it is related to peaking. Without a doubt one can often hold a lower split by rowing a higher cadence or stroke rating. However, going harder with a higher cadence will lead to you peaking earlier than desired, as well as poor rowing.
On the Concept II machine, which is a wonderful training tool because of the monitor, in the upper right hand corner there is a display for stroke rating. It will give you a rating in strokes per minute (spm). You want to monitor this constantly through the workout to help guide you. Pulling a faster split at lower spm is desirable, as we are interested in building power. Heart rate also plays a role, but that is more specific to the individual and a coach needs to monitor that.
Try these sample workouts for starters:
1) 2 x 20' w/2' rest inbetween. Each 20' piece goes: 5'@18spm + 5'@20spm + 4'@18spm + 3'@20spm + 2'@22spm + 1'@24spm. Hold a split that feels like it is pushing your comfortability level, and no further.
2)2 x 20' w/2' rest inbetween. Each 20' goes: 10'@16spm + 10'@18spm. Same guidelines as above, but will be a little slower because of the lower cadences. Can also be modified to be 2 x 15' of 10'@16spm + 5'@18spm.
3)40' straight of (4'@18 + 3'@20 + 2'@22 + 1'@24) x 4. In other words a ten minute cycle four times through. This is a more challenging workout because a higher percentage of time is spent at a higher rating and higher pressure.
These are modest distances and times for our training and a good starting point. Keep a training log so you can look back at your progress. Remember the technique sequence: Starting at the catch (front)-drive with the legs-then open the back-then pull in the arms-then hands full away (arms fully extended) before the body comes over (fully over) before the legs draw you up on the recovery slide. It is your goal to get through the drive in half as much time as it takes to do the recovery, giving a ratio of 1 part drive to 2 parts recovery.
Interested? Please tell the coaches more about yourself.
Go Blue!
