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Rowing Trains at Cocoa Beach
January 13, 2015 12:01 PM | General
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| Members of the WVU rowing squad participated in a sand work out as they watched the sunrise. The workout consisted of squats, push-ups and sit up variations. |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The winter months have officially arrived in Morgantown. This time of year, the outdoor sport of rowing is hard to come by and with snow on the ground and sub-freezing temperatures, the women’s rowing squad headed south to Cocoa Beach, Florida, to train in the unfrozen waters from Jan. 4-10.
“Being together and on the water at this time of year has not only physical benefits, but emotional benefits as well. Our team has been training on land since mid-November and on their own since the end of the fall semester,” said WVU rowing coach Jimmy King. “The camp provides an appreciated respite from that training, and gives everyone a boost as we return to campus to get into the meat of our winter land workouts.”
The annual trip to Florida helps develop the bond with the novice and varsity squads as they train for the upcoming 2015 season. The Mountaineers rowed once in the morning and again in the afternoon. The morning practices were longer and higher intensity, and the afternoon rows were a chance for technical work and work in smaller boats.
However, first-year rower Irene Darkwaah and fourth-year rower Lisa Deklau shared different experiences along the way.
“As a team, it helps us get back in the habit of rowing with each other and working together,” Deklau said. “It's a good time for the varsity team to get to know the novice squad. Also, it's nice to focus on rowing without school work.”
Deklau, a native of Gambrills, Maryland, worked on perfecting her overall technique, considering the Mountaineers have not been able to practice on the water since November.
“It’s nice to have a change of scenery. The Mon is nice, but it’s pretty awesome that we are able to row in shorts and tank tops in the middle of January with dolphins,” Deklau stated.
Hailing from Akim Asuboa, Ghana, Darkwaah joined the novice squad in August. Darkwaah used this trip to her advantage as an overall learning experience. With this trip, she had the opportunity to practice techniques that she learned throughout the first four months of her rowing career.
“I want to perfect my strokes as much as I possibly can,” Darkwaah said. “The coaches give useful and practical demonstration of how to improve, and I am beginning to grasp some essential rowing techniques.”
Outside of the early morning and afternoon workouts, it is a great time of year for the novice and varsity squad to bond and spend substantial time together. Not only did the team work on their tans, but they spent their free nights at the Karaoke Ice Cream Shop and explored the beaches together.
“The week of being together 24-7 accelerates the process of evolving from two squads in the fall, into one team in the spring, which is very important to us,” King said. “Because our training camp occurs during WVU’s winter break we are free from the usual academic stressors and normal time restrictions on training. In this environment we have that precious commodity of time that allows us to accomplish more than we can in a normal week of training when classes are in session.”
King returns for his eighth season with the Mountaineers, in which he has seen tremendous strides with the team since taking over leadership responsibility during the 2007-08 season.
The Mountaineers return to the water at the Cardinal Invitational in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on March 14-15, after finishing the 2013-14 campaign with a fifth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships on the Oklahoma River in Oklahoma City.
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