SARASOTA, Fla. - Old Dominion women’s rowing finished competing in the Sarasota Sunshine Invitational with the Monarch 1V4+ boat finishing first in the third level final.
“I was disappointed with how we approached the regatta on Friday. We struggled and underperformed in all our races that day. We really let the conditions dictate our mindset and how we rowed. The conditions were definitely challenging for sure, but we have rowed better in tougher water at home,” said ODU Head Coach Brian Conley.
ODU experienced rough conditions and strong cross tailwind made for some choppy waters in the middle of the course through most of the regatta. The team raced a time trial on Friday and were seeded into events on Saturday based upon the time trial results. There were Grand Finals, Petite Finals, and Third Level Finals.
The Monarchs raced in the DI 1V8+, 2V8+, 1V4+, and 2V4+ races with the 1V8+, 2V8+, and 2V4+ each reaching third level finals. The 2V4+ boat competed in the Petite Final.
“We talked afterwards and the whole team brought a different attitude on Saturday. I was really happy to see our team build some resilience and race as hard as they could. It worked well and we were able to walk away beating some crews that beat us on Friday and defeated some Big 12 teams as well,” added Conley.
The 2V4+ boat finished in third in the time trial race on Friday with a time of 8:29:24 and the 1V4+ finished sixth with a time of 8:22:59. ODU’s 2V8+ boat came in fifth with a time of 7:35:22 and the 1V8+ came in sixth finishing in 7:01:84. On Saturday Morning, the 2V4+ competed in the Petite Final and finished in sixth with a time of 8:13.02. ODU had three boats compete in Third Finals, ODU 1V4+ came in third timing out at 7:56.84, the 2V8+ finished third with a time of 7:18.27, lastly the 1V8+ finished in first with a time of 6:47.97.
“This race was important for us because it’s on the same course our conference championship will be held in May. We got to see how we matched up with the new conference competition, now that we are in the Big 12. The third thing that was important was that we are walking away with more of an understanding of what it’s going to take to be competitive in the Big 12. After today, there is a good bit of hope and belief on the team.” said Conley.
ODU rowing will be in action next in the George Washington Invitational Regatta held on April 11-12.