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151 T he University of Iowa women's rowing team went south to escape the cold weather and to prepare for regular season competition for the second time this year. e Hawkeyes spent spring break in Alberton, Georgia, where they spent six days training at Richard B. Russell State Park — site of the 1996 Olympic rowing course. "e trip was a good one. e venue was great, the weather was great, and the effort and progress of the women was terrific," said UI head coach Andrew Carter. "It was a huge help as we prepare to open the racing season." e goal for Iowa's trip was to get outdoor training on the water. "As a northern school, on-water strokes are at a premium this time of year," said Carter. "You never know when Mother Nature is going to embrace the idea of spring, so having this opportunity, which enables us to squeeze three weeks of rowing into one, is important. We can test some crew combinations, work on technical issues that only in-boat rowing allows, and develop race-specific skills like starts and implementing race tactics." e Hawkeyes spent the week working through a variety of sessions on the water. "In general, they put in more than an hour session in the morning that incorporated what we call pieces. ose are bouts of high-intensity rowing hovering in the range of race-intensity or just below," said Carter. "ese sessions are challenging, both physical and mentally, and are designed to illicit specific physical, psychological, and technical responses. An example of this may be 5x2000 meters with seven minutes rest and stroke rates shiing at specific points. Understanding that these are performed at just below full-race-intensity (a race is a single 2000 meter effort), you can see how daunting these morning sessions were." e Hawkeyes spent an hour each aernoon participating in recuperation rows, which mainly focused on technique. In the evening, Iowa turned up the intensity for a final two-hour row. "ose sessions were longer pieces than the morning and addressed force application, recovery-phase management, sustainability, and mental focus under fatigue and stress conditions," said Carter. To compliment the physical training, the Hawkeyes spent time working on mentality and confidence. "ey have trained well this year, and seeing the on-water results of that effort is rewarding," said Carter. "e results against Old Dominion and Central Florida were encouraging in their own right, but now that we've seen the results of two actual races for UCF. e team is getting a sense that they may have something going. at sense seemed to fuel them and give them a renewed sense of purpose during a grueling week in Georgia. On the trip home, every person was in high spirits. at's impressive aer six days and 30 hours of rowing." e Hawkeyes remain on the road for their first official competition of the spring season. Iowa travels to Ithaca, New York, to take on historically sound crews of Cornell, Yale, Syracuse, and Boston University in an all-day regatta April 4.