While home field advantage in many sports amounts to playing in front of a frenzied and friendly crowd, rowing takes home field advantage to a whole other level. For the Cavalier rowers, every nook and cranny of the course at Rivanna's Lake Monticello has been traveled over repeatedly in practice.
"It's our home, it's our water -- our course," Virginia senior Margaret Matia said.
At the Princeton Chase on Sunday in New Jersey, Virginia competed against strong gusts and turbulent waters and settled for a third place finish behind rowing powerhouses Princeton and Yale. The Garden State's waters were far from friendly.
"Wind conditions were pretty crazy," senior Mary Dobmeier said. "We were rowing into a pretty strong headwind and our oars met lots of turbulence. But we didn't do as good a job as we should've."
After the Virginia teamfinished sixth at the NCAA championships last May and after the varsity four won the NCAA championship, the team looked poised for success this year. Following their best finish in six years at the Head of the Charles Regatta to open this season and a win at home at a novice's meet against Georgetown last Saturday, the Cavaliers look to rebound from the Princeton loss at home against Ohio State and Tennessee on Sunday.
The Virginia squad contains nine seniors who join a strong sophomore class that already contains four national champions from last year.
"Crew is such a team sport," Matia said. "We're lucky to have such a great younger class. I think it comes from watching and learning from the older people. The class is definitely talented. It's going to be great knowing there's a lot of legacy you'll leave behind."
The seniors said they realize the role they play in honing the skills of their younger teammates. In the summer offseason, the seniors took time and traveled as a class to race at Oklahoma, where the team bonded and made a commitment to inspire continued success for the program.
"We've been rowing together for a while," Dobmeier said. "Our trip to Oklahoma got all the seniors on the same page. There's some awesome leadership on the team from everybody."
After the regatta this weekend, the squad will go into inter-season mode, where fitness and conditioning drills become its mainstay.
"The fall is out of season for us, but we still take it very seriously," said 16-year coach Kevin Sauer. "If I had my way about it, we'd just be training. The kids would kill me though -- they want to race."
The Cavaliers will get their last opportunity to race in the fall on Sunday. They have not won the Rivanna Romp, held at Lake Monticello, in two years, despite home field advantage. This year, may be their best chance yet with a strong group of depth and talent.
"It's kind of a big deal," senior Matia said. "We really want to reclaim our own home waters.
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