Rowing team has experience, drive to succeed

The amount of experience on this year's rowing team should allow it to compete with the powers of the Big 12 Conference.

K-State's team includes 47 rowers, 32 of whom are returning and five of whom are seniors. The varsity team consists of at least eight rowers.

Head coach Patrick Sweeney expressed his thoughts on how experience will play a big part for the team this season.

"This is a young team," Sweeney said. "I'll get to see how they handle racing compared to last year where we were a little bit inexperienced in that area."

The experience will also show who can step up for the team in difficult situations. Sweeney said how they do that is the most important variable.

"When it's required of them, the performance of the team plays a big issue," Sweeney said. "It will be interesting to see how each of them prepares for a race."

In last year's Big 12 Championship, the team placed fourth overall and defeated rival team Kansas in the 1st Varsity eight race.

Sweeney began his rowing career at the age of 12, was a member of the British National Team and competed in eight World Championships.

During his national coaching tenure, he took crews to 11 World Championships and four Olympic Games. After starting out with his native British Olympic team, he then coached the Burnaby Lake Aquatic Club in Canada. In 1980, he traveled to Berkeley, California to coach the Golden Bears of the University of California. He added four national championships as the coach of the women's rowing team.

In 2002, he was the associate varsity coach at Stanford University before coming to K-State the next year. This will be Sweeney's eighth year at K-State, adding to his 30-plus years of international and collegiate coaching experience.

The Wildcats recently had nine rowers named scholar athletes by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. To be named on that list, an athlete must hold a cumulative 3.5 grade point average through the fall semester of the current competition year. They must also meet eligibility requirements by the institution and be in at least the second year of eligibility in the sport.

K-State's first event is Sept. 25, where the team will open its season in Des Moines, Iowa. A time has not been set for the event.