Lehigh University Athletics
Season Preview: Mountain Hawks Ready to Race
3/19/2021 10:37:00 AM | Men's Rowing, Women's Rowing
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Last March, the Lehigh rowing team was in California for its spring break trip when the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. Flash forward to this March and it's been more than 16 months since they've lined up for a regatta.
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That changes on Saturday, as the women's team is set to begin its long-awaited season against Saint Joseph's on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Both the women and men are scheduled to face Drexel the following Saturday (Mar. 27), also on the Schuylkill.
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The road to this point hasn't been easy, but the Mountain Hawks have learned and grown by overcoming obstacles and being adaptable to change.
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"COVID has been a challenge, but I think the team has done really well managing it with everything they've had to do with testing, changing of practice formats and things like that," said Lehigh head coach Brian Conley. "I'm excited to get them out there in a race. It's going to be fun. Saint Joseph's is a great competitor to do that against."
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A significant challenge for these Mountain Hawks, and any sports team during these times, has been developing team chemistry with much less in-person face-to-face time than they're used to.
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"They struggled a lot with that early on," said Conley. "We had them separated a lot in small groups, so that made it really difficult for the upperclassmen to meet the first-years and vice versa. The connectivity struggled a little bit in the fall, but as we got into winter training and the spring, in rowing, it just comes together. You're put into boats with people and forced to do a lot of hard work and in the hard work, you tend to bond because there's a mutual work piece you have together.
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"They've rallied around that because they've wanted to work really hard for so long and now they can."
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The opportunity to compete is something the Mountain Hawks don't take for granted.
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"You saw it from day one when they finally got back into the erg room," said Conley. "One of our captains said it best on the river the other day. We had literally just stopped to grab a quick drink and one of our captains stood up and said you know what, it's so great to just be on our river. We weren't able to do this a couple weeks ago.
Â
"Now here we are. We're putting together boats and we haven't been able to do this in over a year."
Â
Conley and the team bring perspective into the season, understanding where they are this March isn't where they were in previous years, but that's okay. The philosophy remains the same – to learn, grow, develop and ultimately gain speed and be at their best at the end of the season.
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"We have always been known to find more speed as the season goes on," said Conley. "Part of that's our training plan, but that's also part of who we are, how we develop and just become better at racing as we go forward. The team is ready to do that; they embrace that idea."
Â
Specifically for the early-season regattas, Conley is focused most on the technical side of racing.
Â
"Right now, it's just a matter of can we work from start to finish? That's our first goal in terms of racing for this year," said Conley. "From start to finish, can we put together one full 2,000 meter race that we're excited about? If we do that, then we can build on that for the next race."
Â
The Mountain Hawks are working towards are their championship regattas – the Patriot League Championship for the women (May 14) and Mid-Atlantic Rowing Championship for the men (April 24).
Â
"This group, day in and day out, is fully committed and compelled to try to achieve their goals," said Conley. "They've put some goals out there that are pretty high. But if they stick to their guns, which they seem to be doing, I think those goals can become a reality."
Â
Last March, the Lehigh rowing team was in California for its spring break trip when the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. Flash forward to this March and it's been more than 16 months since they've lined up for a regatta.
Â
That changes on Saturday, as the women's team is set to begin its long-awaited season against Saint Joseph's on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Both the women and men are scheduled to face Drexel the following Saturday (Mar. 27), also on the Schuylkill.
Â
The road to this point hasn't been easy, but the Mountain Hawks have learned and grown by overcoming obstacles and being adaptable to change.
Â
"COVID has been a challenge, but I think the team has done really well managing it with everything they've had to do with testing, changing of practice formats and things like that," said Lehigh head coach Brian Conley. "I'm excited to get them out there in a race. It's going to be fun. Saint Joseph's is a great competitor to do that against."
Â
A significant challenge for these Mountain Hawks, and any sports team during these times, has been developing team chemistry with much less in-person face-to-face time than they're used to.
Â
"They struggled a lot with that early on," said Conley. "We had them separated a lot in small groups, so that made it really difficult for the upperclassmen to meet the first-years and vice versa. The connectivity struggled a little bit in the fall, but as we got into winter training and the spring, in rowing, it just comes together. You're put into boats with people and forced to do a lot of hard work and in the hard work, you tend to bond because there's a mutual work piece you have together.
Â
"They've rallied around that because they've wanted to work really hard for so long and now they can."
Â
The opportunity to compete is something the Mountain Hawks don't take for granted.
Â
"You saw it from day one when they finally got back into the erg room," said Conley. "One of our captains said it best on the river the other day. We had literally just stopped to grab a quick drink and one of our captains stood up and said you know what, it's so great to just be on our river. We weren't able to do this a couple weeks ago.
Â
"Now here we are. We're putting together boats and we haven't been able to do this in over a year."
Â
Conley and the team bring perspective into the season, understanding where they are this March isn't where they were in previous years, but that's okay. The philosophy remains the same – to learn, grow, develop and ultimately gain speed and be at their best at the end of the season.
Â
"We have always been known to find more speed as the season goes on," said Conley. "Part of that's our training plan, but that's also part of who we are, how we develop and just become better at racing as we go forward. The team is ready to do that; they embrace that idea."
Â
Specifically for the early-season regattas, Conley is focused most on the technical side of racing.
Â
"Right now, it's just a matter of can we work from start to finish? That's our first goal in terms of racing for this year," said Conley. "From start to finish, can we put together one full 2,000 meter race that we're excited about? If we do that, then we can build on that for the next race."
Â
The Mountain Hawks are working towards are their championship regattas – the Patriot League Championship for the women (May 14) and Mid-Atlantic Rowing Championship for the men (April 24).
Â
"This group, day in and day out, is fully committed and compelled to try to achieve their goals," said Conley. "They've put some goals out there that are pretty high. But if they stick to their guns, which they seem to be doing, I think those goals can become a reality."
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