Chariots under fire

They say it's like their pet.

The Washington women's rowing team lost a close friend en route to the practice water of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, last Tuesday when their racing shell was tossed off the trailer in high winds.

The winds were so strong they laid semi-trucks flat on their sides and pulled the carbon-fiber shell from its harness while men's coach Bob Ernst drove through Wyoming.

"The varsity eight raced that boat at nationals when they won last year," said sophomore Yvonneke Stenken. "So it was upsetting. We trained everyday in that boat -- it was like our pet. Coaches always tell you though, 'It's the horses, not the chariot, that counts.'"

The rowers weren't without a vehicle for long though, as a brand-new Pocock racing shell awaited them when they arrived in Indianapolis yesterday, the site of the NCAA championships. A shell from Iowa's crew program was borrowed for the team's practices during the week.

"When it happened, the coaches had another boat ready in 10 minutes," Stenken said. "I'm not sure we want to see [the old boat] now. What if it has a big hole in it? That would be too emotional."

The new Pocock that will carry the title dreams of the varsity eight will be named The Hunter, the same as the Huskies' deceased pet, and the same riggers and shoes from the old boat will be fastened to the new Hunter.

While the disappointment is obvious, the Huskies feel no pity and ask for little sympathy because all that can do is slow them down for the biggest race of the year.

"Nationals is like having a loved one stuck under a car," said senior captain Jenni Vesnaver. "There is so much adrenaline, you can lift about anything up. Adrenaline can lift a crew 10 or 20 seconds, and it shakes the whole race from top to bottom. We have to be confident in our speed, but only from point A to point B. We have to act like we're in a tunnel, then we won't get rattled."

The Huskies have all the swagger of Bill Gates running a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. They are defending the team title from last year, but they haven't exactly won popularity contests at the pre-race dinner banquets the past few years.

"Yeah, we were booed at the dinner," Vesnaver said. "A while back we won the first and second championships after the NCAA started them in '97. Every school had the common goal of beating Washington. Now other teams have won, and they respect us now. And we'll still be at the dinner tonight wearing our national-championship rings, flashin' the gold."

The Husky men's team has flashed the gold more than Mr. T in it's storied history. The varsity eight has won 11 cups since its first in 1923. Coached by Rusty Callow then, it became the first school from the West Coast to win at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association's (IRA) championships.

This will be the 100th IRA Championships, and it will once again take place on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. The Huskies will, like the women's team, race two varsity eights, a freshman eight and a varsity four. The format is slightly changed, though. If Washington doesn't win its preliminary heat, it must race again in a repechage, or second chance, and the top two boats from the second-chance race will advance.

While Washington has maintained a dominate racing season, spending the better portion of it as the number-one ranked crews in the country, it means little now.

"I would rather lose every single race, and win national championships, than win the races and lose at the national championships," said senior Lucas Ahlstrand.