Oil change

Who's going to make the decisions? Who's going to make the varsity boat?

Members of the Washington women's crew team pondered these two questions during the summer.

With the retirement of an outstanding women's coach, Jan Harville, and the exodus of nearly the entire varsity boat, many rowers wondered what the future held for their team.

At the end of August, with just six short weeks until practices started, Barbara Hedges answered the team's first question. Eleanor McElvaine would take the reins as the women's coach. It would be up to the new coach to answer the second question.

McElvaine knows the program inside and out -- she has been a part of it most of her life. Before becoming the women's coach, McElvaine rowed for Washington in the 1980s. During that time, she had numerous successes as an athlete, including four wins at the Pac-10 championships and three wins at the national championships.

Later, she became the freshman women's coach and worked under Harville for 13 years. She was named Northwest region rowing coach of the year in 2000.

Despite all her success, McElvaine still has some challenges ahead of her.

She assumes the role of women's coach as the Huskies come off their worst finish in recent memory -- third in the nation overall. Most programs would be delighted with third, but the determined and perennially successful Huskies are not happy with anything less than first. They hope to improve on last year's outcome, and McElvaine thinks they can succeed with only slight changes.

"We are changing the weight program a little but mostly we are sticking with what has worked," McElvaine said. "All I'm doing is giving the program a little tuneup. It would be foolish to change what works -- just a tweak here and there."

In her statements, McElvaine emphasized the importance of Washington's storied rowing tradition. One of the Washington traditions McElvaine talked about was leaving subjectivity out of decisions about who rows on which boat.

"The most important thing about this program is that it is objective," McElvaine said. "I appreciated [objectivity] as an athlete. I knew exactly what needed to be done to move up."

This "your fate is in your own hands" mentality has long been a Washington rowing tradition and in some ways helps to separate rowing from other sports. McElvaine recognizes this, credits this objectivity to tradition, and wants to keep it in her program.

Despite her humble statements, it is easy to tell that McElvaine has a little new flare to add. She's also smart, giving fair credit to past methods that have worked.

McElvaine recognizes what was effective and has decided to stick with it. From there, she has chosen to sharpen the saw of Washington's successful ways that has cut down opponents for decades.

McElvaine -- and her young coaching staff -- also stressed that they are not altering the program, but rather emphasizing certain things a bit more.

"Things work pretty well around here," said Erica Schwab, a former Washington rower herself. Schwab took over as freshman women's coach this fall when McElvaine filled the head coaching vacancy.

The main thing Washington is trying to do now is "be more aggressive in recruiting," continued Schwab. "We want to target different areas, like going to Canada."

Part of their plan is the addition of recruiting coordinator Sean Mulligan, a new position for Washington. For the first time, the women's team will have a full-time employee whose job is to get women to come to UW.

Another "tweak" to the already established program is a re-emphasis on grades. The Washington women's crew team has long been known for its excellent performance in the classroom but McElvaine would like to see her team do better.

"Crew regularly has above a 3.0 (team) GPA. I would like to see us improve on that," McElvaine said.

Although McElvaine's plan is to keep the program similar to what it was, the program itself has changed. In addition to a new coaching staff, the Husky women must overcome the loss of 14 very talented seniors.

These changes mean new personnel for Washington.

Despite how daunting the task of replacing 14 athletes seems on paper, the Huskies are up to the challenge. A young crop of talented rowers is perfectly willing to lubricate the finely tuned machine that is Washington rowing.

"It gives a lot of incoming rookies something to shoot for," said second-year rower Sara Bryce.

This new oil should keep things moving smoothly. With an objective system that self-determined athletes can thrive in, and some new ideas from McElvaine, Washington is off to a good start this year.

In regard to the teams's chances of improving on its successes of last season, McElvaine said, "We have a realistic perspective. We know we have a real challenge ahead of us. But at the same time there is a high level of excitement because everyone has a shot [at making a top boat."

The enthusiasm of McElvaine and her athletes is evident in their demeanor. With the foundation of a solid time-tested program beneath them, the Washington women are moving into the next 100 years of Washington rowing.

If McElvaine succeeds, it won't be long until the Huskies are back to a familiar spot -- No. 1.