Sept. 13, 2005
Notre Dame, Ind. – Each week a member of the Notre Dame rowing team helps Irish rowing fans keep up with practices and results throughout the ’05 fall season in a series of weekly diaries. Members of the Irish team provide insight into training, meetings, practices and the four regattas that are scheduled in the fall.
This week’s second installment is from senior Pamela Jefson from Kalamazoo, Mich. A two-time monogram winner, she rowed in the second varsity eight boat last season. That boat went on to win the second varsity eight event at the 2005 BIG EAST Rowing Championship as the Irish won the team title for the second consecutive year. A two-time member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team, she is enrolled in the College of Engineering majoring in chemical engineering.
While fall may be in the air, spring is definitely on the minds of the Irish rowing team. In only two short weeks, the team has made huge strides towards our team goal of making NCAAs in the spring. This week we continued to focus on technical rowing, but we increased the length and intensity of our practices. It is always so exciting to see the vast improvement from practice to practice. It’s like riding a bicycle — it comes back quickly.
With our races against the University of Michigan and Michigan State just around the corner, we are all pushing ourselves to make a strong showing. Looking at the bigger picture, we want to set a standard of excellence this fall that we will continue into the spring. We are well on our way to achieving this goal. Not only are we improving on the water, but there is great team chemistry off the water too. From Sunday team dinner at South Dining Hall to study breaks at the student center, the team has a great sense of unity. Simply put, the team is off to a great start this fall. There is an understood feeling that the team has the potential for great things this year. I know I’m excited.