Sept. 28, 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 third installment is from junior Sarah Kate Hafner from Tampa, Fla. A 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 member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team, she is enrolled as a design major in the College of Arts and Letters.
Irish eyes were smiling all across campus during the Michigan State weekedn as alumni and students alike welcomed the first home football game of the season. In the eyes of the Irish rowers, however, there was something else to be found. Early Saturday morning an unmistakable spark of anticipation shone brightly as we sampled our racing lineups and loaded the trailer in record time. The pre-season adjustments to coaching and training staff had fallen easily into place in the first weeks of the new season, and as the team arrived in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Sunday (September 17) for our first scrimmage we were excited to put our training to the test. The three Irish boats were assembled at random, yet they finished each race within only seconds of each other, which speaks volumes for the depth of both talent and work ethic among team members.
Though the season is young, we are quickly getting re-accustomed to early morning lifts, neighborhood kids cheering from the riverbanks, and replacing lost calories with dining hall omelets and team outings to Steak’n’Shake . As we remain focused on our training in the coming weeks, we look forward to the return of Irish sparks in our eyes as we prepare for the Head of the Rock in early October.