‘Easy speed’

Just one synchronous motion is all it takes to send the UMass women’s rowing team gliding speedily across the calm morning waters of the Connecticut River.

But, acting as one doesn’t just happen—these athletes train hard. Rowing practice is six times a week for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Then there are the weight-lifting sessions that happen three times a week. And to ensure peak performance, they have three individual workouts on indoor rowing machines. What, on its surface, can look like an upper-body sport is actually a full-body activity, with the coaches even going so far as to correct choreography of movement, the rhythm of the boat, and the postures of the individual rowers. 

Win today, win tomorrow, win the moment

This attention to detail seems to be working because the women’s rowing team won fourth place last fall at the Head of the Charles Regatta. And with Coach Eric Carcich ’96 encouraging them on with snappy one-liners like “Win today, win tomorrow, win the moment” and “Find some easy speed,” it’s not hard to see why this team is so successful.   

"As a coach, it’s not just about the moment of them winning,” explains Carcich, a former UMass rower. “It’s more that moment at the end of a successful race when I see them smiling and know the effort they put in to get to that moment—that’s what I work so damn hard for.”