It’s 4:30 a.m., and alarm clocks are sounding.
Pride and passion are the only things that wake these people up as they stumble to the door, ready to meet others at the University Bookstore, where a warm bus awaits them.
It’s a typical Wednesday morning, but this sport is anything but typical. The Oregon Men’s Crew team is getting ready for its ritualistic team practice at Dexter Lake. The fall season is over, with the men finishing in the middle of the pack in two regattas, the Head of The Lake, held Nov. 10 in Seattle, and the Portland Loop, on Nov. 2. But the practice and dedication never end.
With a new coach and new team members, the Oregon crew team is heading in a new direction.
“We had an impressive year with numbers,” Oregon Crew head coach Chris Peters said. “Last year, the men’s program was pretty small and was really nonexistent, but we have a lot of potential.”
Beginning with Peters, who hails most recently from the East Coast after being an assistant coach with several colleges, including Colgate, Connecticut College, San Diego State, California-San Diego and Texas. He is back to help build the crew team into a power in the Pacific-10 Conference.
“I knew I wanted to come coach at Oregon because it has the potential to be a good rowing school,” Peters said. “It has a lot of students, it’s a large school and it’s in the Pac-10. So, when I found out about an opening, I thought it was a great opportunity.”
Peters hopes to breathe life into a program that is constantly battling early morning rising. Despite the practice times, Peters feels he has good rowers who can help bring the team along.
“Based on size, strength and aptitude, I am anticipating that we will do well. The kids are there, the attitude is there,” Peters said. “I would love for it to become a scholarship sport. It would be so good for the University. This campus has potential exploding out of it.”
“This is an all-year sport,” club
Coordinator Sarah Higginbotham said. “We have conditioning in the off-season, in what are basically the winter months. We travel and practice as a team, guys and girls together.”
Peters studied under successful programs, trying to soak up as much as he could so he could one day take over a program of his own. Now he has.
“I feel this program has the potential to do much better,” Peters said. “We have a lot of talent just walking around campus, and if they would just come out and try crew, this school could have something really special.”