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The Virginia rowing team takes an annual training trip to Florida in preparation for the spring season. This year, a different senior will check in each day with VirginiaSports.com to give insight to how the trip is going. Saturday’s (Jan. 14) entry, which will be the final one, is from Sidney Thorsten (Atlanta, Ga.).

Hey ‘Hoos!!

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for… the final full day!! We started the day with another generous hour of added sleep and a not-so-generous drop of 17 degrees in temperature. After the usual warm-up run and core, we headed out in three eights and two fours. What looked like calm and glassy water outside our stomping ground turned out to be extremely choppy and windy as soon as we left the dock.

After a couple five minute pieces in the middle of the lake, with coach Kevin (Sauer) yelling “it’s good for ’em!” from the launch, we headed towards a little more protection in the river. We completed the pieces with some helpful cheering from teammates rowing by, and finished the practice with some higher rate 10’s and 20’s.

The day continued with the usual run or body circuit and lots of naps and snacks. We met back up a little earlier than usual in the afternoon to begin loading the smaller boats onto the trailer. Yay!! This raised everyone’s spirits considerably, which transferred onto the water in the last afternoon practice of the trip! We took out eights and got some “good quality work in,” with much less wind and much calmer water. After practice most of the girls headed for the final meal at the infamous Stetson dining hall, while some of us stayed back to witness some of the playoff football games. The night ended with everyone beginning to pack up their bags and prepare for our final night at Hontoon Landing. We will start the day early tomorrow at 6:45 with the run and circuit, followed by some racing pieces and then hitting the road to Charlottesville!

I can’t believe this is the last night of training camp ever for some of us! To my fellow fourth years: we’ve made it through a lot these past four years. We truly are the “Deland generation” as Keziah (Beall) pointed out this morning. And to the babies of the team: keep your heads up and have fun and you’ll be fine! Just look at us… we’ve made it out okay, within reason, as coach Steve (Pritzker) would say. 🙂

Sarah Borchelt’s entry (Jan. 7)

Carolyn Glandorf’s entry (Jan. 8)

Martha Kuzzy’s entry (Jan. 9)

MacKenzie Leahy’s entry (Jan. 10)

Cara Linnenkohl’s entry (Jan. 11)

Jenny Shultis’ entry (Jan. 12)

Chelsea Simpson’s entry (Jan. 13)

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