Liberty Head Coach Debbie Prowse shouts instructions from her boat as the Lady Flames Varsity 8 practices early in the morning at Smith Mountain Lake. (Photos by Patrick Strawn)
Large crews of rowers gearing up for season-opening Music City Head Race in Nashville
10/5/2023 1:50:00 PM | Rowing
The Flames and Lady Flames have 35 rowers on this season's roster, including many with varsity experience.
While it demands tremendous discipline and work ethic — with grueling early-morning practices five to six days per week — the sport of rowing is growing steadily in popularity in Liberty University's Club Sports ranks.
Ninth-year Head Coach Debbie Prowse has the largest roster she has ever had to work with this fall, with 27 women and eight men, not including team manager Patrick Loveday. The Flames and Lady Flames have enough experienced rowers to enter women's Varsity 8 as well as men's and women's Varsity 4 boats into Saturday's seventh annual, season-opening Music City Head Race on the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tenn.
"We had 16 rowers return, which is the most we have ever had come back, so that is very exciting," Prowse said. "I am glad to have that retention rate, building the team around those that have that rowing experience, which makes them stronger and more successful on the water."
She also recruited one men's rower and three women's rowers with high school experience, adding a fourth woman, Lauren Thompson, a transfer from Stetson (Fla.) University.
"She rowed on an NCAA Division I program and is very strong and has very good fundamental skills," Prowse said, noting that she will row on the Lady Flames' Varsity 8 boat. "All the new girls have fit right in and we have a really strong group overall."
The Flames and Lady Flames are thrilled to be able to test their mettle at their first head race of the fall, when courses are 5,000 meters in length compared to 2,000 for the spring. With more than 30 club teams competing, including Clemson, Georgia, Illinois, Murray State, Northwestern, Virginia Tech, and Wichita State, the regatta will give them a good first gauge of where they stand, or sit.
Liberty's returning rowers are accustomed to traveling six hours by bus to Oak Ridge, Tenn., as they did twice last spring for both the season-ending SIRA and ACRA Championships, and will have an eight-hour drive to Nashville on Friday.
Team members get up extra early every weekday to commute 45 minutes each way on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings for practices out of Liberty's boathouse on Smith Mountain Lake near Mitchell's Point Marina in Huddleston. The Flames and Lady Flames also hold indoor erg workouts at the Liberty Club Sports Complex on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Prowse offers optional small-boat training on Saturdays, allowing team members to learn sculling, which involves rowing with two oars apiece.
Junior John Bailey, Liberty's men's team captain, will row a single in Nashville and sophomores Kyle Meeker and Gideon Abbott will be competing in a double. Meeker will be the only rower racing twice on Saturday, also as a member of the Flames' Varsity 4.
Abbott also serves as one of the team's three spiritual leaders along with juniors Jada Lane and Rachel Teague.
"They know the team culture and know what to expect, to guide their current teammates and keep all the team's values and vision continuing," Prowse said.
Sophomore Kimberly Loutzenheiser is the Lady Flames' head captain with junior Devyn Bayle serving as assistant captain.
Prowse is hopeful that the Flames and Lady Flames can stay close to the front of the pack in their respective varsity races, which will have staggered starts, releasing one boat at a time.
"They set you off time trial style, so you are basically racing the clock and hoping to pass other crews," she said. "On the women's side, especially, we have had some really good practices and have seemed to click. They are working hard and really jelling together in preparation for this race, so I am looking forward to meeting up with our competition and seeing where we stand."
Prowse said the fall regatta schedule is a bit more relaxed than in the spring, when there are multiple 2,000-meter races on back-to-back weekends.
"Head races are more of an endurance type of race, where you are learning how to pace yourself for 5,000 meters versus the more intense, condensed race of a 2,000-meter course," she said. "We are trying to really hone our technique, getting back to the basics and fundamentals of the stroke. You have to build up your aerobic base, which most have lost over the summer months."
Prowse will allow many of her newcomers to make their debuts in novice boats at the Oct. 29 regatta on the James River in Richmond and again in the fall semester-ending Head of the South on the Savannah River in Augusta, Ga., on Nov. 11.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
Ninth-year Head Coach Debbie Prowse has the largest roster she has ever had to work with this fall, with 27 women and eight men, not including team manager Patrick Loveday. The Flames and Lady Flames have enough experienced rowers to enter women's Varsity 8 as well as men's and women's Varsity 4 boats into Saturday's seventh annual, season-opening Music City Head Race on the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tenn.
"We had 16 rowers return, which is the most we have ever had come back, so that is very exciting," Prowse said. "I am glad to have that retention rate, building the team around those that have that rowing experience, which makes them stronger and more successful on the water."
She also recruited one men's rower and three women's rowers with high school experience, adding a fourth woman, Lauren Thompson, a transfer from Stetson (Fla.) University.
"She rowed on an NCAA Division I program and is very strong and has very good fundamental skills," Prowse said, noting that she will row on the Lady Flames' Varsity 8 boat. "All the new girls have fit right in and we have a really strong group overall."
The Flames and Lady Flames are thrilled to be able to test their mettle at their first head race of the fall, when courses are 5,000 meters in length compared to 2,000 for the spring. With more than 30 club teams competing, including Clemson, Georgia, Illinois, Murray State, Northwestern, Virginia Tech, and Wichita State, the regatta will give them a good first gauge of where they stand, or sit.
Liberty's returning rowers are accustomed to traveling six hours by bus to Oak Ridge, Tenn., as they did twice last spring for both the season-ending SIRA and ACRA Championships, and will have an eight-hour drive to Nashville on Friday.
Team members get up extra early every weekday to commute 45 minutes each way on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings for practices out of Liberty's boathouse on Smith Mountain Lake near Mitchell's Point Marina in Huddleston. The Flames and Lady Flames also hold indoor erg workouts at the Liberty Club Sports Complex on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Prowse offers optional small-boat training on Saturdays, allowing team members to learn sculling, which involves rowing with two oars apiece.
Junior John Bailey, Liberty's men's team captain, will row a single in Nashville and sophomores Kyle Meeker and Gideon Abbott will be competing in a double. Meeker will be the only rower racing twice on Saturday, also as a member of the Flames' Varsity 4.
Abbott also serves as one of the team's three spiritual leaders along with juniors Jada Lane and Rachel Teague.
"They know the team culture and know what to expect, to guide their current teammates and keep all the team's values and vision continuing," Prowse said.
Sophomore Kimberly Loutzenheiser is the Lady Flames' head captain with junior Devyn Bayle serving as assistant captain.
Prowse is hopeful that the Flames and Lady Flames can stay close to the front of the pack in their respective varsity races, which will have staggered starts, releasing one boat at a time.
"They set you off time trial style, so you are basically racing the clock and hoping to pass other crews," she said. "On the women's side, especially, we have had some really good practices and have seemed to click. They are working hard and really jelling together in preparation for this race, so I am looking forward to meeting up with our competition and seeing where we stand."
Prowse said the fall regatta schedule is a bit more relaxed than in the spring, when there are multiple 2,000-meter races on back-to-back weekends.
"Head races are more of an endurance type of race, where you are learning how to pace yourself for 5,000 meters versus the more intense, condensed race of a 2,000-meter course," she said. "We are trying to really hone our technique, getting back to the basics and fundamentals of the stroke. You have to build up your aerobic base, which most have lost over the summer months."
Prowse will allow many of her newcomers to make their debuts in novice boats at the Oct. 29 regatta on the James River in Richmond and again in the fall semester-ending Head of the South on the Savannah River in Augusta, Ga., on Nov. 11.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
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