2022-2023 Season Recap

Jun 13

With ACRA 2023 completed, and awards given out at the annual banquet, it’s about time for us to look back on the season we’ve had this year. This was a season of pretty radical change for Illinois Rowing, as the last few have been. At the start of this year, the team hired a new head coach, Jack Kellmanson, and took in a new, and fast, class of novices.

The team quickly settled into a new rhythm with a new head coach, with practices running smoothly and efficiently, especially after Jack’s introduction of “Central,” a spreadsheet tool to document lineups, absences, and extra workouts. Soon enough, it was time to race, and race we did, with boats at Head of the Rock and Bald Eagle, and a women’s collegiate four sent to Head of the Charles in Boston. At the Charles, the women’s collegiate four placed 3 ahead of their bow number, and we saw similar successes at our other fall regattas.

Winter training saw a series of PRs and PBs in event after event for every person on the team, many individuals PRing several times in a row during a variety of erg tests. Coach Jack also introduced a number of exciting challenges to the team alongside the traditional set of erg tests, giving us something to compete for during the winter training season.

From winter, we drove down to Georgia for our annual spring break training trip. With two or even three sessions a day, the team quickly improved in our on-water performance, ending with a series of team battle paddles.

With our return to Champaign at the end of spring break, spring racing season got off to a quick start. Back-to-back regattas at our home course (ICRI), Redhawk, and then MACRA all saw multiple medals for Illinois crews. With MACRA over, it was time for the team to prepare for ACRA, and also for our spring semester finals. Finals week training went smoothly, with practice times being assigned by boat. Finals week was followed by ACRA prep week, with two short sessions each day to put the finishing touches on race plans and approaches.

ACRA Week is always a somewhat bittersweet time, as we prepare to say goodbye to our graduating seniors, and this year was no different, with one of our largest senior classes in recent memory. We’ll miss all of this year’s seniors, and thank them for all they’ve done for the team in their years on it. We also threw them into Clinton Lake, that was fun.

At last, it was time for ACRA, the culmination of the rowing season. We drove down on Thursday, had a set of clean swing rows, and then began racing. Illinois crews performed very well this year, including the first entries in both the men’s and women’s varsity eight in some years. Our women’s novice 4+ ended up placing 4th in the Grand Finals in a highly competitive field, and our women’s double won the Petite Final of their race. Full results are down at the bottom of this post. We’re excited to keep building on this year’s performances into next year.

Our season wrapped up with our traditional post-ACRA banquet, where we celebrated our seniors and Jack presented awards to many members of the team for their hard work during the year. We’re all excited to get back on the water in August and go for another great season!

Full ACRA Results: