April 29, 2005

Throughout the season, members of the UNC rowing team will provide TarHeelBlue.com readers with an inside look at the Carolina program and the experience of being a varsity athlete at UNC. This installment, the 15th of the 2004-05 school year, is by Jess Ziebell, a senior from Rocky Mount, N.C.

Our season is beginning to come to close as ACC's were this past weekend. We prepared all year to race our competition at ACC's. And it all came together so well, as every boat had the best race of the season! Unfortunately, we did not place as well as we would have liked, but we did have the best showing yet as we were closer to every team than we had ever been before. But we have just used this to fuel our training as we are working towards our last race, NCAA South/Centrals in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Here we will face all of the same teams and a few more as we all vie for a bid to the NCAA Championship race in late May.

This week we have focused on making ourselves even faster, perfecting everything so that nothing will slow us down. Monday's practice was an interesting one to watch because we did an eight-minute race piece down the lake. It was easy to tell that our normal race piece doesn't last that long because just as we passed the 6:30 mark both boats began to fight even harder to not lose the racing power. In the end, Monday's practice was awesome because it showed us that no matter what we encounter during a race, we are able to pull together as a boat to fight it out to the end and give everything we have.

Wednesday's practice was another one that was all about fight and putting everything out there. We took our final 2k, for seven of us the last of our careers at Carolina. Never before had I witnessed so much fight in every single one of my teammates. We had nine people set either personal records for the year and some for their career, including myself as I finally tackled that elusive one-tenth of a second to break seven minutes. With all of this momentum we continue to push and fight for every inch and every second as we are seeking revenge at Centrals in three weeks.

This Saturday is our annual Rowing Banquet where we get together with our parents and friends to celebrate the success of our year and to say good bye to the seniors. The seniors all get to say their final words on what it has been like to row for Carolina. It is always bittersweet to say goodbye, but we all know that our class has left a lasting impression upon this program. We know that when we come back for Alumni Day in the years to follow that the team that we are leaving will not be the same team that we will see in the future, for the future of this team will be even faster and stronger than any before it.

So keep tuning in to see how much more speed we will gain as continue to prepare for Centrals.

For one last time ... from three seat,

Jess