The Wake

In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, chances are, most people have done some canoeing. If not canoeing, maybe they’ve stroked the oars of a rowboat while going fishing on one of our great state’s fine lakes.

While Minnesota may not be a state known for rowing, its biggest (and perhaps best) rowing program is right here—near the banks of the Mississippi River, on this college campus.

Building a program out of nothing, University of Minnesota, head rowing coach, Wendy Davis has built a rowing team consisting of 59 female-student athletes.

Coming here from a well-established program back East, Davis knew building a successful rowing program in Minnesota would have its share of difficulties.

“It was really tough because we’re in a tent,” says Davis about her early years recruiting rowers here. “But, I like the challenge of building a program here … its smack dab in the middle of the country, two ideals coming together.”

By “ideals,” Davis is referring to the East Coast schools and the West Coast schools; more specifically, the two United State regions with the most established collegiate rowing teams. To the benefit of the Gophers, Davis is quite familiar with some of these schools. In her college years, Davis rowed at University of California- Los Angeles. When she finished her time there, she coached Stanford University in California for 10 years. After Stanford, she spent four-plus years in Connecticut as the head rowing coach at Yale University.

This brings Davis to Minnesota, where she shares her extensive coaching knowledge with several more (59) rowing pupils. With that in mind, one might wonder what Davis looks for in an ideal rower?

“There’s three things,” says Davis. “First of all, it helps if you’re tall. Then, like any racing sport, you’ve got to be able to tolerate pain. The other thing is you’ve got to have a strong work ethic.”

One athlete who fulfills Davis’ above-mentioned credentials is Liz Ponder. A third-year student, Ponder competes in the stroke position for a Varsity Four boat.

Quick rowing lesson: The University has 59 total rowers, but only 24 of these athletes row on varsity. The U’s varsity boats consist of two eight-person boats (Varsity Eights) and two four-person boats (Varsity Fours).

Ponder, whom Davis describes as “low maintenance and high output,” loves rowing at the U. However, she’s definitely had some battles in maintaining the strong physical health necessary to be a good rower. “I’ve had mono on-and-off for a while,” says Ponder, referring to her mononucleosis illness. “It (mono) definitely can drag you down at times.”

Mono, which also gets referred to as “the kissing disease,” is a sickness caused by an increased presence of white blood cells in one’s bloodstream. Ponder is unsure how her mono was contracted, but had lots to say about the pains it caused and how she’s been able to overcome them in rowing.

Ponder first rowed in 2000, joining a club rowing team after she was cut from her high school basketball team. It took her time to learn the ropes of rowing before she started to succeed. It was then, just as Ponder finally started seeing some rowing success, when she came down with mono. “I remember my coach telling me ‘you finally got your head out of the clouds,’” says Ponder of Mike Wenker–her coach through all four of her years with the Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club.

The compliment from Wenker came at a practice after Ponder won all her “seat matches;” which Ponder says are competitions among teammates to move up to a faster, higher rated boat.

So, as Ponder’s passion for rowing was rising rapidly, mono came. Her throat became sore and she’d often be weak and lethargic; however, this didn’t deter her from missing rowing. “I arranged my classes so that I’d go to two of them, come home and sleep, and later go to my rowing practices,” Ponder says. Ponder battled through school and rowing practices. And, in the spring of 2002, it was through her perseverance, that she accomplished an amazing feat–leading her Cincinnati Junior boat to win nationals.

The next year, Ponder’s boat won nationals again; prompting scholarship offers to be flooded her way from several Division-I rowing schools. One of these schools was Minnesota, and after her first visit here, she made her mind to become a Gopher.

Davis recalls Ponder from that visit, saying she’s been a leader from the start. She notes some of Ponder’s strengths are her work ethic and ability to help and encourage others.

As Minnesota approaches the mid-point of its spring rowing season, Davis, her assistants, Ponder and the rest of Minnesota’s rowing team prepare for an April 8 regatta in Los Angeles. The team they’ll be facing? Davis’ alma mater, the UCLA Bruins.