A Postcard from Camp Wolverine: Allison Boss
5/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
May 22, 2015
One week before the NCAA Rowing Championships in Gold River, California, senior Allison Boss shares her thoughts on Camp Wolverine, the most important time of the Michigan Rowing season. With two-a-day practices and plenty of recovery time in between, Camp Wolverine is a time for the team to make significant improvement on the water and have some bonding time as a team off of it.
Last weekend at the Big Ten Rowing Championships, Boss' 2V8 boat led virtually wire to wire in its final, pulling ahead of Indiana and Ohio State in the first 500 meters, then holding off a late charge by the Buckeyes to win by nearly a boat length in 6:59.608. The 2V8 win was the first Big Ten 2V8 title for Michigan since 2012 and the fifth 2V8 conference title in program history.
Q. How has this year's Camp Wolverine experience been so far?
Allison Boss: Camp Wolverine always is one of the best times of the year, a lot of the other stresses are gone so you can really just embrace the "eat, sleep, row" lifestyle. I feel that everyone has adjusted well to that lifestyle and the team has been really focused and people are dedicated to making themselves as fast as they can be. We had pretty good results at Big Tens and I think that keeps people motivated to work harder to improve more by NCAAs. I think all of that, plus the team bonding more both by boat and as a whole really is what makes Camp Wolverine successful and fun.
Q. As you head into your last practices at Belleville Lake, what will you miss the most about Michigan Rowing?
AB: Oh no, I've been trying not to think about that because there are too many things I'll miss (except maybe waking up super early to travel)! I would have to say that I am going to miss the team and its culture. We have gone through a lot together not only in the past year, but all four years, and having these people around you going through those times with you really brings everyone together. The support system and friendships I've made within the team are so strong, it's something that you don't find all the time, and I'm so thankful to them for sharing that with me. These girls are some of the most hardworking, dedicated, and brilliant people I've met and it's hard to say goodbye to them and the culture they've created.
Q. Talk about your preparation leading into the 2V8 boat title at Big Tens -- and the improvements made that allowed you guys to gain so much time on Ohio State?
AB: This season had a lot of ups and downs for the 2V8, but when we went into Camp Wolverine we really wanted to shift our training to the next level. We spent some time talking about where we wanted to be in two weeks, and then we all went to work to improve ourselves technically, to come together as a boat more, and to just work really hard. We started to race our 1V8 more and I think came to the realization that we could go faster than we had previously thought. We made really good strides for Big Tens and we still have a lot of work to do now leading up to NCAAs but we're ready to make those improvements, especially given the results we had after the first two weeks.
Q. What are you looking forward to most about the team's trip to California for NCAAs?
AB: One of my favorite things about NCAAs is that we get a chance to race the fastest teams in the country. These crews are all fast and the difficult competition pushes me to find new levels of strength, skill and motivation that are needed when I race them. I'm also really excited to race in California. I haven't actually been there before, so it's cool that I get to go to a state I've never been to and get to represent the block M while I do it.
Q. Does the team have anything fun planned off the water for the trip to Sacramento?
AB: We've been told we're going to see "Pitch Perfect 2" while we're there, which is great for our team because we are always singing and having dance parties at the boathouse. The coaches mentioned they had other things planned, but they like surprising us with fun activities while we're there!
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Communications Contact: Jeffrey Weinstein (734) 763-4423
