Bryans Addresses Media For Big Tens
April 23, 2007 | Women's Rowing
Wisconsin women's rowing coach Bebe Bryans addressed the media on Monday in anticipation of the 2007 Big Ten Rowing Championships, hosted by the Badgers on Lake Wingra this Saturday. A full transcript follows. To view the archived video footage of the news conference, click on the audio/video link on the left task bar.
JUSTIN DOHERTY: The women's rowing program will host the Big Ten Women 's Rowing Championships this weekend on Lake Wingra. Coach Bryans has joined us, and if you want to do a little overview of the season so far and maybe what you expect from this weekend, and then we can take a couple of questions.
BEBE BRYANS: Sure. Well, we're really thrilled and pleased to be hosting. We were the first host of the Big Ten Championship seven years ago, so it's come full circle, and we're looking forward to starting this next round really positively with a great event. Our season has been interesting and challenging in that we've only raced once before this championship, so we've trained probably 100,000 hours for 1 race so far. And but I think the team has responded extremely well to that.
It's been a combination of circumstances with how late our spring break was and a little bit of weather issues. Our lake was frozen until two and a half weeks ago, I think, but the team has responded very well, and we had some great racing this weekend against ourselves, primarily at the Midwest Rowing Championships. But we were on the Big Ten racecourse, and the team really took it seriously and went out hard. And we're really excited. We're really excited to get to race people and to see where we stack up, so we can't wait.
DOHERTY: Okay. We'll go ahead and take questions for Bebe.
QUESTION #1: You know, there other schools in the Conference that have kind of faced that same thing. Is everybody way ahead of you, do you think, at this point, because of what you were just talking about'
BRYANS: Well, as far as racing experience goes this year, absolutely. We're the only ones probably in the country in this situation. And again, it could be, we could look at it as a detriment, or we can look at it at, we are the stealth crew. No one really knows what we're going to do, and except us, and we have a pretty good idea.
This is an extraordinary team that I'm really proud of top to bottom. They 're pretty young. We've got a great group of seniors. I think there 's 13 of them, but half of the varsity open weight squad is sophomores. So and a lot of those women are in our upper boats, so they're having to really learn on the fly and take every practice as if it's a racing situation. We're trying hard to set them up for that.
And we're just ready to come out and go, you know, blazes on Saturday. And we will be, we talked a lot about toughness, and toughness to us is to bring your best to any competitive situation, your best, whatever that may be in whatever situation you 're up against. And I think this team has made huge strides in that area. That 's what we've been focusing on. So it could be a detriment, but I think it's going to work in our favor.
QUESTION #2: Coach, you mentioned that this is just an amazing team that you have the opportunity to coach. From what you've seen from them, what are your expectations of how you guys will actually fare this weekend, and realistically, what do you think this team can do'
BRYANS: Well, realistically, I think we can win. We're going out to win. We 're going out to win every race whether that happens or not. That's why we raced on Saturday is to find that out. But as far as our, as far as people that are wearing the Wisconsin uniform, they, I have absolute confidence in the fact that every one of our boats is going to go out, and they are going to execute really well. And we 're so, everybody's excited abut the opportunity to do that.
And I think, you know, there's a lot of talk about pressure, and, you know, we 're hosting, and you want to do well at home, all of that's true, but it really comes down to, in all sports, but in rowing, you've got to come together in your boat, and you've got to find a way to really bring the power into one instead of fighting individually. And I think this year, this group is ready to do that, so we 'll see. I mean, we're planning on showing up. And so if other boats beat us, then they're going to have to beat us at our best. And that's what it 's all about. We'll be proud of that.
QUESTION #3: Is this the best group you've ever coached in terms of coming together to be, as you mentioned, as one in the boat'
BRYANS: Oh. I like to think that every group is my best group to coach. They've been so much fun. And again, I've got three sophomores in the stern three of my varsity eight. And, you know, that's asking a lot of them, but at the same time, they wouldn't have it any other way. And each boat has its own challenges. Each boat has its own, you know, its own idiosyncrasies and its own personality, and they 're all coming together in different ways.
But I think one thing I'm really, really proud of this year so far is that the varsity eight enjoys being the varsity eight. You know, there's no question about the fact that they're it right now, and they take every stroke like they 're the boat and, you know, bring it on on everybody else, and that's exciting.
QUESTION #4: What kind of conditions do you expect' If it's choppy, windy, that kind of thing, is that obviously an hindrance' Is that, is that common '
BRYANS: No. I mean, it's the same for everybody. That's the nice thing about Wingra is that it's pretty fair. And so if it's crummy, it 's crummy for everybody. And if it's good, it's good for everybody. And that's important. Last weekend at the Midwest Rowing Championships, we had a really good warm-up, so to speak. That regatta was actually bigger than the Big Ten Championships will be as far as participation goes.
The wind was from the south at a lot, and it got a lot pretty early. So Wingra is not very good when the wind's coming from the south, so it was challenging out there. And I think, you know, we showed we can row through it. Our lightweights were out there in pairs, which is, it's awesome. I mean, they're awesome too, and I'd love to be able to talk about them as well.
But supposedly, it's supposed to be from the north or the northwest this weekend, which is a little bit better and not quite as much. We are all weather nerds, so we know exactly what the weather is supposed to do at any given time, which doesn't do us very much good because it usually doesn't do what it's supposed to, but we know what it's supposed to do. And it's supposed to be from the northwest at about 10. So that would be good. And not quite as warm as it was this weekend, so not as good for spectating, but better for rowing.
QUESTION #5: Maybe I missed it, but what is the perfect weather forecast then to do this '
BRYANS: Perfect weather forecast, oh, I know perfect world. We would have flat, calm water, no wind from start to finish, and about 65 degrees, so then it's nice for rowing and good for spectating. Clear, sunny, that would be really nice, but having water that moves and isn't frozen, and no snow coming down from the sky, we'll take that too.
QUESTION #6: And in your entire career, how many times have you had that perfect weather '
BRYANS: Oh, gosh, a lot less than not. I mean, we hardly ever get that. Last year at the Big Ten's, we barely got it off. It was about 45 degrees, blowing at about 20 miles an hour, and raining. And we shifted all the races and started at 6:00 o 'clock in the morning, and, but we got it done.
This year, we went back up to that same racecourse last weekend or the weekend before last, and it was beautiful. So you plan for everything, and then you take what you get and hope for the best. And we row on Wingra, so we can row on anything. It's an advantage for us. Come on out everybody. Come on our and watch. It's going to be a great day.
