The Irish finished with two victories in their return to the water, defeating No. 8 Michigan at the Ohio State Rowing Invitational on the Griggs Reservoir on Saturday.
"The team had a successful regatta with the varsity boats racing strong against Michigan in the morning, followed by solid times against Ohio State in the afternoon," freshman Carson Canonie said.
No. 13 Notre Dame's first varsity eight captured an exciting victory over Michigan in the opening race, edging the Wolverines' time of 6:54.03 by 0.13 of a second. The Irish second varsity eight launch secured another win over Michigan with a winning time of 7:07.97, more than 10 seconds faster than Michigan's 7:18.05.
The Irish weren't as successful in their other morning races, finishing runner-up in the first varsity four (8:15.61), second varsity four (8:34.90), first novice eight (7:42.42) and second novice eight (7:57.70).
Though the Irish opened the day with two solid victories, they found themselves coming up just short during the afternoon races. The Irish launches claimed five second-place finishes against both Michigan and Ohio State. Despite not winning the races, the Irish posted competitive race times against the No. 4 Ohio State.
Canonie said the opportunity to race against both Michigan and Ohio State was beneficial for the Irish, especially the novice boats.
Canonie said the team saw great improvement from the last regatta.
"Since the last regatta, we improved on maintaining fortitude throughout the race and integrating a successful race sprint for the last part of the race," Canonie said.
As the spring season quickly approaches its end, the Irish aim to secure an NCAA bid with successful performances in their upcoming competitions. The team has aspects of its racing that it will continue to work on as the end of the season approaches, Canonie said.
"Looking forward, we are going to continue working on our fitness and power in order to achieve stronger connection in the water and a higher ration of power per stroke," Canonie said.
The Irish now turn their focus to the Lake Natoma Invitational, which will be held on April 20-21 in Sacramento, Calif.
Contact Kit Loughran at kloughr1@nd.edu
