University of Washington - Home

May 12, 2006

The Washington men's and women's rowing teams begin postseason competition this weekend when they travel to Sacramento, Calif. for the Pac-10 Rowing Championships. The conference regatta is scheduled for Sunday, May 14 at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova.

Senior Marah Connole (Helena, Mont.) rows in Washington's 11th-ranked women's varsity eight crew. She spent a few minutes with GoHuskies.com, talking about the season and describing his thoughts on the upcoming Pac-10 Championships.

GoHuskies.com: What were your impressions of last week's Windermere Cup?

Marah Cannole: "It was a good race. I think we have more inside of us to bring to the Pac-10s. So that's more fuel for the fire. It was exciting. It was a good last home race."

GoHuskies.com: Are you encouraged that you guys rowed a good race against an elite National team?

MC: "It's hard because I want to say that we could have done better. Seven seconds behind a team that placed at the World Cup, that's good. And it was good competition for us to have someone right with us at the start and just take seats on us. It gives us things to work on in practice."

GoHuskies.com: Did the fact that it was your last home regatta cross your mind during the race?

MC: "It probably crossed my mind at some point during the race, but I'm a little into denial wit the fact that I'm about to leave."

GoHuskies.com: What are your thoughts entering the Pac-10 Championships?

MC: "It's anyone's race. Whoever comes on their game is going to win."

GoHuskies.com: Is this as open a Pac-10 championship field as you can recall in your time rowing at Washington?

MC: "Definitely. This is the closest between six schools that I have ever seen it."

GoHuskies.com: Do you like it that way or would you prefer one main target to go against?

MC: "I like it this way with a lot of good crews. It's more of a challenge. It's more exciting. It means that rowing is an up-and-coming sport and everyone is getting better."

GoHuskies.com: Is there added pressure because all these teams are battling for an NCAA birth?

MC: "It means that we need to have the best race of the year that afternoon.

GoHuskies.com: Do you like having a big race against a top opponent the week before the Pac-10 championships?

MC: "I think it's good for us to get one last race in before. Our team is still training. We didn't taper much for the Windermere Cup, so that's good. And to have one last race before we go out there for Pac-10s is like a practice. We say that all of our races before Pac-10s are practices."

GoHuskies.com: You will be racing twice Saturday, do you prepare differently than you would for a single race?

MC: "We have a race plan for the heats, in case one boat's ahead, or we get ahead. There are game plans for that so if one boat is way out in front, we don't waste a bunch of energy. Then between races we rest up, stay inside, stay out of the heat, and pretend it's a new day when we come out for the final."

GoHuskies.com: What's your post-crew plans?

MC: "I'm majoring in Psychology and I'm graduating in June, so I'm on the four-year plan. I'll be applying to graduate school for the fall and hope to get my Master's in Science and Nutrition. UW has a program, so I'll probably be applying there. Who knows if I'll get accepted?"

GoHuskies.com: How have you managed to graduate in four years with all of the races and early-morning training sessions?

MC: "I had a plan from the beginning by getting my requirements done right away, so that I would have time to find my major and get that done with."

GoHuskies.com: Were you good with time-management coming into college or did rowing improve those skills?

MC: "Rowing definitely helped. It wasn't as much of a challenge in high school at all, so it was kind of a new game when I got here."

GoHuskies.com: Finally, once graduate school is over, what would be your ideal profession?

MC: "I'm looking into nutrition consulting and counseling, things like that for eating disorders. And possibly research in terms of diet and exercise, in terms of disease prevention."