Q & A With Erin Robertson
5/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 27, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Erin Robertson (Middleville, Mich) is making her fourth trip to the NCAA Rowing Championships this weekend, rowing against the top crews the nation has to offer. In her freshman year, Robertson was a member of the sixth-place first varsity four. In 2002, Robertson was a member of the second varsity eight regional champion crew. For the last two seasons, she has sat in the seven seat of the first varsity eight.
Q: How did you become interested in crew after participating in so many other sports (basketball, volleyball, and track and field)?
A: After high school, I still wanted to participate in a sport, and I knew I was going to Michigan State and wanted to try a new sport. I found out about rowing and figured that I might as well try it.
Q: What is the best thing about rowing?
A: The team. All the girls on the team are fun, and we have a lot of fun together, and I like to work hard. It's a very hard sport, and I just like being part of the team.
Q: Is it hard to get eight other girls on the same thought pattern?
A: It is sometimes. That's one of the biggest challenges of rowing, I think.
Q: What are some of the ways you get all eight rowers on the same wavelength?
A: We talk about racing strategy a lot. We do mental exercises sometimes, and I think that helps. We all picked a role at the beginning of the season that we want to have and all year we have strived to meet that goal.
Q: This is the fourth year that you've participated in the NCAA Championships. Does it ever feel any different?
A: When I was a freshman, I had just started rowing and I didn't know what was going on - it was really kind of scary. I think that works to your advantage, though - when you're new to everything, you don't think about everything else. You don't know the other schools you're going up against as well as I do now, so you can just go out and row. This year we've seen most of the teams in the NCAA Championships, where as in previous years we hadn't.
Q: How are you preparing yourself for the NCAA Championships differently, now that you know what to expect?
A: Every year I just go out there and try to put the hammer down. But because this is my last year, I'm in my last race, and I want to do it right and just have a good race.