FALL ‘24 TEAM LEADER RECAP (WOMEN)
Women’s Rowing Junior and Senior Class Leaders Susie Mallen ’26 and Iris Klok ‘25
At the end of the first quarter of the new school year, we get to reflect on all the events of the past few months. We’d like to share some of the highlights of the term and look ahead to an exciting spring, where we will be racing in the ACC for the first time.
One of the challenges our team faces every year is the short training block we have together during the fall. While other teams have about an extra month of training before the end of the year, we get to some really exciting fitness levels in only 8 weeks. Instead of seeing this as a limitation, we use it to train with the highest intentionality possible and hold each other to high standards to make sure every stroke counts.
Like previous years, our first opportunity to race another team was the scrimmage against Berkeley at the Briones Reservoir. We got to race some serious rate–capped pieces against the Bears, where we demonstrated the work we’ve done at lower rates and showed them our top–notch power–per–stroke generation. We also topped the day off with something rare – a one–thousand–meter all–out piece racing eight eights at once!
This year’s focus on lifting is one of the ways we have increased this aforementioned power–per–stroke. Every member of the team has made so much progress in the weight room, and by consciously focusing on lifting, we’ll increase our boat speed even further. Rob Lavallee, our new lifting coach, is incredibly dedicated to our team and our pursuit of another NCAA championship. He and his knowledge about lifting, specifically for the rowing motion, are a great addition, and we can’t wait to continue working with him in the winter! Alongside Rob, we’ve also added a few other members to our coaching staff — Molly Milligan and Antonella Kugler. They’ve both had such a great impact on the team in such a short amount of time and having a higher number on the coaching staff has led to higher efficiency on and off the water.
On top of all of this efficiency, we always leave a little bit of room for some fun. The end of fall quarter means spending some time building our own workout schedules and coordinating with our friends! The last day of fall week ten also marked our annual class day event, a three–team extravaganza involving mixed lineups by class and some of the best sprinting you’ll see on the port during fall (the class of 2026, of course, won their third of three class day regatta installations. Be on the lookout for a newsletter this time next year reporting on our four–peat! (Suze) According to the rules… the seniors won! (Iris)
Looking into the future, we see nothing but clear skies ahead. Our freshman class is excited to be here, super strong, and has done an excellent job getting right into the swing of things. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we also have some new equipment coming our way, meaning we can boat more fours at practice at once and increase the amount of side–by–side action we get outside of eights! When we come back in January and get to build off all the work we’ve put in this fall, our Stanford rhythm will be nothing short of lethal. With our transition to the ACC (now surely standing for the All–Coast Conference!), we’ll begin to see some new places and new competitors. Our first journey of the spring is a trip to Tennessee in late March. Until then, we’ll be at home in cozy Palo Alto working towards our goals, with eyes set on every rep, stroke, and second we can juice until the ACC and NCAA championships. We hope to see you out on the shore this year, especially those of you on the East Coast who may not usually get to watch regular–season racing. To everyone reading this newsletter,
Thank you SO much for your support. Wishing you all lots of joy in this coming holiday season!
Warmly,
Iris and Susie
