5 minute read
Ready All, Row!
KU’s women’s rowing crew looking forward to 2024–2025 season.
ARTICLE and PHOTOS by Grace Steensma
University of Kansas junior Karley Larson starts each day at 6 a.m. She grabs a banana, throws on her KU gear, and heads down to Burcham Park in North Lawrence while it’s still pitch black. There she joins 70 of her teammates to head out on the Kansas River in large boats to row, rain or shine, training to be the best they can be.
Three years ago, Larson never imagined her college career would look like this. She initially chose the university solely for its academic reputation. However, after receiving a mass email during the summer seeking walk-on rowers, she signed with the team just a month later.
Larson is one of a number of out-of-sport rowers who are on the team, with many of them making the top boat. In the team’s top two boats, they currently have athletes who formerly participated in track, swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, tennis, and flag football. Many of these athletes were signed to the team based on their height and former sports performances. Since signing, Larson and her teammates have learned to row and taken on a rigorous training schedule to become some of the best in the Big 12 Conference.
The reference to ‘top boat’ refers to the strongest rowers being placed in the first varsity eight-man boat or the first varsity four-man boat. The team typically enters four or five races in each regatta: 1V8 (first varsity eightman boat), 2V8, sometimes a 3V8, as well as a 1V4 (first varsity four-man boat), and 2V4. Coaches can and do mix up a boat’s roster depending on technique, strength, or ability to switch sides.
Larson says she’s grateful for the opportunity to compete alongside some of her best friends.
“These are my people, they get it, we’ve been through hell and back together,” Larson says. “It’s been really cool to share this experience with the girls I love so much.”
The team is heading into their fall season for 2024–2025, gearing up for the Jayhawk Jamboree, a race hosted right on the Kansas River. The Jayhawks will likely go head to head with other Kansas crews including the Kansas State Wildcats and Wichita Shockers. Revived in 2013, the Jamboree evokes the excitement of the Western National Fair, an early 19th-century event that featured the largest racing regatta west of the Mississippi.
Kara Lyons, a sophomore in the top varsity boat, says she is excited for another chance to show off all her hard work.
“This is a very hard sport, not only physically but mentally,” Lyons says. “We take pride in all our practices and our competitions, and I hope there’s a big turnout and we can represent KU well.”
Lyons raced in the top varsity boat last spring and had a successful season racing across the nation and at the Big 12 Championships in May. The KU crew placed sixth at the championships in Sarasota, Florida.
After the races, KU’s seniors were recognized for their contributions to the sport.
“This year’s Big 12 Championship was special since it was my last time going down the course in a Jayhawk uniform,” senior Laine Draper said, quoted in an article on kuthletics.com. “I’m proud of the work we’ve done this season and especially excited about my boat’s race. The bond that this team has is so special and is something I will be forever grateful for. I look forward to cheering them on as they continue to build on the work done this year.”
The women’s crew debuted at KU in 1978. In 2025, the rowing crew will celebrate 30 years of being recognized as a NCAA varsity sport at KU. The KU crew has been rowing on the Kansas River for nearly all of those years. The boathouse was built at Burcham Park in 2009, after the students petitioned to use student fees to fund it.
The women’s crew debuted at KU in 1978. In 2025, the rowing crew will celebrate 30 years of being recognized as a NCAA varsity sport at KU. The KU crew has been rowing on the Kansas River for nearly all of those years. The boathouse was built at Burcham Park in 2009, after the students petitioned to use student fees to fund it.
Prior to the boathouse, the boats were stored inside a chain link fence down by the river. Rowers used portable toilets near the parking lot since there were no indoor facilities at the park.
Lyons says she’s grateful for the boathouse facility and the close access to the river.
“It’s so great to have the boathouse facility and a nice stretch of water we can row on right here in Lawrence,” she says. “I know a lot of teams don’t have that luxury and they have to drive way out somewhere else to get to their practice site.”
Current KU Rowing coach Carrie Cook-Callen says she’s looking forward to celebrating 30 years of Kansas Rowing and having a positive impact on the program for years to come. Cook-Callen was a rower herself at KU from 2002–2004, before taking an assistant coaching position at Kansas in 2012, and eventually accepting the head coach position in 2017.
“I grew up wanting to be a Jayhawk, and I remember the feeling of that first race wearing the crimson and blue,” Cook-Callen says. “Years later I still feel that pride and connection to the university and its traditions.”
FOR MORE: https://kuathetics.com/sports/womens-rowing
