The University of Alabama women’s rowing team is energized for a tough schedule this year, including competing against new conference arrivals San Diego State and Sacramento State.

Coach Larry Davis has four varsity 8s, which are made up of four boats with eight rowers, on his team this year, the first during his tenure. He also has two crews that have qualified for the prestigious Head of the Charles race in Boston, the most well-known regatta in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world.

Racing is extremely competitive on the northeast and west coasts where the teams have more speed, so the addition of San Diego State and Sacramento State to Conference USA, where the Crimson Tide competes in rowing, will create a motivating challenge. Davis is also excited about the opportunity to advertise his team on the west coast for recruiting. He is preparing his team for the task through a rigorous training program.

“You’re training them to be an engine for a boat,” Davis said. “So training is very intensive.”

Rowing is one of the few sports that works every muscle in the body, so it is not strictly about endurance and not strictly power. It is a tough 50-50 medium to reach.

“Training kicked off harder than ever after this summer,” junior captain Logan O’Neill said. “There’s a fire on our team to go out there and a desire to race competitively. I’m so excited to see that.”

The rowers are wholeheartedly committed to their team, captains and coaches, proven by their 6 a.m. training regimen every morning. It is a grueling physical and psychological challenge the rowers meet in stride.

“It’s almost like having a platoon in combat,” Davis said. “You either build a bond or build a separation.”

The intense bond-or-break nature of rowing has paid off for the team and has created an atmosphere of trust and respect fostered by the coaches and team captains.

O’Neill is joined by fellow junior captain Caroline Blackington and Alyssa Drevenak, Lindsay Marshall and Joyce Auguste, who serve on the student-athlete advisory committee. Coach Larry Davis is most proud of this cast of sophomores and juniors that have stepped up amidst a dwindled class of seniors.

Each race is an all-day event, and Alabama begins the season on Oct. 12 at the Chattanooga Head Race. The team will then compete in the Head of the Charles race Oct. 19 – 20 in Cambridge, Mass. The season spans both fall and spring semesters with the Conference USA Rowing Championship beginning on May 17 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

One of O’Neill’s proudest accomplishments was defeating Tennessee last year for the first time in the team’s history, and she is relishing the chance to do it again.

“They’re gunning for us this year,” O’Neill said. But we’re gunning for them.”