Michigan Rowing has a history of teaching good athletes how to row, and even how to excel, in this sport. Where does that happen? In Michigan Rowing's Novice Program. Each year, Michigan Rowing's Novice Squad is made up of high-level athletes who didn't have an opportunity to row in high school but who excelled at other sports, sports including basketball, volleyball, swimming, running, and track and field. These athletes submit a questionnaire, come to an informational meeting, try out for the team -- and, if they're good enough, make Michigan Rowing's Novice Squad. Student-athletes on our novice squad train and compete as Michigan student-athletes and enjoy the same academic and athletic resources available to all Michigan student-athletes on NCAA teams. Those academic and athletic resources have a lot to do with the fact that 33 Michigan Rowers received Michigan Academic Achievement Awards in 2007 even as they rowed themselves into the best shape of their lives.

Women's Rowing is very competitive around the world. Just ask the eleven Michigan Rowing alumnae who have rowed internationally for the United States or Canada, including the four Michigan Rowing alumnae who are World Champions and the six who are U.S. Olympians.

Women's rowing also is competitive in the United States. But the reality is that rowing still is a young sport in the United States, a sport that requires suitable bodies of water nearby. Few U.S. high schools, and even fewer junior high schools, having rowing programs. So there are potential Division I collegiate varsity rowers in this country who never have had the opportunity to try out the sport. And yet we know there is great talent out there.

We know that there is great talent out there because each year, we find some of it on our Novice Squad. We find it in athletes who competed in other sports in high school and who are ready to excel at rowing -- even though they never rowed before, never even gave thought to rowing. We also find this great talent in athletes who tried rowing at a summer camp or a local "learn to row" program but didn't stick with the sport because they weren't able to find a local school or club team with which to train and compete.

Each year, more than 100 incoming Michigan students -- Wolverines in their first or second year, or transfer students -- try out for the Michigan Rowing Novice Squad. They train, and many will compete, as Michigan student-athletes, proudly wearing the Block M into competition. Student-athletes on the Michigan Rowing Novice Squad enjoy the resources available to all Michigan student-athletes who train and compete as part of an NCAA program, including academic resources, athletic trainers and strength coaches, and the educational and athletic development that comes with being a member of an elite Division I, Big Ten rowing program. One mission of the Michigan Rowing Novice Program is to provide a positive, challenging, and educational experience for members of the Novice Squad. Another mission of the Novice Program is to develop a squad that will complete successfully at the Big Ten Championships and the Regional Championships. A third mission is to prepare rowers who will make a contribution to the Michigan Rowing Varsity Squad in subsequent years, rowers who eventually will row in the top varsity boat.

At left, members of the 2006-2007 Michigan Rowing Novice Squad and their coach prepare for an afternoon practice in Tampa, Florida, on the spring training trip. At right, members of Michigan's top Novice Boat in 2006-2007 display their bronze medals for placing third at the South/Central Regional Championships.

Each year, five or six Wolverines who rowed for the Michigan Rowing Novice Squad will join the Varsity Squad and letter as Michigan varsity student-athletes. Three or four will row as Wolverines every year until they graduate.

Or longer.

Just ask Kate MacKenzie or Ellen Tomek. Kate and Ellen are two of those six Michigan Olympians we mentioned.

You may be a future Olympian. You may be a future All-American, or a future Big Ten Rower of the Year. Or you may never row at that high a level, but you just might be a rower who trains with, competes for, and contributes to one of the top collegiate rowing programs in the country -- a strong, tall, tough female athlete who becomes a part of Michigan Rowing history.

Find out more about Michigan Rowing's history, the Michigan Rowing team, and the opportunities that might be available to you as Michigan student-athlete. Explore this web site to learn more about the Novice and Varsity Programs. Submit an online questionnaire. Read about how to prepare for try-outs, which typically happen during the second and third weeks of the fall semester. Come to an informational meeting on September 4 or September 8.

Don't let the fact that you never had an opportunity to row keep you from this challenge. Discover for yourself whether you have what it takes to wear that Block M into competition, to row as a Michigan Wolverine.