Weekday mornings at 5 a.m., while you’re still fast asleep, the women of the Western rowing team are working on being fast on the water.

The five-time NCAA Division II national champions are looking forward to another successful season, starting March 27 with the Daffodil Cup Regatta in Tacoma.

Ten of the 12 women who rowed in the championships last year are back, including six of the eight rowers from last year’s varsity eight, a boat comprised of the top eight rowers on the team.

Captain Madeleine Eckmann said continuity could be what makes this team faster than ever.

Western’s rowing team assembles two crews: the varsity eight and the second varsity eight. Late in the season, the coaches pare down this group of 16 to a group of 12 women who row at nationals in a varsity eight boat and a varsity four boat.

With so many returners in the top-16, this year’s crew has a lot of experience rowing together. Eckmann said they get along especially well and are having a lot of fun together this year as a team, which Eckmann said is crucial to their success.

“I think that happy crews and fun crews make for fast crews,” Eckmann said. “And happy teammates make fast boats.”

This year will be Eckmann’s third year competing at the national championships in the Varsity Eight.

Last year, there were several freshmen in that boat. Now, those women are coming back to nationals as sophomores with some experience.

There are also about 30 women on the team this year, instead of last year’s 50. Sophomore Megan Northey said this has been a positive change because it allows the athletes to get to know each other better, work out together and be more united as a team.

The race Eckmann and Northey said what they are both most looking forward to this season is the Blue Cup April 24 at Medical Lake, when Western will race Division I crews from Gonzaga University and Washington State University. Western hasn’t raced Gonzaga in three years, and they have never won against Washington State.

“We’ve been pushing ourselves all year with a goal of being competitive with those two schools,” Eckmann said.

Western will race another Division I school, the University of Washington, the following weekend in the Windermere Cascade Cup, held in Seattle’s Montlake Cut. Northey said the team is also looking forward to their home regatta at Lake Samish on April 10 because it drives home the idea that they’re representing Western.

“It would be great to see a ton of people out at the Lake Samish Regatta,” Northey said. “It’s our only home regatta and it’s awesome to go out and race and feel all the school’s support.”

Northey said she expects one of Western’s biggest rivals at this year’s championships to be Seattle Pacific University, who took third place last year. She said their team is strong this year and it would be great to see another Washington school do well, but it’s tough to tell at this point which schools will have the strongest teams at nationals.

“You never know who might try to throw down with us,” Northey said.

Despite having five national championships on their shoulders, Northey said the team doesn’t feel any extra pressure.

“We already put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do the best we can,” Northey said.

Eckmann said the women have sacrificed a lot together. They have spent a lot of time in the weight room and on the water, constantly trying to be stronger and faster. Early morning practices mean they lose a lot of sleep and make it difficult to have a normal social life.

“It’s hard to be on the water at 5 a.m. and say, ‘Oh man, I’m so glad to be doing this,’” Eckmann said. “But it’s easier when you can look over at your teammate and say, ‘Oh man, there’s no one else I’d rather be having to do this with than you.’”

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