Name: Briana Pittman
Age: 22
Major: Anthropology and The History of Science
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
How long have you been rowing?
I have been rowing for 7.5 years. I rowed at North Allegheny High School.
Was it hard to transition from high school rowing to college rowing?
The transition was not as big going from high school to freshman rowing here at UW. It was a tougher transition from freshman/novice rowing to varsity rowing my sophomore year.
Why did you decide to row?
I saw a video in middle school that the rowing team made to encourage kids to tryout once they got to high school. It looked really cool and I was pretty bad at basketball so I knew I needed to try something new.
Why did you choose to row at Wisconsin?
I chose Wisconsin because I knew it had incredible tradition and I loved the girls on the team. I loved the coaches and I knew from the moment I stepped on campus that it was the school for me.
What is your favorite aspect of rowing?
The sport has been the love of my life since the summer before my freshman year of high school. I can’t imagine my life without it. My favorite part is the pain and the hard work it takes to go fast. I love my teammates and I really love to see the underclassmen get faster and develop a love for a sport that means so much to me.
The varsity 8 with the Big 10 trophy in 2010.
Rowing is a huge commitment. How much time do you spend a week practicing/racing?
Well NCAA only allows us to have 20 hours of organized practice a week, but a lot of us do workouts on our own so that adds about 5 hours a week to the 20. During racing seasons we can go about a month of traveling every weekend across the country to race and then have a weekend off, then right back to racing and traveling. It is pretty similar to a full time job on top of school. It can be a bit overwhelming, but with good time management it is not too bad.
You are one of the fastest rowers on the team. How did you push yourself to become the best? What kinds of things do you do to train?
Haha…I wouldn’t say I am the fastest. But I take a lot of pride in my training and it takes a lot of time and effort to be good. Rowing is definitely not a sport where you can just get by with natural talent. It takes a lot of training on your own to be good. Summer is one of the most crucial times for training. It is a good time to build a good base to add on to once you get back with the team and do harder workouts. This past summer I really focused on mileage and just adding up the meters. I didn’t do much hard stuff, but just the shear mileage set me up to be very successful in the fall.
Personal and team goals for this season?
Win another Big 10 Championship and be faster than ever.
Who do you see as the strongest competition this season?
A lot of the west coast crews are extremely fast due to the fact that they can be on the water at all times. The fact that Lake Mendota freezes for so long is a pretty big disadvantage, but we make up for it in the fitness we get from being indoors for so long.
The varsity 4+ at NCAAs in 2009 on the awards stage getting their trophies.
Past achievements?
Junior National Team 2006
2nd place at 2009 NCAA in Varsity 4+
10th place at 2010 NCAA in Varsity 8+
2010 Big Ten Champion
Do you plan on continuing rowing after college?
Yes
Port or starboard?
Both