Photo Credit (Story & Gallery): Kelley Bittner
 
Moon Township, Pa. – Prior to the beginning of each season for the Robert Morris University rowing team, the Colonials venture south to Camp Bob Cooper in Summerton, S.C., to train for the upcoming competitive season.
 
An annual rite of spring for RMU, the trip not only helps the Colonials by practicing in a warm climate, but also helps the team mentally prepare for the rigors of the season. This year, first-year head coach Nelle Stahura continued the tradition of taking the rowing team to Camp Bob Cooper during spring break in early March.
 
Listed below are tutorials of various members of the team on what Camp Bob Cooper means for them individually, as well as for the team.
 
Senior Rebekah Noorlag
Major: Finance
 
"The infamous Camp Bob Cooper is the only place that seemingly takes you away from the rest of the world.  For the past four years, I have gone to experience RMU's rowing spring training, and it definitely lives up to the slogan "eat, sleep, and row" because, well, that's what we do. We, my teammates and I, are pushed to physical and mental limits to make us faster and stronger and challenge our competition. We practiced three times a day, but each practice had a different purpose. Every morning, we rowed approximately 24,000 meters as a steady state, which was, as we learned, more of a mental battle to keep pushing through the distance. Next, at noon, we had technical rows, where we focused more on individual technique on the water. It was during this time I learned to scull, or rowing with two oars rather than one, which is sweeping. This was an experience I feared before but was able to get conquer after my teammates continued to encourage me to just try. Finally, we always ended the day with our sprinting practice in the evening. This usually consisted of rowing at higher ratings or speeds in preparation for our racing season.
 
"Now, Camp Bob wasn't all work. We would get together to bond by playing games or having s'mores cookouts. One of my favorite moments was doing the "watermelon row", or simply, racing around in the boats trying to bob for watermelons in the water. This was simply a way to continue to remember the favorite silly competition created by Coach Midge McPhail, whom we love and miss daily. Overall, Camp Bob Cooper is a piece of my college career that helped me grow as a person, and made me closer to a group of girls that I am happy to call my teammates."
 
Junior Katie Carlton
Major: Media Arts
 
"This past trip to Camp Bob was my second time going on a spring training trip. It was eight scheduled days where each of us lived by eat, sleep, row, repeat. As a coxswain, this is a huge moment in our season where we can fine tune our styles and perfect our knowledge in physics of the rowing shell, the rowers, and weather conditions.
 
"Coming out of winter training, we get stuck in the mindset of feeling stuck inside where we find ourselves daydreaming during the warm ups of being back on the water. We literally go from one extreme to the other. My novice season consisted of technique, starts and race preparation during Camp Bob. The Novice 4 last year ended up building a strong chemistry, which carries into our vastly improved lineups for the Robert Morris University boats this season.
 
"After Camp Bob this past spring break, I have a great level of confidence in our crews. We adapted to a new style of rowing and modified our strengths and weaknesses to allow change in order for us to become better than previous years. The coxswains were able to get one-on-one from multiple coaching perspectives and we were able to brainstorm with each other on how each boat can improve and become faster. Even with the new novice class, our crews are a force to reckon with. The chemistry is at a new high. Our knowledge of rowing is improving every day. Camp Bob has made a huge adjustment this season for the program. We had a rough start with the passing of our beloved head coach, Midge McPhail, in the fall, but it is from her strength that encourages us to push harder than ever before. Goals are set and each rower and coxswain is dead set on passing each one with flying colors."
 
Junior Savanah Buhite
Major: English
 
"Camp Bob is truly a physical anomaly. It might be a bold claim, but let me tell you, it is true. You can run on the road leading to the isolated grounds and pass the same small houses, churches, and patches of sandy grass. You can row on the water and swear some of the horizons never end. But this eerie feeling of isolation quickly becomes one of the best things about Camp Bob. Your outside life ceases to exist. At night, after rowing for hours on the water, you can just sit on the dock in silence. Don't get me wrong, Camp Bob is difficult, but it's tough love is what changes us from athletes to rowers."

Led by Stahura, Robert Morris will continue its 2016 season with the Lubbers Cup Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10, in Grand Haven, Mich.

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