For most college students, spring break is a time to relax, enjoy the beach and wind down from the daily grind that comes with college.

Not for the Grand Valley State University club rowing teams.

The Lakers used the week-long vacation to prepare for the upcoming spring rowing season. GVSU used the opportunity to gain valuable time on the water, after they took part in the World Indoor Rowing Championships last month.

“We definitely put in a lot of miles,” said junior Dominic Kootsillas-Conybeare. “Coach’s motto is ‘mileage makes champions,’ so that’s basically how he designed winter break, a lot of long rows to get into the swing of rowing after the winter season of indoor training.”

GVSU traveled to Ellington, Fla., to conduct their spring training, working in the water there from March 2 to 10.

“The kids put in a lot of training,” said head coach John Bancheri. “They rowed about 30 miles a day. I think they did well.”

At the end of the week, GVSU took part in a scrimmage against the University of Pennsylvania’s varsity team, as well as the Georgia Tech University club team. Bancheri came away from the scrimmage pleased with his team responded to their training.

“The results at the end of the week were fantastic,” he said. “We hung right in there and gave them a great race. That in itself shows that we had a great week. The results speak for themselves.”

The rowers feel more confident this year coming away from this spring break than last year’s. One explanation is that GVSU had more experience on the water before coming into spring break.

“Last year we didn’t start as early in the water, so we kind of got a head start this year going into spring break,” Kootsillas-Conybeare said. “We were a little bit more accustomed to rowing on the water, so during the scrimmage we were a bit more prepared to face our competition.”

For GVSU, it was rewarding to see their hard work pay off against the scrimmage at the end of the week against other competition. GVSU came away from the scrimmage feeling optimistic about their upcoming spring season.

“I know that if we can improve in that short amount of time, then in the weeks to come with more training, it will be a good season,” said freshman Carey Mankins.

GVSU held two practice sessions per day. One in the morning that would start at 7 a.m. and would last for two hours, as well as a session in the afternoon. GVSU could begin to see the results of the heavy training as the week progressed.

The team came away feeling confident about the spring season. However, with as much headway as GVSU made, Bancheri still feels like his team has room to improve.

“I think our expectations are higher now as a result of our success from our training,” he said. “Right now we just have to get the mileage in. Our technique is still a long way off to where it needs to be. We are on the right track, but now it’s just a matter of putting in the time and the mileage.”

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