The University’s rowing team finished 11th in Conference USA last season. This year, the team looks forward to a new boathouse and a new fleet of boats. The Crimson White caught up with junior rower Courtney Atkinson.

Q: How close is the boathouse to being done?

A: It’s really close. There’s a few more extra touches they have to do. It should be the next few weeks, and we’re really excited for it. I think it’s the next step this team needs to take, and we’re constantly making changes, and this is going to help us a lot.

Q: Is the inside done yet? Have you seen the inside?

A: For the most part, I believe the boathouse on the water, the inside’s done. We’re just doing the dock, and then they’re making a few things in the REC Center. It’s just they need to do all the little things before we can actually get in there.

Q: How is it?

A: It’s beautiful. It’s more than we could ever ask for. We have some of the best facilities in the country, and everything we need is there. So we have our own training rooms, our own locker rooms, and it’s all within the same area, so we really just couldn’t ask for more than we got designing it.

Q: When does your season start?

A: Our technical season is spring, but this year, we’re actually for the first time having a home race in the fall. It’s going to be at the end of September against UAH, and then we’ll be racing in Chattanooga twice and hopefully Boston. So the fall season is our longer races. They’re usually 5K at least, and then in spring, our first race will be in March, and those are our 2K. That’s our NCAA’s file races. But we’re actually going to have a home race for here in the fall so that should be really fun.

Q: How much better is it to race here where you practice?

A: It’s so nice. I mean, we don’t have to deal with traveling. We race, then we’re done. We don’t have to be in a hotel for a couple nights and then a bus for hours, so we love racing at home. We have one during spring, and it’s the best thing.

Q: How nice is it when the weather is this good?

A: It really is. We have some of the best waters, flat. It’s fresh water, miles and miles to go so we can do whatever we want on the water. It’s great.