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THIS WEEK: The University of Iowa women's rowing team will open its fall season Saturday as it travels to Des Moines, IA, for the Head of the Des Moines. Races will begin at approximately 8:30 a.m.

THE RACE: In Saturday's regatta, hosted by the Des Moines Rowing Club, rowers will race through a 2.85 mile course down the Des Moines river and finish at Prospect Park. The Hawkeyes will place competitors in the Collegiate 8, Collegiate 4, and Collegiate pairs.

NEW HOME FOR THE HAWKEYES: The P. Sue Beckwith, M.D., Boathouse was dedicated September 18, 2009. The new state of the art facility for the Hawkeyes is located within the city of Iowa City's Terrell Mill Park, next to the Iowa River.

It is an ideal site to fulfill all the needs of the rowing team. More efficient boat storage racks, an indoor rowing tank, and an ergometer room (for machine rowing) is incorporated in the building.

HEAD COACH: Mandi Kowal is in her 16th year as head coach of the Hawkeyes. In the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Rowing Championships, she coached the Varsity 4+ teams to fourth and eighth-places finishes, respectively. Kowal began her rowing career at the University of Wisconsin in 1981. She was a two-time rowing World Champion in the Women's Lightweight 4- (1986-1987). She was named Female Athlete of the Year in 1987 by the US Rowing Association and was inducted into the United States Rowing Hall of Fame in 1997.

QUOTING COACH KOWAL: "The team is excited for our first race of the season. Racing earlier in the fall has raised the bar in getting ready for competition. They have worked hard and we are anxious to compete in front of a `hometown' crowd."