Into the Rec-Erg Books
June 21, 1999 | Women's Rowing
February 1, 1999
LOS ANGELES - In rowing, 2,000 meters makes for one grueling day at the lake. For USC's Ivelina Boteva and Marketa Vochoskova, however, leaving a home that is half a world away is a little bit tougher.
But home is where you hang your hat, and Boteva and Vocheskova have made themselves at home and, in the process, made their assualt on the rowing record books in the span of just a couple of years.
Boteva, a sophomore from Rousse, Bulgaria, has done more in two years of collegiate rowing than most athletes do in a lifetime. An eight-time winner at the Bulgarian National Championships and a three-time winner at the Balkan National Championships on the water, some of Boteva's best performances on this side of the Atlantic have come on the ergometer.
In February of 1998, Boteva established herself as one of the world's top rowers by setting a then-junior world record for 2,000 meters on the ergometer with a time of 6:37.9 at the World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston.
That performance was bolstered this year by her performance at the C.R.A.S.H. - B. Sprints in Boston where she finished fourth in the world at 2,000 meters with a time of 6:43.00. Her time was also good enough for first place among collegiate rowers at the event.
Last season, in only her first year as a college-level rower, Boteva helped stroke the USC varsity four to the school's first-ever NCAA Championship in the sport of rowing.
Her teammate Vochoskova is only a freshman at USC, but rows like an experienced veteran. She rowed for the Czech Republic National Team and the Czech Junior National Team for five years and was named the Best Rower of the Czech Republic in 1996.
Rowing is also in her blood as her father claimed two Olympic medals in rowing from Montreal in 1976, a bronze in quadruple sculls, and Moscow in 1980, a bronze in double sculls.
Vochoskova's performance at the 1999 C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints was also equally impressive. She finished the event with a time of 6:46.70 on the ergometer, good enough to place her sixth in the world and second among collegiate rowers -- just under four seconds behind her teammate Boteva.
Both Boteva and Vochoskova have travelled the globe and rowing greatness has followed them. With their arrival at USC, they have made a tremendous impact on Trojan rowing and, at least here, have put the Women of Troy on the map.
