NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University All-American rower Victoria Dettinger completed a busy summer of training and competition at two events.

Dettinger, a junior psychology major from Rochester, Minnesota, won the Women’s Open 1x competition at the Midwest Summer Sprint Championships in Nashport, Ohio.  She made the semifinals in the u23 Single and made the dash final in the single, a 500-meter race, at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada.

These events were the first time Dettinger has competed in a solo event.

“Being in a single is a very different experience from being in a team boat,” she said. “In a single, your race plan is completely up to you and you can change it on the fly depending on what is happening in the race. It is a little more difficult, in my opinion, though because in team boats there’s other people and you aren’t just rowing for yourself, you’re rowing for them as well. In a single, there’s really no one there to push you except yourself.”

Dettinger said she gained a great deal from being at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta with rowers from around the world.

“Canadian Henley was an amazing experience,” said Dettinger. “There were some really talented rowers there and it was so fun to get to see them and race against them.”

Earlier this summer, Dettinger completed training at the USRowing High Performance Camp in Jacksonville, Florida, at the USRowing Summer National Championships.  She was part of the Women’s U23 8+ that won the national championship and was in the W2- with Allie Alton of the University of Texas that took the bronze medal. Dettinger then attended the USRowing Marietta Training Center Development Camp in Marietta, Ohio.

“It’s a very quick turnaround between the end of summer rowing and the start of the semester,” said Dettinger. “There’s a lot to get done in just a few days and it’s going to be difficult to switch my focus from being entirely on rowing to class work as well. I’m excited to be back rowing with my team and I can’t wait to see what we can do this year.”