Learning From the Best: A Thank You Note to Marist Crew

As this school year, marking the end of my collegiate rowing career, ends, I have definitely been reflecting back on the last four years. Rowing at Marist has been a great experience for me and I hope that my team has learned as much from me as I have from them. On a current varsity team with only eleven rowers and three coxswains, we have gotten very close with each other, forging friendships in unexpected places as well as strengthening friendships we’ve always had. Every person brings something special to the team and all of these parts have created a cohesive whole. I will definitely miss every single one of these people and I wanted to show what makes each of them so vital to our team. Every rower could learn from these thirteen girls. 

Every coxswain should take no prisoners, like Zoe. Zoe is one of the best coxswains I’ve had and that is because she will do everything in her power to get us ahead. She steers like a champ and very rarely, if ever, messes up a call in practice. She never lets us start behind, she always steals the flat water if she can, she docks with style and she can somehow read our coach’s mind, meaning we get yelled at less. As a sculler at heart, I can get frustrated with coxswains very easily, but I think Zoe and I are on the same wave length most of the time. And if we’re not, it’s because she’s three steps ahead of me.  

 

Every rower should be positive like Theresa. I am pretty sure that I have never heard a truly negative comment from come from Theresa’s mouth, ever. On the very rare days that she shows up to practice without a smile, I know that something is very wrong. After ending her spring season with a broken wrist in March, Theresa has never complained. She still shows up every morning with a smile to be our assistant coach from the launch.

Every rower should be competitive like Flavia. Flavia’s like the honey badger: she doesn’t give a shit what boat she’s in or who she’s racing, she’s going to give it her all to make sure her boat’s bowball is crossing the finish line first.  The happiest I’ve seen Flav is when 1) she PRs on her 2k and 2) when we have a good practice beating up on other boats and 3) when we win races. She is not afraid to push herself or others to compete at a higher level.

Every rower should be able to find humor in any situation, like Meg. This past year, I have spent a lot of time with Meg. She sits next to me when we erg and she’s my pair in the boat. And if I’m laughing in the middle of practice, it’s probably because Meg said some offhand remark that is making me almost pee my pants. From sassing our coaches to making fun of me, Meg always lightens the mood at practice, on the bus or at races. 

Every rower should believe in themselves like Sarah. Sarah, a former swimmer for Marist, was thrown into the V8 after rowing for three weeks. She had literally never touched an oar in her life at the end of February and then was put in our boat at the end of March. Despite dealing with the most yelling constructive criticism from our coach as he brought her up to speed, Sarah never seemed to get frustrated. She improved leaps and bounds and I think that’s due to her innate athletic confidence in her ability to perform when the time calls.

Every coxswain should be even tempered, like Jen G. Due to our lack of a true 2V this year, Jen was not been able to cox that much. Whenever we enter a 2V in a race, it’s usually some combination of freshmen that Jen gets to cox. Jen never gets frustrated with them and has an incredible teaching personality, which helps immensely in the beginning of this year.

Every rower should be enthusiastic like Eleni. When Eleni first joined the team as a freshman walk-on, it was easy to tell that she wanted to be all in for the team. A lot of freshmen walk-ons are there for the social aspect, but Eleni was enthusiastic about both the sport and the people she was working with. She enjoys being on the water and works hard to improve her rowing, even as an upperclassman.

Every rower should be determined like Jenn. At 5’1”, Jenn is one of the smallest rowers in our boathouse. Most people, including our coach, looked at her and didn’t think she could row well. Despite her size disadvantage, she now is consistently one of the fastest ergs on the team (and if we weight adjusted erg scores, she likely would be the fastest). This is due to her incredible work ethic as well as her phenomenal amount of mental toughness. Nobody tells Jenn what she can’t do.

Every rower should have the desire to improve their technique like Kelsey. Kelsey just wants to become a better rower. She’s sat behind me for two years now and her main complaint about our coach is that he doesn’t criticize her enough. Most rowers would be happy to stay under the radar, but not Kelsey. She’s not afraid to ask if she has corrected a mistake and is constantly asking Jenn, who sits behind her, to look out for her problems. When something is wrong in the boat, Kelsey is just as likely to blame herself as other people and works to make corrections on every stroke.

 

Every coxswain should be able to balance life and rowing, like Bree. This semester, Bree completed her student teaching while practicing every day and racing every weekend. Most college students I’ve met can barely handle one of these things, never mind both at the same time. Bree put her mind to it that she was going to do everything that she wanted to this semester and I believe that she has done a great job at both.

Every rower should be dedicated like Marissa. If you’re rigging or derigging a boat, Marissa is probably helping. If you’re launching for a race, Marissa has probably carried your oars to the dock and is about to carry your shoes away from it. She has never skipped a YOYO or missed a practice without a very legitimate reason, such as being near deathly sick. Marissa always gives 100% to practice and racing, as well as the little things (launch carrying, erg cleaning, trailer loading, boat moving and the like) that most rowers try to avoid. Without people like Marissa overseeing the details, crew teams everywhere would grind to a halt and I believe Marist is no different.

Every rower should be organized like Maggie. As co-captains, Maggie and I have had to deal with some tedious and detail oriented issues, such as ordering gear, planning formal for the men’s and women’s teams, organizing team gifts, etc. Between the two of us, we have managed to do some awesome things, things that I could not have done all by myself. Maggie is one of those people who you just know is going to be incredibly successful in her life and I would not doubt that I will see her on one of those Time Magazine People of the Year issues.

Every rower should be able to handle setbacks, like Angie. Angie had to take the first semester of our sophomore year off from college, something that would be hard for anyone, never mind a Division I athlete. She came back second semester light years behind the rest of our class in terms of technique, but with an attitude that said nothing was going to stop her from improving. She spent that spring mostly not boated, but when she came back the next year, she improved immensely, making the Varsity 8+ in the spring and having the fastest 2k in the boathouse. This year she has battled with recovering from getting her wisdom teeth removed as well as “confined” appendicitis, and her only complaint was that she couldn’t erg with the rest of us. And guess who was the stroke seat of the V8 for the spring season?  

 

My time at Marist has not just been shaped by the people who are on the team now, but almost anyone I’ve met through crew. Whether it was the seniors when we were freshmen, the alumni who I’ve met through other people, the coaches, or the freshmen on the team now, every single person has had some kind of impact on my life, whether they know it or not. Thanks for a great four years, Marist Crew!