Crew Program Launches Budding Rowing Careers

By MEAGHAN MACDONALD

 

The Advanced Studies Program (ASP) provides students with the opportunity to be a part of a crew team, which is something that most people do not get to do on a regular basis.

The students that participate in the crew program have longer practices than those in other activities and are required to commit to a summer spent on the water, while other athletes get to switch half way through. Their five weeks of rowing culminate in a race contested in front of the entire campus.

At the end of the ASP, the athletes in the crew program have a significant level of proficiency in the sport of rowing. Many have expressed interest in rowing in college and the foundation that they have obtained here will allow them to do that successfully.

“One of the hardest things about crew is making the trek to and from the docks every day,” said Dalton Colen, a first time rower on the ASP crew team. All crew athletes are required to run or bike to the docks every day.

At the docks, rowers are given their boat assignments. Before getting on the water, the rowers need to organize the equipment. They bring the oars out to the dock first before they hoist the boats onto their shoulders and bring them in the water, which some say is the hardest part of the sport.

“I literally feel like I am being squished,” said Libby Wetterer, who is rowing crew for the first time this summer.

“It is very difficult to work with the weather sometimes,” said Elissa Rodman, one of the interns working with the crew team, “We only have so many ergs (ergometer machines) so it's challenging to get in the same work out.”

Once the athletes get into their respective boats, they head out onto the water. Each boat contains eight rowers and a coxswain, or yeller. All of them are required to row in sync with each other, while they listen to the commands and directions from the coxswain. The coxswain is in the rear (or stern) of the boat, and is the only one that can see where the boat is going. 

“I am responsible for moving the boat through bridges and when we're going really fast it's really hard,” said Maddie Smith, a new Coxswain on the ASP Crew team. “I have to call out every stroke, so if I lose focus, I mess everyone up.”

After spending five weeks learning how to row, the crew team is ready to show the school what they have been up to. Tomorrow afternoon, the crew team will be putting their skills to the test in their end of the session crew race that will be attended by the entire ASP community. 

Starting in the lower end of Turkey Pond and coming under the bridges to end at the docks, the race will be 1500 meters and will be exciting and fast-paced. The boats are very evenly matched, so it will be a very close race.