While this is a team blog, I would like to welcome anyone to the site that may have stumbled upon it, purely of their love for rowing. You are welcome to be a part of our team, by submitting things, by commenting, or just dropping by!
After a summer full of rowing, I was really excited to share my experiences on our very own rowing blog. My summer of rowing started before the summer even started when Coach Rachael helped me during Spring Training to find a boathouse (using the Row2k website) close enough to my house to row in during the time we were off the good ol’ Susquehanna. She and Row2k led me to the Navesink River Rowing Club, where SU alum and former rower for the SU crew team, Chris Meharg, coaches (for those of you who do not know, Chris Meharg is the rower with pretty much all the records in the Erg Room). I was able to speak to him at our scrimmage in Conshohocken, and he told me that I’d be able to take out a single for the entire summer for $200, so after coming home from school in May, I took that deal and became a college rower and member of the NRR.In the beginning of my time at NRR, I had to take an “orientation” lesson before being able to go out on the water whenever I wanted, and during that test a coach watched me row in a single (or in this case a bath tub with oars—they make first timers take out a very steady, stable…and large single). I also had to take what’s known as a “tip test”, which involves jumping out of the single, so that the coach can make sure that the rower knows how to get back in the boat in case he or she flips in the middle of the river. Although in many rivers it may not be necessary to do this because you may be able to swim or even walk to the river bank, but the Navesink river is pretty much the ocean (actually sometimes when I went out on the water, it was more like ocean rowing than anything else). Also, all the jellyfish in the river around mid July-August is good motivation not to flip! Luckily though, when I went out in the water that first time and jumped into the river, it was jellyfish-free (by the way I am proud to say that the only time I flipped was when I did it on purpose).
After the orientation row, I was home free and able to take out boats whenever I wanted. In the beginning of my time rowing I would take out singles, which was a great experience. The single is a great way to improve technique on the water, even without a coach right next to you, and that’s because even if you mess up some part of your form-you miss some water with your port oar, your oars aren’t level at the catch, you move around a little during the recovery-you feel it instantly and you are forced to fix it. As varsity rower Katie Messler once told me, “rowing in a single is a very humbling experience” and it’s very true—you have no one to blame for your mistakes but yourself, and you have to fix them yourself. It’s a very different experience from being in a boat with other people, and only certain people are made to be in a single. After rowing in a single for a little while, I learned that I’m not the type to race in a single, and I craved to be in a boat with other rowers.
Lucky for me, there are quite a few college rowers at NRR to row with. The last half of my rowing experience (actually the majority) this summer took place in doubles, quads, and even a four! I was able to get in contact with other college rowers, and we set up times for all of us to go out on the water together. Most of the time, I’d row in a double with a coach at NRR, Yang Chen, who just graduated from Notre Dame and rowed on the Men’s team (he was at Spring Training in Oak Ridge with us-what a coincidence!). I also rowed in a quad a few times, I actually stroked a quad for a race on August 8—we came in second, and only a few seconds away from first. I was really happy with the way it turned out as that was the first time all four of us rowed together. I even rowed a four once during the summer (the only time I swept over summer), I was stroke in that boat also, which was fun but it was a little challenging for two reasons: the boat was port-rigged and although I have experience on port side, I am more experienced with a starboard oar. Also, towards the end of the row, the water became very choppy (one of many times I might add, I guess that happens a lot when you row on an oceanic river).
Rowing this summer was an invaluable experience. It gave me the chance to be on the water whenever I wanted (which will hopefully help me during the academic year when we’re training for our regattas), I made friendships with fellow rowers that I wouldn’t be able to make anywhere else, and I also learned to scull which was awesome—I’m still trying to decide if I like sweeping or sculling more. And even though I had all these great experiences on the Navesink River, I missed my teammates. And rowing in the summer got me really excited to row with them and train for regattas again! I’m looking forward to it all—not too long now!- Rob
