March 27, 2008

I didn't know what to expect from the next two days when I first stepped onto the bus at 5:45 a.m. Friday morning. Races seemed so imaginary to me after such a long, hard winter on the ergs that even when we arrived at Virginia, I still felt like I had all the time in the world before my first real race. In reality, I only had a few very short hours.

At 7 p.m., my boat was on the line and ready, or as ready as we would be, to race. The rather tall UVA girls (some of the top recruited girls in the country as my friend had decided to tell me right before I went onto the water) pulled up alongside us and suddenly we were in the middle of a 2k. Racing was nothing like what I thought it would be. My boat, after a week of rather frustrating rowing, was suddenly ahead of UVA and kept that position for most of the race. I could feel us move as one, our excitement and energy keeping us strong as we held our lead during the middle 1000 meters. I could hear Brenna, our coxswain, trying to control her excitement as she encouraged us to stay together and push with our legs. Although the UVA girls pulled ahead in the last 300 meters and ended up winning (by the smallest time difference of the day), I have no regrets. Our boat had held off one of the strongest teams in the country and the proud, mother-like smile we received from Coach Christine, who was practically jumping up and down excitedly on the dock when we came in made losing seem like winning.

That Saturday, we won both our races against North Carolina and the University of Delaware as a boat and won both regattas as a team. The experienced girls had attempted time and time again to explain to us novices that all the hard work during the winter was worth it, but in the end, it took being on that water, in more pain than I thought possible and pulling as one with the girls I had been training all year with, to finally lose the feelings of despair that I had been harboring all winter.

The entire team jokes about how often Coach Kish refers to everything as "something new," even when it's not so new, but after this past weekend, I think I understand a little more of what he's talking about. For the team, this weekend had been about opening new doors as well as starting our season off with some competitive and high quality races. For me, this weekend had been about transforming crew from an agonizing chore into an exhilarating and satisfying experience. When my boat docked after our first race against UVA, and our entire team turned and began cheering for us, for the first time, I came to understand why all those hours on the ergs were worth it.

- Brianna Clarke '11