Florida Crew
I joined the rowing team thinking it would be a great way to build upper body strength. I’ve always loved weight lifting and figured rowers must have mammoth arms and shoulders. How wrong I was! The seat in the boat moves along with the rower, shifting the emphasis almost entirely to the legs. Oops!
Either way, it wasn’t long before I was hooked. Any rower will tell you that crew becomes your life. We’re at the boathouse four hours a day Monday through Friday. On top of that we strength train (woohoo) and do extra cardio. It takes a lot of commitment, but the rewards are well worth it.
Novice Team
2006 - 2007
Everyone’s novice year starts off a little frustrating. Crew is different from a lot of sports in that it’s brutal physical component is matched by an equally tiring mental element. Every stroke has dozens of components, each with a miniscule margin of error. A half inch too high and the boat is offset, move forward too quickly and your timing is off, the list is infinite.
That said, my novice year was incredible. Each Regatta we competed in was an entirely new experience, an adventure in the unexpected. I met a lot of great people.
Varsity Team
2007 - Present
Moving up to the varsity level was a difficult transition. The volume of workouts shot up exponentially. Six practices a week, three outside cardio workouts, and two lifts. My life is crew.
The team was invited to the Head of the Charles in Boston. This Regatta was one of the coolest experiences of my life. Our team is steadily growing stronger and faster. It’s incredibly exciting to be apart of that transition.
