By Bella Cantalice
Correspondent
The women’s club crew team at the College has been a club for 10 years now and continues to make changes and improvements. The women’s club crew team meets four days a week at mercer lake for two hour practices where they practice their skills and get in shape. This club is certainly not for the weak-minded — they practice at 5 a.m. and compete in three regattas, or rowing competitions, a semester. As a team, they have made strides in rowing competitions, especially as a club team.
“Although waking up early is tough, it gets easier after a week, and it really helped me stop procrastinating and get all my work done the night before,” said Bailey Cooper, president of women’s club crew and senior philosophy major.
The team won the Passaic Regatta this semester, which is a notable accomplishment in rowing.
“Winning a regatta is rare in rowing, as there can be anywhere from a handful to 50 other boats to compete against, and winning with all my best friends was an amazing feeling, and a testament to our hard work,” said Cooper. The Passaic Regatta typically contains around 900 masters and youth rowers from about 40 different clubs. It is seen as a wonderful day for rowing and the celebration for all teams.
This was not the only accolade this team earned recently.
“The most rewarding experience was racing at the Dad Vail Regatta last spring,” said sophomore civil engineering major, Madelyn Harvey. “Our boat had been working really hard and showing up for every practice, and at each regatta we kept getting faster and faster times, and so at our last race of the season we qualified for a second race where we rowed really well. The energy was so exciting and it was just a really positive experience.”
Beyond their accomplishments as a team, these girls have created friendships and bonds that they will take with them throughout their lives. When asked about her favorite memories from the club, Cooper responded, “Spending time with my friends, whether it be going out to pasta dinners, secret santa like events, or just hanging out and playing Mario Kart.”
Making friends in college can be challenging, but Harvey was able to find her best friends through this team.
“My favorite part of being on the team is my teammates,” she told The Signal. “I have met so many of my best friends through crew, and getting myself to go to practice every morning is only possible because of how amazing my teammates are.”
When it comes to growing their team, they encourage others to give it a try regardless of their experience level.
It is clear that crew is more than just a sport for the members of this team, and that being on the team has helped them grow not only physically, but also mentally.
“It's never too late to try rowing. Most Olympic rowers pick up the sport in college!” said Cooper. “Anyone looking to get in shape is welcome to come to our winter training, starting February of the upcoming spring semester.”
