The college experience for many students invokes dreams of freedom and weekend carelessness. But for the members of the Northwestern club crew team, different words come to mind.
These words - sacrifice, dedication and teamwork - are clear in their 5:45 a.m. practices and their additional workouts throughout the rest of the week.
So when sleeping in until noon is a coveted prize during college years, why give it up?
"I feel I do it for my coaches and my teammates," said sophomore Bette Marston. "I've bonded with the other girls on the team and most of my best friends at school are on the crew team. I don't want to disappoint them."
Junior Kristin Behrmann, who has been rowing with NU since her freshman year, sees no obvious sacrifices. She said most of the people on the team are involved in a lot of school activities and organizations despite an unusual schedule compared to other students.
Marston (a former Daily staffer) emphasized that a rower also has to do it for themselves or it is tough to make it through the season.
"It's hard to live a regular college life," Marston said. "I get up early and take 10-15 minute naps throughout the day. You are constantly tired. But it also keeps me in shape and makes me eat healthier foods."
Every weekday morning she and her teammates, along with the men's team, go through a rigorous two-and-a-half hour workout before many of their friends have hit the snooze button. These workouts include running, lifting, using a rowing simulator called an erg and practicing out on the lake.
The workouts set by the coaches vary in activities, but one of the most important exercises is their rowing drills. These drills revolve around achieving the perfect stroke, which is important to creating and maintaining speed.
Another common exercise is interval rowing, in which team members row at a certain pace for several minutes.
"Because our crew has only had roughly three weeks to train together before their first race, they've had to be extremely passionate about their training and gelling together as a team," men's varsity coach Joe Kayse said. "The example set by team captain Joe Buckley, as well as the rest of the older guys, to training with passion and purpose, has been the cornerstone for the team pulling together so quickly."
2008 Woodie Awards
The DAILY encourages you to share your thoughts on this story. Please help us keep the discussion lively, but civil. Comments that are abusive to others, off-topic or vulgar, or comments that misrepresent someone's identity, will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to delete any comments in violation or to close comment threads on articles.
Please e-mail online@dailynorthwestern.com to flag a comment or for more information.
Be the first to comment on this story