2008-09 Crew Blog - Week 2

by Elissa Center - September 25, 2008

We were doing short race pieces at practice yesterday and still hadn’t heard any word about Mountain Day. Just then, we heard Jeanne’s voice from across the water; “Turn around and bring it in to the docks. It’s not Mountain Day!” My body wanted to rebel and stay out on the water regardless of whether or not classes were cancelled, but my brain reminded me that I had Organic Chemistry at 8:35, and that just might require going back to campus. So we spun the boat and headed for the docks, reluctant to spend the day indoors. As we approached shore, we heard the novices cheering for Mountain Day! Apparently, we would be able to spend the day hiking and eating ice cream after all.

In addition to climbing the mountain, some people rowed in singles and got to enjoy the beautiful weather out on the water. One of our coxswains even gave it a try and had to admit that rowing isn’t as easy as it seems, especially with two oars. Sculling is similar to the sweep rowing that we do as a team, only with two smaller oars per person instead of one larger one. Our team recently got two Alden stars, singles that are wider and therefore easier to keep balanced (and upright in the water!), and they’ve been great. A lot of our rowers are interested in learning to scull, and the boats offer a more stable platform for it than traditional racing singles. I’ve spent the past three summers sculling, and I absolutely love it, so it’s exciting to see so many people trying it out!

Speaking of exciting...We have our first race in just over a week! We’re heading to Connecticut for the Head of the Riverfront to test our speed against some of our competition, including Smith, Trinity and Coast Guard. It’ll be my last first race with MHC! Hopefully that doesn’t have all of the seniors in tears before the race even starts. Just kidding...I mean, kind of. :)