Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Rowing Journal - Gabriella Fleming-Shemer
10/30/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Oct. 30, 2011
This past Friday a championship 8+ and a lightweight 4+ were on their way to race at one of the world's largest regattas -- the Head of the Charles. A few nights before I found myself feeling ill and after dismissing the possibility of Justin Bieber's high notes being the culprit I realized it was first-race jitters. Due to an injury last year I was unable to compete when spring season came along and therefore never got cope with the usual pre-race anxiety. So here I was, cursing the people who first put a guitar in this kid's hands and anticipating my first ever college race. Having done Head of the Charles in high school I was expecting the 300,000 spectators, the village of free food and drinks, and the plethora of clothing stands that can always make you justify emptying your wallet on zebra spandex. What I did not expect was how much fun it would all be.
Friday was spent rigging boats, eating questionable "chowda" in a breadbowl and going for practice rows. At night we had dinner at Anne Kirk's house, where we met (and fell in love with) some family guests who were also competing that weekend. Saturday was a socializing day in which the team was set loose for a few hours to meet up with friends, families, and coaches until evening time when opens and lights (after having been weighed in that morning) could indulge in bowls of pasta and salad at Hilary Strong's house. That night in the hotel, my room was excited about the events of the next morning and despite Jillian O'Mara occasionally disturbing us with facts about parasitic wasps from her Social Insects class, we got to bed early, ready for the cold and exhilaration of race-day morning.
The orange and blue of our uniforms stood out brilliantly against the grey sky as our 8+ finished last-minute stretching, bathroom runs and layering. In no time at all we were in our seats and pushing off from the dock. With a shove and a "Have Fun" from Coach Dan we were off. A thorough warm up took us to the starting line where women with quads the size of my body were taking their first strokes of this 3.2 mile long race. Bucknell is building up to speed, Bucknell is at speed, Bucknell has crossed the line. Here we go.
Our stroke, Ally Cohen, led us past those first buoys with a fire we had only touched in practices. Here we were, a boat having only rowed in its line-up twice before, and we were flying at a 32 for the majority of the piece (luckily we didn't find this out `till after). Each rower experienced a newfound intensity as our legs burned more with every bridge and our upper bodies exhausted from the sharp turns of the river, which our coxswain Katherine attacked beautifully. Just when I was sure that I was going to die, or worse, pass out, Katherine told us she could see the dock, our lightweights and our coaches watching. With bloody hands and blurring vision our boat picked up speed into a sprint that was what I would previously call impossible, at over 300 meters to go, and after a few thousand lifetimes of blinding pain and asthmatic gasps, it was over. As it turns out, I did not die. Instead, I got to compete against some of the fastest teams in the country and pull for eight amazing women. Completely spent, we paddled our way toward the dock and warm clothing. Proud and exhausted, it was time to watch our lightweights take an impressive fifth-place finish and head home.
- Gabriella Fleming-Shemer '14
