Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Rowing Journal - Maya Martignetti
2/4/2013 7:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Feb. 4, 2013
My experience so far with the Bucknell Women's Rowing program could not be better. Having never rowed before coming to Bucknell, I was inspired by my high school's athletic director, who has been rowing for years, to give the sport a try. The novice program started off in the erg room for a few weeks. Coach Heather and Coach Lauren taught us how to drive with our legs, not to break our arms too early, and to keep our core as tight as possible. I was pretty confident that I had the stroke down until we were put on the water. Having to focus on the oar as well as maintaining the correct body posture made things more difficult than I anticipated. But after slowly improving over a few weeks, I felt more and more comfortable rowing on the water with my teammates.
Before we started practicing with the freshman recruits and the sophomore varsity rowers, the novices were barely able to row all eight together. So even though we had been on the water for about a month now, we hadn't come close to the caliber of rowing we were about to experience. I went into the first day of mixed practices very intimidated but was immediately taken aback by the genuine kindness of the varsity girls. They helped us when we made a mistake and applauded us when we did well. But not only did they welcome us to the program, they helped us improve our skills. Being able to row alongside such experienced athletes allowed me to observe what they were doing and to try to bring that skill into my own stroke. We went faster than I thought I could possibly go at times and even though I made many mistakes throughout the two weeks, each mistake made me focus on what I could do better. I couldn't be more excited to be a part of this team and to grow as an athlete through the winter with a great group of girls.
