Back on the Charles

 After another great week on the Chestertown River in Maryland (see Bamy’s previous recap), it feels good to be home.  Despite missing my roommates (shout out to Bams, Coogs, and Shernaz), and catching up on every episode of Say Yes to the Dress between practices, having hardboiled eggs in the morning, wearing clean workout clothes, and  getting back into the swing of things at Wellesley is really nice.

                When we arrived back on campus late on Saturday night, all of us who lived in Beebe hung out while we did our laundry. We also tackled a banana that I had left in my trash over break. I was scared that there would be some bugs crawling, so Tex took over as my life coxswain (first year skit reference!) and walked me down the hall to the big trash can while Maggie West was on call for a bug emergency. Luckily, there wasn’t. Then in exchange for washing her hat with my load of laundry and using my cool stain remover, Paige Swiffered my room. Talk about teamwork!

Back to rowing… Our first practice back on the Charles was this morning and we were welcomed with temperatures in the mid-30s. Even in the dark, we efficiently rigged out boats and resettled into our daily rhythm. Once out on the water, it was great to see other crews getting ready for some spring racing! There is communal energy on the Charles that, from my (limited) rowing experience, I don’t know if you can find anywhere else. Even at 5am, people are out on the river, old and young, in singles and eights, doing the same sport and loving every minute of it.

Before we got out on the water, however, we split up into boats to talk about some short-term goals for the week. Each boat seems like they have some great intentions and I know that everyone is using these objectives to get ready for our race day on Sunday at WPI.

Unfortunately, tomorrow we have indoor practice because the weather is supposed to drop to dangerously low temperatures. It’s kind of a bummer after having 2-a-day practices in sunny 70-degree weather, but it really makes you appreciate the time you have out on the water. I know that we will capitalize on every minute when we are back on the Charles and get some serious speed going.

                Dream fast and go blue!

                Jessica “Miss Chestertown-Springbreak” Frey ’13 

C-Town 2012 Recap:)

March 25

Spring break came and went even faster than expected.

We spent our last few practices working on our tans, the starts dance, and squirt gun skills (oh, and rowing).

Thursday night was the annual performance of skits. The first-years and novices raised the bar for all future years with a thirty-minute play, including multiple musical numbers, hilarious commercials and several references to my quads. The small but proud sophomore class performed this year, and the juniors continued the Class of 2013 musical number tradition, this time with more enthusiasm than preparation and several pushups from Ali. The captains rounded out the night with a short skit portraying our coaches, which involved many references to the long afternoons of seat-racing now behind us.

On Friday night we were treated to the yearly telling of Austin’s cat story. It never gets old. Sister gifts were shared and everyone took some time to enjoy one of the favorite spring break traditions: reading appreciations.

Saturday morning brought pouring rain, cooler temperatures than we’d seen all week and wind. The 1V and 2V had solid races against the Washington College eights, despite having to completely re-approach the starting line after being blown around by the weather. Then our four and novice and eight hit the course hard, despite rowing unopposed.

After racing, we had a chance to interact with the Washington College rowers, trading shirts and posing for some photos. We were also treated to a delicious feast provided by the parents (thanks again!) and a visit from Taylor’s dogs. After a quick trip to the hotel to gather our belongings and take lightning-fast showers, and after our last hurrah in the greatest dining hall on earth, we settled into the bus to spend our last afternoon with our driver Franco as we journeyed back north.

Now we’re all back on campus, missing the dried cranberries and soft-serve machine of the Washington College dining hall, along with the constant singing of “Heart Vacancy.” Additionally, no one made my bed for me this morning. In better news, we can now safely say this spring break was completely absent of the Franco WOD, during which in past years we have continued doing pull-ups, squats, etc. until the bus has arrived.

We got a lot done last week and bonded even more as a team. We’re ready to head back to the Charles tomorrow morning and find another level of speed this week in anticipation of our first spring race in Worcester.

Jennifer "Bamy" Lamy '13