Starting December off...on the right skate...

First, I think introductions are in order –my name is Sierra Luther, I am a first year at lovely Wellesley College from sunny Sarasota, Florida, currently exploring various major choices among computer science, economics or psychology. It’s a wide rangeJ Outside academia, I rowed throughout high school, love all pets of a feline nature and have a bit of a nail polish hoarding problem.

            Coming back to campus after Thanksgiving break was pleasantly punctuated with teammate reunions and a lot of hard workouts. As a native Floridian, the idea of winter training was initially a foreign concept to me, but I’ve actually begun to enjoy daily workouts outside-given it’s 32 degrees outside and the Charles is currently a chilly 43 degrees. However, Blue Crew has been taking advantage of winter training with a lot of personal bests, and it’s been exciting to see novice rowers begin to realize how fast they can really be.

            Outside of the erg loft, Blue Crew also welcomed December with a bang, completing a team WOD (workout-of-the-day) and embarking on an ice skating expedition this past Saturday, December 1^st. With Apollo Anton Ohno-quality skills, our rowers traded in their blades for skates, with varying degrees of balance. Demonstrating their superior skills included Ali Pierson ’13 and Nina McKee ’16, both current members of Wellesley’s Ice Hockey team this winter. Both of them skated circles around me with much more grace and balance then I could ever manage. Although ice skating made me realize that I should probably stick to sports where the water isn’t frozen, I loved starting my first proper “New England” December with my teammates on a such festive note.

For daily updates on what Blue Crew is doing, eating or excited about, please follow @WellesleyCrew on Twitter.

-Sierra Luther ‘16

Missing my crew:)

First off, an introduction.  My name is Loren Lock, I’m a current sophomore with plans to graduate with a Health and Society major and either a major or minor in Biology.  In addition to crew, I am an RA in the BEST residence hall on campus (AKA Shafer).

This week, most of the team left campus to spend Thanksgiving with their friends and families. While some went as far as Mexico and the West Coast for the break, most stayed on the East Coast.  I remained on campus because 1) I am from Wisconsin and although I would enjoy traveling home immensely, getting there and back would occupy the majority of my break, and 2) I started getting sick on Monday and thought it best to stay here and recuperate.  Although I had to walk across campus for every single meal (this constituted an unofficial secondary workout everyday ;) I really enjoyed being here for the entire break. By Thursday, I was feeling much better, so I bandit ran in the last leg of the 5K race that snaked through campus and was fortunate enough to attend Thanksgiving dinner with the friend of a friend who lived in Somerville.  I did not partake in Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday festivities, but enjoyed the warmth and quiet of my dorm for the entirety of my remaining break.

I must admit that as nice as it was to be on a quiet campus, Sunday night (always a homework night) was much more enjoyable when I was distracted by all of the crewbies returning and relaying their Thanksgiving adventures.  I’m looking forward to getting back on the erg this week (the sports center was closed for the majority of the past week), and preparing for impending final exams.  Christmas break is only 3 weeks away! :)

Fun-days!

The Blue Crew has had a successful week! First off, several teammates were back in action, having successfully recovered from various illnesses and injuries. Needless to say, they continued the upward trend of improving and personal-record-setting test pieces. We are all very happy to have them back practicing with us, and I congratulate them on their ability to seamlessly rejoin us in our training plan.

Our very own Rachel Coogan ’13 competed in The Philadelphia Marathon this past weekend, finishing with an extremely impressive time. Some of our teammates organized a secret, undercover banner-decorating operation, and the whole team got together to decorate a giant sign, which was put outside Coogy's door the night before the big race. She was pleasantly surprised as she left her room the next morning to compete, and was reminded that her whole team would be supporting her from afar.

Fun-day Fridays were continued off the water this week. Everyone got together for a Lemon Thai dinner, nail-painting, and simultaneous screenings of Mary Poppins and Runaway Bride. It was great to see everyone together again, and made me miss the real fun-day Fridays on the water, where we would dress up in various crazy outfits for morning practice on the water.

As a first-year, the transition into winter season has been great, and has made me love the team even more (which I didn’t think was even possible). I’ve noticed that everyone makes even more of an effort to see one another, in order to make up for each others’ absences in the early mornings. Although I enjoy sleeping in now, it’s nice to see everyone’s smiling faces at team meals and in the erg loft, as I look forward to spring mornings back on the Charles River.

I wish everyone a restful Thanksgiving break, and I look forward to seeing everyone upon my return to campus!

Megan Roberts ‘16

We should stick to rowing:)

It’s hard to believe that we have been off the water for the last two weeks, but winter training is now officially in full swing! My favorite thing about winter training (yes, it may be hard to believe, but I do have multiple things I like about winter training) is that the novice and varsity teams become one big Blue Crew unit and we get to know each other better through workouts and team activities.

                This past week was full of fitness testing and everyone did a great job of getting their workouts in and setting some high standards for the winter months . We had some testing week PR’s which was really exciting to see!! It was also our first week in the weight room with the novices and although it was a little chaotic, varsity went over lifting expectations with the novices this weekend, so hopefully things will run a little more smoothly in the future. It was great to teach the novices because it reinforced the lifting standards among the varsity members.

We then played a game of pick-up basketball organized by our own Becca Kimball ’14, aka Kimballin'. To say that we should stick to rowing is an understatement. Basketball requires a lot of things that we don’t use in rowing, most notably hand eye coordination. Also, in a rowing shell you sit in your own seat, with your own oar, in your own personal space and typically aren’t pushed and shoved and shouted at… well, we are shouted at, but through a microphone. Surprisingly, I managed to score a basket, even if I did have a little help from some friends. Long story short, basketball was a lot of fun and will definitely happen again.

                After basketball, we cleaned up the erg loft because an External Review Committee is visiting Wellesley this week to evaluate the Athletics Department and we want them to see the erg loft looking its best. During our clean-up we blasted some Taylor Swift through the speaker system. Her song, “I Knew You Were Trouble” is a team favorite this year and it is truly addicting (if you don’t believe me, listen to it at least 3 times on repeat, and then you will understand). Ali Pierson ’13 jammed out with a broom stick as a microphone, and that girl has got some moves. Miss Chestertown Spring Break 2013 material? Only time will tell. Graeme Durovich '14 and her viola may give Ali P a run for her money.

                Also this weekend, a few teammates ran the Chilly Half Marathon in Newton. Rachel Coogan ’13 finished 3rd in her age group with a time of SUPER FAST (I’ll just tell you that her average pace per mile is faster than my one mile test pace) and Ildi Gaal ’14 finished close behind her in 4th. Jen Lamy ’13, Becca Kimball ’14, Maggie West ’14, Loren Locke ’15, Nina McKee ’16, and myself also joined in on the fun… but just to be clear, it was only semi-fun in the moment, as the real fun comes in the glory of finishing and the post-race Starbucks run/nap time.

                I’m also happy to report that my captain’s hours have been pretty busy in the post-season! Just like professors have office hours, Taylor Black ‘13, Jen Lamy ’13 and I hold captain’s hours in our rooms/around campus throughout the week so people can come and check-in if they want. Some people, like Maggie West ’14, just come for the chocolate, but it is nice to see people in the evenings and hang out for a little bit. It also forces me to keep my room clean and swiffer my floor with Valerie Soon’s ‘13 swiffer.  

                I will leave you with a quote from Michelangelo (I have to, as an Art History major). It may be a stretch (that's what art historians do sometimes) but I think it can be applied to the gift of time that winter training is, to find that new level of athlete in ourselves in preparation for the spring. 

                "Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."

                 Jessica Frey '13

FALL 2012 Recap:)

Hello Blue Crew fans!

Welcome back to our blog! I’m Maggie, one of a few student-athlete bloggers who will be writing throughout the winter and spring season.

This has been an exciting Fall season, and I’ll take this post to recap some of the highlights.

At the Snake Regatta at Lake Quinsigamond, the 1V, 2V, and 3V each posted the fastest DIII times in their boat categories.  One week later the 1V and half of the 2V raced at Head of the Charles. The 2V spent the entire week before HOCR split into fours, and we used matching outfits, boat dinners, and a very exciting boat email thread to get ready to reunite for the last week of the season in preparation for the Seven Sisters Regatta, hosted on our very own Charles River by Simmons College. On the day of Seven Sisters, Blue Crew didn’t disappoint. We secured Wellesley’s fourth straight title at the Seven Sisters Regatta. Wellesley won the 1V, 2V, 1N, and 2N races, sweeping the event. Jess Frey ‘13, Rachel “Coogs” Coogan ‘13, and Sahar Ibrahim ’16 were named to the All-Seven Sisters Team! Simmons was a great host, and even provided a massive dessert buffet after racing.

This fall the varsity team has also gotten to know a great (and HUGE) group of novices this year. Given that I snuck into the erg loft to watch their tryouts, I can attest to the fact that they have come a very long way in a very short period of time, and the varsity side can’t wait to get to know them better.

Even though we are all bummed that the fall season is over, we’ve enjoyed our week of sleeping in. Since the last boat crossed the line at Seven Sisters, there have been some notable moments:

-       rowing from Riverside to the boathouse in mixed (novice and varsity) lineups, many people rowing opposite sides

-       doing P90x in the Shafer basement because the sports center was closed due to Hurricane Sandy. This ended with a dance party, to the chagrin of those trying to play pool and watch TV in Shafer basement

-       pool party hosted by the Swimming and Diving team, including doggie paddle relays (barking required) and bobbing for apples

The next few months before Spring season begins will be full of Tower Table Takeovers, full erg lofts, and planning skits for Spring Break 2k13. Blue Crew is ready for the best year EVER.

-Maggie West ‘14

Long time coming

Greetings from Campus!

I hope that everyone has had a great summer!

This has been a long time coming, after another very successful season, including WINNING the Novice 8+ event at the ECAC National Invitational, and another third place finish at the NCAA championship for Blue Crew...so proud of this team...

Rumor has it, that your team is ready to go!  After our first team meeting, the energy in the room was high and we are completely fired up for the start of our fall season on Monday 9/10.  

Led by Taylor Black '13, Jessica Frey '13 and Jennifer (Bamy) Lamy '13, we are returning 10 seniors, 4 juniors, 10 sophomores and welcome 7 first years to the team this year...this is by far the deepest team Wellesley Crew has had in my 7+ years.  Not only do we have this deep Varsity squad, we also have had a TON of interest in our novice program (I guess being reigning national champions in the Novice 8+ category is pretty compelling:)  Over 75 new rowers are coming our way for the novice tryout process on Monday.  

You will hear more from the team soon...but just know, Blue Crew is ready for fall season:)

LONG TIME COMING!!

It seems to have been a while since we have updated fans on this site, but thank you to the fans who have been supporting us on race day and from afar. We’ve been hard at work practicing every morning and racing almost every weekend since spring break. It’s finally light out in the mornings so we can see our oars and each other!

Since the last post, we have raced every weekend...some mixed results early on, gave way to an amazing win at the NEWMAC championship on 4/21.  We won every race we were entered in:  V8, 2V8, N8 and won the team points championship.  It was the first time in the history of the event that a team won the points trophy with only 3 crews racing! 

 Our past race this Saturday was the Malden Spirit Regatta. Wellesley showed some fast rowing (winning every race we were entered in), and our fans gave us a lot of delicious food.  I have a soft spot for sausages, but the entire spread with humus, cheese, chicken, pumpkin bread, fruit and cookies was a great reward after the race.

The team may have been racing hard and heading into final week madness (test, presentations, essays oh my!) but we’re still full of spirit. The first years have been known to break out into song on the bus (they just can’t contain their enthusiasm).When Cetlin was asked how she has so much energy on the bus, she replied, “have you ever been so tired that you just have more energy?”.   Nope, but I’m glad that someone does.

Besides the spirit and fun that we’re all having, however, we’ve mostly been working hard. This is the time in the season when every stroke matters in every boat. We’re not coasting, and even if this weekend proved that we are fast, we want to be faster. As a senior novice I may not be qualified to talk about the team’s history or good rowing technique, but I can certainly say that the team has bonded together and is fighting hard for each other.

On a final note, before returning to the drudgery of essay writing, congratulations to Gena for finishing her thesis. Her Rhulman on Korean Women’s Aging may have been stressful for her to prepare, but it was interesting and well put together from the vantage point of the audience. Also, although this happened quite a while ago, we should note the terrific success of Senta and the Wellesley Mock Trial Team at Mock Trial Nationals! With so much good stuff happening at Wellesley, thanks to all of those who continue to support the team.

Grace E. '12