Countdown!!

I’m not sure if any of our ardent supporters follow Wellesley Crew on Facebook (if you don’t, you really should), but over the past few days, the most prominent posts on my newsfeed have been part of the countdown until the beginning of our 2K13 season.

While I am undoubtedly looking forward to hitting the KSC at 5 AM for WODs--Workouts of the Day (or as I prefer, Despair ;)—musical ergs (much like that childhood game you love and adored, but with erg sprints- AKA 10x better), and much-needed yoga sessions, I have also been enjoying waking up for 8 AM Pomeroy breakfasts and doing homework (AKA 80% socializing, 19% internet browsing, and 1% considering doing actual work) until the wee hours of the morning. 

 So, until our notoriously wonderful Midnight Madness practice, I and the rest of my much loved Blue Crew will continue to fill the erg loft to finish out the 2013 off-season training regiment (there is nothing better at 4:00 PM than 16+ ergs occupied by novices and varsity members, alike, moving in sync), gather for tie-dye shenanigans, and congregate to cheer-on teammates currently in other seasons (shout out to senior Kathryn Goffin ‘13 who is finishing up the last season of her diving career!)

           

Like the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” the “Twelve Days Til’ Midnight Madness” will each be wonderful in themselves, but the culmination of these twelve days will be a BEST EVER.  

           

Loren Lock ‘15

Starting the Semester with a Fresh Blanket of Snow...and a Drive to Succeed!

Now that Wintersession is over, Blue Crew reunites on a white, powdery campus for the start of second semester, which starts today, Monday January 28. Rowers spent their January doing numerous exciting, relaxing and fun activities. Some explored a foreign country; Emily Cetlin ’15 and Sarah Tammaro ’14 went to Italy on a Wintersession in Rome trip. They sent everyone a funny video recounting their travels and discoveries to make sure we didn’t miss them too much while they were abroad. Others went home to spend time with family and friends. I cuddled with my Golden Retriever, Sammi, in front of a fireplace and Downton Abbey every weekend. Although I love to visit Stella, no dog is quite as adorable as my own. Speaking of dogs, Ali Pierson ’13 just got a puppy! He is a golden retriever too, and he’s 9 weeks old. Ali sent pictures to the conference so everyone on the team could see how loveable he is. Ali’s mom is set on the name Oliver, but teammates threw out more suggestions, recommending “Simba,” “Blue,” and even “Bamy,” after our very own Jen “Bamy” Lamy, ’13.

No matter where everyone went, the whole team did a great job keeping up with the assigned workouts. I was impressed with how everyone handled the many challenges that come along with individual training, such as limited access to an erg, self-motivation and discipline. It seems as though Blue Crew went into Wintersession training with its characteristic mentality: ready to handle any obstacle and tackling workouts with an insatiable desire to succeed.

Whether teammates are coming back to campus from near or far, I think I speak for everyone when I say it feels good to be back. I missed seeing their familiar faces around campus, and I’m very much looking forward to catching up over a meal or coffee, and making up for the last few weeks away from Wellesley. 

Meg Roberts '16

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from all of Blue Crew!

Armed with virtual work out groups, end of the year master mixes, and a high tolerance for crowded gyms during the new year rush, the entire team has been getting stronger and faster during our time away from campus, with only a short 45 days separate our team from spring season. In my opinion, spring season is the best part of our sport, and I cannot wait to start practicing starts and sprint sequences on the Charles as we transition to the standard 2,000 meter sprint races.

In the interim, I’ve been enjoying the Florida sunshine and doing other stereotypical tropical climate activities, such as tanning on Christmas Eve, running outside sans four layers of spandex and wearing flip flops without fear of frostbite. However despite Florida’s lovely temperate climate, I am slightly jealous of my many fellow teammates who have already returned to campus to participate in Wintersession but not that jealous to want to return to New England winter at the moment.  As a naïve Floridian, I’ve never experienced a true “New England Winter” which teammates have told me last until March, which both slightly scares and excites me. Needless to say, I received a lot of thick socks and sweaters for Christmas this year…

Regardless of weather concerns, 2013 marks the beginning of an exciting new year for Blue Crew. Whether it is a rower’s first or last sprint season on our team, everyone is ready to get back on the water and show our competitors our best ever season.

-Sierra Luther ‘16

For 140-character daily updates on Blue Crew, please follow @WellesleyCrew on Twitter.

Let It Snow ...

Finals week has arrived! 

Everyone is scattered around campus trying to get all their work done. Whether it means finishing up drawing portfolios (shout out to Meg and Kelsey!), reading about parasites and other bugs (Aidan!), running STATA a bajillion times to get that Econometrics paper done (BK!), pondering the meaning of fairness and equality while baking yummy cookies (Valerie!), finishing that English book...or rather, starting that book (Maggie West!)... we all have something we should be doing. I should probably be writing my art history essay on the Pompeian Palace in Paris, but instead I'm procrastinating by writing this blog post.

As a nice study break, Tessa and Beth had the team over for a Pancake Party this Saturday! It was great to hang out with everybody before we go our separate ways for the holidays and winter break. Sitting on a couch, smelling the pancakes waft through the rooms, and just being in a home really makes going back to study a little more fun and productive. Plus, Tessa makes great pancakes! She even made chocolate chip ones. 

We also have had a Secret Susan Francia gift swap going on during this last week (think Secret Santa, but we want to be rowing related, so the alliteration really works with Susan... plus it rolls of the tongue nicely). We had a limit of $5 so people got creative. Nina McKee '16 made an elaborate poster for Meg Roberts with her face all over it and fun cutouts from magazines. Aidan Chambers '13 received daily installments from the home-made comic strip "Queen Coxswain" that she can't stop talking about! My Secret Susan left two sparkle-y nail polishes for me, so I am pretty happy about that!! Who doesn't love sparkles and glitter? Well, Tess Ruderman '13 doesn't, but if I ignore that one flaw about her, we can still be friends. 

Also this week, winter training groups have been meeting to discuss their own personal winter plans and goals. We are going to use our groups over the winter to hold each other accountable and make sure we are getting the work done, even if it is snowing and dark out and your pajamas are really comfy.  

Anyhow, I should probably get back to writing, although this is way more fun. 

Let it snow, let us row.

Happy Holidays,

Jessica '13

THIS IS THE SPRINT!

It’s hard to believe it, but we’ve finished our last full week of classes for the semester and are about to start finals and reading period. It will be two weeks of voracious reading, writing, and studying for the whole campus, but after 4:00pm on Friday, December 21, we’ll be free. We’ve already started team takeovers of various campus study areas, often including snacks and tunes, and it’s a huge help every semester to be able to rely on each other during finals period.

Speaking of takeovers, it was a blast to see everyone together at letter signing at Tower this week. The whole team gathered at the long table over breakfast to address sponsor letters for our ergothon, an event held in February at the campus center where members of the team erg continuously to fundraise for our annual spring break training trip to Chestertown, Maryland. This year, the fundraiser is benefitting Partners in Health. Sitting at the long table at Tower for breakfast made it seem like we had just come back from practice, and made me really excited to get going in the Spring.

This Saturday, we did erg relays and then humiliated ourselves (but had a great time!) by playing knockout on the basketball court. Erg relays usually come up sometime during our indoor winter training, and the adrenaline of cheering on teammates during short, competitive sprint pieces makes this workout a blast.  We played a game of knockout, which was unfortunately witnessed by senior members of the basketball team. I’ll just reiterate that we should all stick to rowing, but to our defense it’s difficult to shoot baskets while crippled with laughter, although Nina, Sahar, and Geralle had an exciting shoot-off at the end.

When you next hear from us, we’ll be knee-deep in final exams. I know we’re all up for a challenge, and Blue Crew never shies away from hard work, so I’m confident that we’ll make it through!

Until next time,

Maggie West ‘14  

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