Students across Westerville work hard every season of the year for their shared goal of winning. Whether it’s rowing for hours at Hoover, or hanging out together after, all the rowers keep pushing forward together as a team.
“Our goal is to qualify our varsity 8 for nationals, which I believe we will be able to achieve with how well things have gone so far this year,” Westerville Crews Head Coach Grace Bordner stated.
So far this year Westerville Crew has competed in many regattas throughout the midwest, and traveled to nationals in Sarasota, Florida, early June, making a name for themselves and gaining recognition throughout the US. Though this is not their first year of success, the prior year they also qualified, and competed in nationals, multiple boats in fact, according to WSHS junior Claire Reynolds.
Recently during fall season the team competed at Cuyahoga and did well. “The girls 8 swept the competition in Cuyahoga and won everything. We have good girls, a good culture, and we have fun. This year we have had the best results we’ve ever seen as a team,” Coach Bordner stated.
Athletes involved in Westerville Crew range from U-14(middle school) to senior year. Students in Westerville Crew come from all over Columbus, including all three Westerville High Schools.
Even if interested in other sports, Westerville Crew is a great way to get prepared for any other sport you may want to participate in according to rower Bela Devore, a sophomore at Columbus Classical Academy. She had not joined Westerville Crew with the idea of sticking with it in mind.
“I originally joined Westerville Crew because I wanted conditioning for my volleyball. Now, I do Westerville Crew full time because I honestly liked it better. I like the work ethic, the community, and the competitiveness,” Devore stated.
Though a lot of crew is physical training, aspects of it are more mental. Boats can have up to eight people rowing, but the Coxswain is who leads them all. Using a speaker, the Coxswain instructs the rowers on what they need to do and when. At the same time, they are also steering the boat and making sure everyone stays safe.
While their job may seem easy, it’s harder than it seems. Coxswain Ellie Hewit stated, “Being a Coxswain is definitely special, It’s honestly stressful; I’m responsible for eight people, and steering a boat which can be around $50,000. Even though it can be hard, being able to see everyone in the boat smiling when we win makes it all worth it in the end.”
Rowing is a difficult sport for both the coxswains and the rowers. To row, you need extreme stamina and strength throughout your whole body. A common misconception is that rowing is a sport that only requires arm and upper body strength.
Coach Bordner spoke on how it is much more than that. “We do a lot of steady state, which is long and low meters(on erg/rowing machines). We also do some sprint pieces to prepare us for competition in the spring. On some days, we will do miscellaneous workouts, things like planks, box jumps, push ups, a lot of workouts like those,”she said.
Training daily, running, rowing, and other miscellaneous workouts, help you gain muscle; but of course also a little pain, but to the athletes they all feel that the pain is worth it to win.
“I work till I can’t anymore. I don’t get over any pain; I go straight through it and persevere,” Devore said.
To the rowers competition is important, but so is the community; whether it’s having boat dinners before an important regatta, or wearing ribbons in their hair, they do almost everything together as a team.
“Everyone is really hard working, really kind. It’s nice to coach a group of people who love each other so much,” Coach Bordner stated.
