THE VISUAL STATEMENT: RELENTLESS ROWING
Kinesiology sophomore Emma Burke rinses down the boats' blades after a practice
in Tampa, FL during a spring break training trip.
'W 're not Denard
Robinson or Mitch
McGar. There's
no chance of being recognized in
class, and if we happened to wear a
Michigan Rowing shirt the typical
response is, "Oh, I know someone
that was on the rowing team," or,
"That's a varsity sport?"
A Division I athlete was a label
I never planned to have in college
after turning down offers from
track and field teams at smaller
schools. I didn't even know that
rowing was a college sport until a
few months before trying out. That
didn't make me any less defensive
of the sport to which I had never
expected to dedicate my heart, soul
and time.
Believe it or not, rowing is really
difficult. The team has a huge
turnover of athletes every year,
and there's a reason for that. As 160
freshmen quickly discover, waking
up at 7 a;m. for classes, heading to
practice at 3 p.m., returning to do
homework after 9p.m. and then
attempting to get to bed at a decent
time in order to wake up the next
day and do it all over again is no
easy task. But the 18 freshmen who
stick it out to the end are rewarded
as the few, the proud, the Big Ten
Champions.
As Michigan athletes, we are
expected to be relentless at every
practice, straining our bodies
every day to our physical limits in
order to make our team faster and
stronger. The individual goals we
meet and the glorious triumphs
we earn with our teammates make
these exertions worth it. Still, the
amount we work outside of the
competition context is what truly
measures our dedication. What
defines a student-athlete is how
she functions in her other passions
and relationships, while still being
able to get into the athletic mindset
of kicking ass. It often seems that
there's no personal choice - it's all
about the team, the team, the team.
But that's the choice athletes make.
PHOTOS BY LUNA ARCHERY
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fG
8'
LSA sophomore Nora Shepard recovers trom blisters received trom twice a nay practices.