From Rowing in High School to Rowing at Marquette

Alex Campbell '17 (Novice Women)

Majors: Accounting, Finance

Hometown: Chicago, IL

I picked up my first oar in high school as an awkward freshman with braces, chicken legs, and way too many pairs of basketball shorts (which as we know do not work in rowing). As junior year rolled around, I was looking at programs with D1 standing and the hopes of being offered a rowing scholarship. I was thoroughly convinced that I belonged among the athlete-students, not the student-athletes. But as offers of rowing at multiple D1 schools in the Midwest and East coast came, I soon realized that rowing D1 was not for me and not what I wanted out of my college experience.

Senior year did not go as planned. My four went to the Head of the Charles and while coming through one of the last bridges, we were hit on the starboard side. We went from being in 8th place to getting 38th and lost our chance to go to Nationals (I had gone sophomore and junior year). My spirit had been broken and I was burnt out. I never wanted to step foot into a boat and ultimately chose college based on academics over rowing.

I came to Marquette, considering whether to give rowing a second chance, and thought that a club program would not be competitive, and would be more like recreational rowing. WRONG! Marquette Crew is a team of students who are competitive, hardworking, and have a desire to row simply because they love rowing. I got my butt kicked on the erg from girls who had never rowed before, but I was not upset that they were beating me, I was happy because that meant we would have a fast team, they were learning how to row efficiently as well as strongly, and pushed me to be an even stronger rower. Rowing under Coach Gina and Bri made me realize that one bad season should not deter me away from what I shared with the other members of the team - a passion for rowing.

So, I joined the freshman team as the only woman who had ever rowed before and it was the best decision I ever made. I forgot how awesome being a novice was again. No one had a bitter hatred of the erg because they had never used one. No one knew that there was no such thing as the ‘oar lock key’ (a good prank to pull on novice rowers). Everyone was willing to learn and try their hardest to succeed.

One of the funniest moments was during our third or fourth week of practice in the fall. Our seven seat was told to raise her hands and as we know, that would raise her oar and help the set. Instead, she took both hands off the oar and raised them as if she was answering a teacher’s question and then asked Coach Gina what she should do next. She took that comment so literally, she forgot that without hands on the oar, the boat wasn’t going to move or change. It was a true novice moment and that’s when I realized I loved learning everything. I had the opportunity to row different seats than I was used to, and that kept me fresh and made me a better rower. It also allowed me to be a leader by being able to help some of the other rowers as they all learned the sport for the first time.

To top it off, we had a winning novice year! I was worried about Marquette not being as successful as my scholastic crew, but I have a medal from every regatta that I rowed in the fall and a gold medal from MACRA in the spring. We made it to semi-finals at Dad Vail, making us the first eight in ten years from Marquette to advance to the second day. We may have not gone on to finals but I could not ask for a better freshman year of rowing.

Rowing with a new club is different. Rowing in college is different. There are new coaches, new boats, different styles of coxing and coaching. It will not be exactly the same as high school, but I can promise that your love of rowing will grow. You will make memories and friends. But most importantly, you will be happy at Marquette, and you will not regret the first time you pick up a blue oar with the yellow cross.

 

Hosted by Strategically Digital, LLC