At the beginning of quarantine, the crew boathouse was an empty shell of its former self. Void of the chatter and noise of daily practices, it served as a constant reminder of the lost hours we could’ve had out on the water. Rowers held onto a faint hope that the race season would start again, but nobody expected that online practices – temporarily held on Zoom – would ultimately last the entire school year. Now, it’s 2021, and the boathouse’s original liveliness has returned; rowers are back in-person as a team, and the dock is busy with the bustle of launching boats. With the return to semi-normal crew comes an important question: how does it feel to be back?

One thing all crew athletes can agree on is that, ultimately, crew is a group sport. The squad works together to drive the boat forward, synchronizing their oars in a smooth rhythm to reach greater speeds. Crew member Kaitlin Y. ’24 observes how “Rowing in a team boat is just like playing in an orchestra. While practicing privately is valuable, if you can’t play in time with others in your orchestra, the whole piece will sound horrible.” In crew especially, the complete focus and effort of every crew member is essential. When the crew works as one, the feeling of teamwork is built on the water. 

Over remote, many missed this feeling of being on a team. When the season was officially canceled, things came to a standstill; practices for novices were called off, beginning again the next school year on Zoom. Rowers began erging on rowing machines daily, a far cry from rowing on the lake, and the difficulties of connecting with crewmates made their sense of community falter. 

Yet, through all the downsides of crew during COVID, the squad pushed through—working on technique and learning new skills—even though it wasn’t the same as being on the water together. People held meetings and chatted online using GroupMe and Microsoft Teams, trying their best to get to know each other. Though being in quarantine didn’t allow them to match strokes or work simultaneously, they gained a newfound respect for their time as a group. Athlete Jessica T. ’23 notes, Finally being at in-person practices has made me remember why I love being with my friends and teammates rowing together on the water so much.”

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