There's a first time for everything 

 

(Coach Charley's note- Kiera wrote this for her Journalism class, and passed it along to me.  Whether its their first regatta, 10k, Triathlon, Track Meet, Swim Event; the butterflies never fail to show up, and the thrill of I DID IT is intoxicating.)

by Kiera Degener-O’Brien

Rowing is sort of an underground sport that’s starting to emerge from underneath the soil. My personal experience at the 2010 Northwest Junior Regional Championships in early May inspired me to share it, in hopes of bringing more teens and perhaps adults into the wonders of a sport called rowing.

For those of you that don’t know much about rowing, this was the biggest regatta in the Northwest, possibly the biggest Junior Regional Championship in the nation, with crews from all over Oregon, Washington and Canada. Boats that place in the top three go to nationals, so this regatta was it. The atmosphere was carnival-like, happiness ran around just as fast as all the people did and the announcer was always announcing the triumphs after each race. It was mind-boggling for me; I hadn’t pictured this many people.

Many different rowing levels were present. From novice single races, to varsity eight races; everyone had a chance to show his or her stuff. It was a great spectator course as well. Our small, but growing club, Oregon Rowing Unlimited mostly entered novice categories, which don’t go to nationals, but give beginning rowers a chance to try out racing without the pressure of racing experienced rowers. We even grabbed a few medals along the way.

The fact that the sport can be an individual or team race makes rowing so much better. It’s something different when two or more of you are working together to move the boat across the water. It brings a whole new meaning to the word teamwork. It’s a different sort of teamwork than what is seen in soccer and it’s definitely not a completely individual sport.

I had been dreading and feeling nervous about my single novice event in the days leading up to the race. I made it to the finals and then in the final, my boat tipped when I was around 15 meters from the finish. To put this in perspective, the race was 2000 meters long. I was in first place when this all happened, but I’m not upset, because of what happened afterwards that made me put this all behind me.

Afterwards, everyone was very supportive and said I had a great race. I remember stepping off the launch and hugging my coach who said, “Guess what? You’re the fastest women’s novice single in the northwest!” All that was a learning experience and it did not turn me off from rowing and racing in the future in any way; it only made me want to race even more, especially since the girl who took first came up afterwards and said nice race and gave me a hug. Her dad also said, “That was the best race I’ve ever seen.” The whole community of rowing is just so supportive and happy and I want to remain part of that.

The community of rowing is something that every sport aspires to be like even though the sport itself is sort of in the shadows; if people just once experienced it then they would understand that there really is no match. My experience is one that, although is unique to me, really shows why everyone should be a part of this sport, because I think everyone should get that sense of belonging.

Before the whole extravaganza, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was still that small, nervous, novice rower standing on the line of whether to continue rowing or not. Afterwards, I completely crossed that line and started to pull more people across. I want everyone to know what a great experience this was and why rowing is so fun. The ambiance and community of rowing is no match to anything I’ve seen, the teamwork and competition aspect has it uniqueness and it’s a great sport to watch. If you get the chance to try rowing you should, but if sports aren’t really your thing go and just be a member of the crowd, cheering on someone you may know. You truly have to see it to believe it.