![\"Women\u2019s](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/05\/Rowing1-300x296.jpg\")
The races are 2K, about 1.2 miles. But whether they\u2019re in competition or just practicing, team members use one adjective to describe that 1.2 miles.<\/p>\nLauren Solomon didn\u2019t know she could yell like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sounded like a demon,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
As coxswain for the Women\u2019s Novice 4+ Rowing team at UTC, her job is not only to steer the boat in a straight line but also to motivate the four rowers with intense \u2014 sometimes downright loud \u2014 \u00a0instructions and encouragement. And if another boat gets in the way during a race, she\u2019ll yell at it, too, telling it to get the heck out of the way (no cussing allowed). Sometimes, though, the other boat doesn\u2019t listen.<\/p>\n
In the recent semifinals for the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association, the team was stroking up a storm, pushing hard enough to catch a boat that had started about 30 or so seconds before UTC. The sportsmanlike thing to do in such situations is for the first boat to move over.<\/p>\n
The other boat wasn\u2019t being a good sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis coxswain would not move the boat and it was jeopardizing our time,\u201d Solomon says, a note of exasperation still in her voice. \u201cAbout the 30th time that I said, \u2018Coxswain, move over!\u2019, that\u2019s when it became a demon sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the competitor\u2019s rudeness, the UTC team did well enough to earn a third-place medal and qualify for the American Collegiate Rowing Association Championships. Next weekend, the UTC team \u2014 Solomon, Olivia Been, Madison Compton, Elizabeth Plunk and Alexandra Basar \u2014 will be among a dozen or more women\u2019s novice teams hitting the water at Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga. The \u201cNovice\u201d category is for first-year rowers.<\/p>\n
The races are 2K, about 1.2 miles. But whether they\u2019re in competition or just practicing, team members use one adjective to describe that 1.2 miles.<\/p>\n
Painful.<\/p>\n
Team member Laurel Jobe holds up her right hand, showing callouses running in thick dots just below her fingers. She\u2019s been rowing since her junior year at her Nashville high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a painful process to go through,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of people think that rowing is just an arm sport. It\u2019s your whole body.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut knowing that you are with a team and you\u2019re racing as a team \u2014 it\u2019s not an individual sport whatsoever \u2014 it definitely makes you want to work harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Jobe won\u2019t be participating in the championships. Before the rowing team qualified, she had signed up for a summer program studying coral reef ecology and conservation off the Caribbean island of Bonaire. Jobe, who’s majoring in environmental science, already booked and paid for her travel arrangements before the team made it to the finals.<\/p>\n
But for Jobe and the rest of the team, pushing through the pain is critical in every race and practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bonds that form between them as they race and practice\u201d \u2014 6 a.m. every day and another in the afternoon \u2014 \u201chelps rally them through the suffering,\u201d says Solomon, a major in biology and anthropology.<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s suffering hurts her, too, she says, but not in the same exact way.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething that\u2019s been really challenging is knowing that they are giving their all and what they are doing is extremely painful and telling them to do more,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
![\"One](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/05\/Rowing2-300x225.jpg\")
\u201cMy goal is to keep them their nerves down \u2026 if they push as hard as they can then they\u2019ve done their best and that\u2019s something to be proud of,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Just being on the rowing team has helped a couple of members make life-altering decisions. Been, for instance, was having a rough time adjusting during fall semester 2016 and \u201chad every intention of not staying at UTC.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut rowing picked me up and I made a lot of good friends so I stayed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Jobe had the same experience, thinking about leaving and heading back home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team has made me realize that I can be happy here,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UTC Women\u2019s Novice 4+ Rowing team will compete in the upcoming national championships.<\/p>\n