Over spring break, I finally got to experience the fabled spring training trip to Clemson, South Carolina! The crew team drives south every spring break to row on the big and beautiful Lake Hartwell, soak up some sun (maybe too much), and get away from Wellesley for a while.
Classes ended Friday, and we took off that afternoon on an overnight bus ride. We made it to Clemson around 9:00 on Saturday morning. I slept to pass the time but didn’t wake up rested. After buying groceries and getting the boats off the trailer, it was noon, and we went out for a short row. The sun felt amazing (shoutout to SPF 50). After rowing, we settled into our cabins at the Clemson Outdoor Lab, which was absolutely gorgeous. I relaxed and relished the breeze from my hammock next to the lake.
The week flew by. I didn’t do much other than row, eat, and sleep. My team has a tradition of writing notes for each other on the trip, so I wrote something I appreciate about each of my forty teammates. At the end of the week, I picked up an envelope full of the notes they had all written me. Alison and I read ours in rocking chairs while looking out at the sun, the lake, and a gorgeous Japanese maple tree. It was so tender.
My favorite moments were class skits, when we seniors tried to be funny but were blown out of the water by the first-years’ mini musical, and the class row, when we sorted into class years for short 500m sprints.
We got back on the bus the next Friday morning and drove to Maryland for our first race. The wind got so bad that my race was canceled; only two of our four boats got to come down the course. When we pushed off the dock and my coxswain said it would be a Viking row, I found the whole thing really goofy. Our coaches canceled the race and we went right back to the dock. I was bummed to not get to race, but this Saturday will come soon enough, and I’ll be rowing down the Charles River Basin in my first 2000m race.
Sunset on Lake Hartwell