Whether rain or shine or even sleet the Dartmouth women's crew team has been spending all of its time on the water and in the weight room as the season winds down to the ECAC Sprints Championships in less than two weeks. I sat down with Liz Salesky '12 to talk about racing, team bonding and dinosaurs.
When and why did you join crew?
LS: I started spring of my sophomore year in high school. I didn't have a spring sport at the time and had just decided to stop swimming year-round. It was basically a cult at my school all the swimmers did it, so I tried it as well.
Do you think crew at Dartmouth is kind of like a cult?
LS: I'd say that fewer members of cults are allowed to quit, so no. But it's definitely involved, and you have to want to be there. It's a huge time commitment but it's worth it to me.
What's the best tactic used by the crew team to get freshmen to join at the beginning of the year?
LS: Every year, we bring a boat up during [Freshman Orientation], but we also kind of stalk tall people and ask them if they have a sport. I'm not kidding. And we invite them to a barbeque and an information session at the boathouse so that they can see the boathouse.
How many walk-ons stay on the team usually?
LS: Maybe about 30 or so start in the beginning of the fall and about half of them stay through the end of fall. And then, a lot of people stick it out for a year, doing the full commitment. Usually they start it and also want to see the season through. I mean, three people from our year did it that had no experience going in.
What do you feel at the beginning and at the end of a race?
LS: I'm generally the one that helps the coxswain adjust her steering, so I'm always freaking out that I won't have my blade in the water when the start goes off. It's nerve-wracking. At the start and at the finish everything just goes blank. You just hear your coxswain you're not thinking about the other boats. At the end, you're basically throwing in every last bit of energy in and then making really silly sounds once you cross the finish line because you are dead.
During sophomore Summer, I saw that you guys sported some pretty sweet unis.
LS: Oh, sophomore Summer. It's a tradition that sophomore Summer, the crew girls all get really silly unis. They're purple with red plaid on the side, the old-fashion seventies [Dartmouth Women's Rowing] logo on the front and then a dinosaur on the leg. You just really cannot get too much dinosaur in your life.
What's the best part about crew, besides the dinosaur unis?
LS: The best part is racing. I wish we could do it more, but you have to train as much as we do in order to get to the point where you can make racing worthwhile.
How would you describe the relationship between the men's and women's crew teams?
LS: If you look at Collis during 11s or 12s, you'll see a table full of women and a table of lightweights. Heavyweights don't generally frequent Collis. We share a space, we're racing for the same thing and we all respect that. We try to be friends, even if we don't know each other that well.
Describe the Tennessee trip that the whole crew team takes during spring break.
LS: We do two-a-days every day except for one. We always do skits, one of the last nights. I really think it's the coaches' way of entertaining themselves because we all come up with funny ways to rag on each other for all the silly things we've done throughout the season. The coaches just love it.
What about the crew team makes you most proud?
LS: Last year, at Sprints, and in the fall, our [first varsity boat] had done the best it's ever done. What I'm most proud of is that the [second varsity boat] and the [fourth varsity boat] are coming together and we have really good team depth. And the '14s are really funny. Our team chemistry is just awesome because of them, so I'm stoked to see the rest of the season through with everyone.
