It's five o'clock in the morning. The sun is nowhere to be found, yet I am forced to get up by the sound of my blaring alarm. I climb out of bed trying not to wake up my roommate who probably just went to sleep about an hour ago and I get myself ready for the morning.
I decide that a shower can wait until I get home, so I throw on my trusty Arkansas \Hogs"" hat and head outside to unlock my bike. As I get outside I'm eerily frightened by the lack of activity around the College Court area; but then I remember what time it is and I'm frightened at myself that I am even up and moving this early.
I mount my bike still half asleep and head off on my journey down Monroe Street. I'm not quite sure where I'm going exactly but I know I have to look for Michael's Frozen Custard stand, you know, for my early morning snack. I pass a serene Camp Randall, a few older adults on their morning run/walk and try to make my body wake up by riding up a few hills on the way to my destination. After about 10 minutes of panicking because Michael's is farther than I thought, I finally find it, yet I'm still not sure where I'm going.
""Excuse me, which direction is the lake?"" I ask one of the morning walkers since I have no sense of direction at any time of the day.
""Right behind Michael's"" she politely answers.
On that early Wednesday morning, I had finally reached my destination of Lake Wingra. Shortly after my arrival, some cars, mopeds and bikes containing members of the UW women's crew team started to roll in. I started to feel a little left out because I had not put on my spandex before I left the house.
Whoops.
So what was I doing at crew practice this early in the morning? Well, for one, I had a article to do and two, I was curious to see how the sport worked. Head coach BeBe Bryans was kind enough to let me join her on her boat while she explained anything and everything crew-related to me.
After this experience, I'm not going to say that the UW Crew teams are the hardest-working teams on campus; I'd like to believe that all athletic programs work their hardest in their respective sports. After watching the women's team for a few hours, though, I know for sure that their efforts are extremely underestimated.
Before watching them practice, I didn't think there was much to the sport. You put a paddle in the water, bring it out, repeat a couple hundred times and you're done. Judging from the team's look of exhaustion after practice, I could tell there was much more to it. There is a certain technique needed, your timing needs to be in tune with the others in your boat and if you make one microscopic mistake, the whole boat could be affected.
Also, your arms aren't the only thing working in rowing. Sure, you need arm strength to move the paddles, but Bryans explained the whole body is working to keep stability in the boat-especially your abs. I knew the UW crew teams weren't just relying on ""Eight Minute Abs.""
While the sport is physically taxing, I could not imagine functioning the rest of the day unless I had scheduled a nap. I'm sure this is probably not an option for the team since they also have afternoon practice on occasion, not to mention class, homework, etc. The day I went to practice, I only had two classes but I was that girl doing the head nod and waking up to her own head nearly crashing into the desk.
After this long day I was so happy to finally climb into bed. I could sleep in until my heart's content, or until I decided to go to class. For the UW rowers, I knew they had to get up and do it all over again and for that, I give them my utmost respect.
Betsy can be reached for comment at eagolomski@wisc.edu.
