February 2022 web

Being a Y Quad City Rower
by Ela Ersan PVHS Senior
I joined the Y Quad
Cities rowing team late in my
sophomore year of high school. A
neighborhood friend of my mom’s
had encouraged me to consider it,
and I will be forever grateful to her.
When I met with the rowing
coaches, they seemed to like the
fact that I had been involved in a
variety of athletics. However, they
made it clear to me that I was
getting a pretty late start, and if
I really wanted to get good at
rowing, it would be wise to drop all
my other sports. That was a tough
message for me to hear because
I loved my sports and had made
so many good friends through
them. However, after experiencing
one of the rowing practices, I was
intrigued. The Y Quad Cities team
is nationally recognized, and the
head coach, Dr. Peter Sharis, is
a local doctor, Harvard grad, and
former Olympic rower. So, while
I was intimidated about joining
this prestigious team, it was an
opportunity I just couldn’t turn
down.
Rowing didn’t come easy.
I spent the entire winter practicing
on an erg, a rowing machine, and
although I definitely got stronger,
I still had no technique and zero
water experience. When March
came around, I was very excited
8 February 2022 I QC Family Focus
because I could finally get some
real training on the water. I knew I
had a lot to learn, but I was ready
to get out on the Mississippi River
in a boat with my teammates.
Unfortunately, things don’t
always go as planned. Covid hit,
and it totally changed the entire
dynamics of our training. Typically
when you’re learning to row on
water, you’re in boats with other
experienced people who help
and guide you. Covid made that
impossible, so our water training
kept getting pushed back.
The good news was
while many sports had to cancel
their seasons entirely, we were
eventually able get on the water
to practice, but we had to row
in singles to ensure we stayed
socially distant. That was okay for
most of the team, but for a new
rower like me, transitioning from
the erg to water in a single boat is
far from ideal.
So there I am. I’m in this
boat by myself, stronger from my
winter training, but I don’t have
a clue how to do anything on
water. Our coaches are on a little
boat called a launch, calling out
instructions through a megaphone.
First of all, I can’t hear them very
well, and secondly, I don’t really
understand the terminology
they’re using. I was officially lost.
To make matters worse, even the
slightest movement in these boats
will make you tip and fall in the
water, and that’s just what I did
over and over again. It’s March, it’s
cold, I’m on the water, I have zero
experience, I’m alone in a boat, I’m
trying to pretend I understand what
everyone is saying, I keep falling in
the water, and there’s a worldwide
pandemic happening. This was
not the rowing experience I had
imagined in my head. However, as
tough as it all was, I never wanted to
quit. Looking back, I’m surprised
at that. Something inside me knew
this was right where I needed to
be, so I decided to keep a good
sense of humor about it all and just
keep trying.
Slowly but surely I got
better. It definitely took a while,
but rowing started to click, and I
was determined to learn all I could.
I was so inspired by my coaches
and teammates. They were all so
dedicated and such hard workers
and that made me want to work
harder. Learning in a single boat
actually turned out to be a pretty
good thing. It forced me to rely
on myself and learn from my
mistakes quickly. My coaches and
the whole team were instrumental
in my learning process. Without