Starting Something New

I was feeling a lot of pressure by the time school was out, and I began to miss more and more important tournaments. I also needed to find a way to stay active without running on my hurt ankle. So I decided to try something new: rowing. 

Now, it’s important to note that my twelve-year-old sister has been rowing for roughly a year and a half, and she is pretty good. Naturally, I did not embrace the idea of doing something my little sister would no doubt ridicule me for. She was already rowing at the “high school level” while I was going to middle school crew camp. So I went into it a little scared my sister was going to be ten times better than me, a little scared I was going to tip my boat and die, and just a little bit more scared that she would never let me forget it. 

However, after only a couple times out on the water, I started to really get the hang of it. That was until I graduated from the training boat to the racing boat and promptly tipped my boat over twice within the span of thirty minutes. Other than risking infection from the “dangerous bacteria” that may or may not inhabit the Charles River (my mom was very worried about this), I actually felt pretty good about capsizing my boat. Mind you, I did not feel good as I was simultaneously trying to flip the boat back over while keeping myself from drowning. Eventually, I did manage to get back into my boat and pump out all the excess water (only to tip over twenty minutes later). Other than some slight bruising, I was unscathed. Those boats are most definitely larger and heavier than they look—not to mention their terrible temperaments—so I am actually quite proud of myself for getting back in, not once, but two times. All in all, a magnificent experience! One that I will probably be repeating in the future ...