By Tara Lanahan
Five rowers from Newton South are competing at crew nationals in Tennessee this weekend.
Seniors Elizabeth Barnett and Matt McNally, juniors Grace Smith, Abby Polk, and Beth Yudelman, sophomore Meaghan McDonald, and freshman Joseph Carleo made the trip starting in the middle of last week.
“This regatta is about pushing former limits, gaining experience for the sake of my rowing and any sort of recognition which could come in the future, and ultimately seeing where I fall on the list of rowers in this country,” Carleo said.
Newton South does not have its own rowing program, which means rowers from South have to find a club team if they are interested in crew. Community Rowing Inc. (CRI) is the home to dozens of South rowers.
CRI has been very successful at Nationals for the past years, with a large percentage of its athletes coming from South.
The boys left for Tennessee on Tuesday and the girls on Wednesday. They plan to practice until Friday, to then compete over the weekend. Every boat makes a final, but boats get into either the A,B, or C final depending on how well they race.
The team goes down early to practice with the racecourse there and acclimate to the different weather, according to McNally.
To get to nationals, rowers must be willing to commit a large portion of their time to crew. The normal practice schedule is 6 days a week, but as they ramped up for nationals, they practiced everyday.
“Crew isn’t a sport, as much as it is a lifestyle,” McNally said.
According to the team members participating in the event, reaching nationals is already something of a dream come true.
“It still feels surreal that it’s all really happening,” said Smith.
Barnett and Smith are racing in the women’s open-weight varsity 8 boat, while Polk, Yudelman and McDonald are racing in the women’s open-weight varsity 4 boat. McNally and Carleo are both racing in the men’s lightweight varsity 8 boat.
“We have been working so hard to get where we are now and we’re all extremely excited to get the opportunity to race at a national event,” McDonald said.
UPDATE (7:43 PM, 6/10/13): A previous version of this article did not mention Abby Polk and Beth Yudelman as two racers also competing at finals. They have been added to the article.
