Josh Barber

The alarm goes off; it’s not even five in the morning. Every week, Monday to Friday, members of the RIT Crew team wake up at this hour. Once ready to leave, they make their way to the Gosnell Boathouse for the practice that awaits them.

Chris Guerra, a fifth year Mechanical Engineering student and captain of the Men’s Crew team, said that this was a part of the team’s regular routine during the season. “We get to the boat house around five or five-thirty,” said Guerra. “We get there, we warm up, have a quick meeting with our coach and then we try to get on the dock around six o’clock.”

Fielding Confer yawns while setting up a rowing machine around 5:40 a.m. to warm up for a practice on the water.
Josh Barber

The team, once in their shells (a specialized kind of boat), really begins to practice for their races. Guerra and the rest of the team in their eight man shells then drill race pieces or specific sections of race. Practicing beginning, middle, and ending pieces, the Crew team is able to conserve their stamina while in mid-race and adjust to most scenarios.

Now in his fourth year, Guerra has been an active member of the RIT Crew team, rowing in the first V8 or eight-man shell. Due to a broken arm, he was unable to row in his third year and went on co-op instead. With that in mind, Guerra has been in the sport for much longer. “I rowed for four years in high school,” said Guerra. “Age-wise, I’ve been rowing since the age of 13.”

Sean Kennelly rests holding the blade of his paddle on the surface of the water as the four forwardmost rowers work drills during the beginning of a morning practice.
Josh Barber

Fielding Confer, third year Chemical Engineering major, is now in his second year with the team, having joined in the fall of 2010. Unlike Guerra, Confer has had no prior history with the sport. “It was my first ever year rowing,” said Confer. “Probably the two [activities] that were the closest to rowing were biking and kayaking.” Confer’s desire to try crew led him to join the novice team with 20 other students and worked his way up to the varsity team.

Confer describes Crew as not only physically challenging, but rewarding as well. “It’s kind of a love-hate relationship,” says Confer. “You’ll be miserable one day because you have to wake up early and you don’t want to be there or sometimes you’re just tired. But all you need is a good row and it makes it worth it.”

The Men's Varsity Eight boat heads down stream back to Gosnell Boathouse during an afternoon practice.
Josh Barber

Now racing in the first eight man shell, Confer said that while during the season that each member of the team has to work out their little quirks, often the biggest hurdles comes from training during the off-season. “Just staying conditioned is a huge challenge,” said Confer. “It’s not so much physical as it is mental. You just have to commit yourself to it and concentrate.”

Timothy Walsch, a first year Mechanical Engineering major, joined Crew at the start of Fall Quarter. Practicing first with the novice team formed at the beginning of the year, Walsch then moved on to row with the second eight-man shell when four other players quit over Winter Quarter. Having only played Baseball and Basketball until his sophomore year of high school, Walsch joined Crew, which was a sport he had always wanted to try.

Evan Moreshead washes down the Men's Varsity Eight racing shell prior to loading it on a trailer for travel at the next day's race.
Josh Barber

With their intensive practice schedules, Walsch thought that Spring Quarter was particularly challenging to balance athletics and academics. “Fall was pretty easy but spring has probably been the hardest to balance because we have practice in the morning” said Walsch.

Through all their hard work, Walsch finds that the team takes time to help each other out. “I plan on coming back on the team next year,” said Walsch. “Everyone on the team is really cool and supportive.”