InSTALLments connect practice

TheOdyssey

WARRIOR INSTALLMENTS

BY: NOAH HOHL (SENIOR)

I joined Westerville Crew (aka Westerville Rowing Club) when I was in 8th grade Since then, I’ve been going to practice for over 2 hours a day, 6 days a week every autumn, winter, and spring (except when I was injured in 2022).

I’m writing this after a chaotic week leading up to the spring hoover regatta We assembled a dock, almost flipped a boat, and two of my teammates got head injuries. But even if our bad luck continues into Saturday’s regatta, it will be nothing compared to the worst race I ever rowed

Spring season of 2021 was still in the throes of the pandemic. During this time, the only place we could attend regattas was the beach at East Fork State Park in Cincinnati, so almost every weekend we would load up our boats, drive a few hours to the site, and get ready to race against the same group of teams we had faced the last time.

April 10th was no different. I woke up that morning in a hotel in Cincinnati, put on my uniform, and made my way to the site The coaches had sent out the lineups for the races two days before, but they were known to change them around the day of the race, TocontinuereadingNoahs's story,visitwww.wnhsodyssey.com

assigning people to different boats at slightly different times, so I decided to pull out my phone and check again just in case

My race hadn’t changed. To my disappointment, the coxswain for my boat hadn’t changed either. The coxswain for my race would be someone we’ll call Lydia, a relatively new cox who couldn’t steer a boat to save her life. I sighed, and went to try to find some food.

Before my race was set to start, I met up with the other three rowers who would be in my boat. We did some stretches, drank some water, and tried to find the boat we would be racing in so we could make sure it was in rowing condition. When we got to the boat, one of our coaches was waiting

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR STORIES ALL SUMMER LONG FROM MRS. GAFFNEY"S JOURNALISM 1 CLASS