Allie Kazalski '19
Novice Women
Majors: Philosophy & Political Science
Hometown: Little Silver, NJ

It is not often in our daily lives that we take the opportunity to reflect on the “why.”  For college student-athletes at Marquette University, we fulfill the Jesuit Ignatian spirituality of Cura Personalis by expanding the potentials of our bodies, minds, and souls- all in a tightly scheduled week.  At times, we can be stuck in our routines since it is the only way we know how to achieve all we can in a day without wasting time.  Spinning our wheels, we sprint from classes, to practices, to the nearest dining halls, then back to the library all before our heads hit the pillows in the cramped, lofted beds of our dorm rooms.

This is not groundbreaking imagery of a typical day in the life of a student athlete.  However, it has a different meaning for rowers going through the immense physical and mental taxation of winter training.  We are deprived of the water that brings us life.  In lieu of fresh air, picturesque downtown Milwaukee, and the simplistic beauty of boats, we train in fluorescent rooms and on static machines that can tell you things you do not want to hear.  In the long stretch between the last time we went hands on a boat to the day we arrive in Tennessee for spring training, it is easy to fall out of love with rowing and forget the “why.”

Novice rowers are particularly inclined to fall into this emotional rut.  In the fall we were consumed with the newness of rowing; the intense regimen of winter training loses its luster pretty quickly.  Our motivation of medaling at Dad Vails and ACRA in the months ahead is all speculative since we do not fully understand the joys of the spring season we have yet seen.

Thankfully, our coaches understand this dilemma and took time out of practice last week to guide us through mental exercises and personal reflection.  For once, instead of taking lecture notes or writing down our erg times, we got to sit in silence and free write about what motivates us in life, school, and ultimately rowing.  Guided by open ended questions, each rower and coxswain wrote with great intention about their visions and values.  There was a noticeable calm in the room when we finished journaling.

With the option to share our writings, there was a common theme in the journals that threaded together this group of very diverse girls: Marquette Rowing motivates each of us on and off the water.  Our attitudes help one another get through even the hardest practices when it feels like our muscles and lungs have given up.  Each girl drives one another to put in the extra meters and lift that added plate in the weight room.  We eat dinner together every night and cut each other off with laughter.  Study groups have formed with girls in similar majors that always prep for exams well in advance.  When we miss each other during breaks or just between classes, we shamelessly send out embarrassing pictures to our group chat where no one is safe from the most loving ridicule.

The practices that followed that team meeting seemed easier.  The coaches did not suddenly lighten up on us or cut our practices short, but our love for rowing and one another was reinvigorated.  We did not need to pretend to know the feeling of racing in Philadelphia or Georgia because we already know the fantastic feeling of racing and being with each other.

I’ll tell you this, no matter what happens in my day at school, whether I won my in-class Constitutional debate or finally made that pile of laundry on my futon disappear, rowing is my favorite two hours everyday.  Of course I love seeing how I can push my body to get that split lower and that stroke rate up higher, but the people of Marquette Crew make every sweaty erg piece worth completing at my best.  They are the ones I will be wearing matching medals with in a few short month, and I would not want to do that with anyone else.