By Akshita Joshi, Staff Reporter

Putting down the weights and picking up oars, the crew team will be shifting from their land training season over to the water season. The scheduled location shift from Teamer Field to BoatHouse Row sparks excitement in all of the team members with the thought of escaping the grueling land training they’ve endured for the past months. 

Land training consists of intense cardio crossfit training, erging (rowing on land using a machine) and lifting. Despite its high intensity, it holds significance that the crew team recognizes with its shift into the racing/water season. Practices range from two to three hours of intense workouts and run from November to February. 

Junior CJ Livingston has been a member of the crew team since his freshman year and has been through 3 seasons of land training.

“You’re not really on the water, and I don’t want to say you’re not doing the real sport, but that’s kind of what I mean. It’s necessary to get on the water, but with it being so exhaustive it feels like it’s a longer process than it really is.” Livingston said. 

This season, COVID-19 has changed the dynamic of land training for the team. Instead of normally training in the locker room underneath the bleachers at Teamer Field, they train outdoors. For a short duration of two weeks the team was able to find a vacant room in the Betsy Daily school of Performing Art, but were then forced to continue outdoors at Teamer Field. Goldia Kiteck, head coach for the team, discusses the physical changes for the team in their shift onto the land training season this year.

“The toughest thing this year is that it’s been a lot colder and the weather has been more brutal, so when it gets below 20 degrees, the ergs don’t work anymore. We have put in a lot of extra work this year in dealing with COVID and the lack of a training facility, so we are just happy to be on the water soon.” Kiteck said.

Senior girls team captain Brooke Vallin has extensive experience with land training having been a member of the team for four years. Through the years, she has grasped a sense of the highs and lows of land training.

“It’s too simple an answer to just say that you hate land training because it’s a lot of hard work and each day we are putting a lot of work at practice but it’s really beneficial because you can see how much everyone improves throughout land training,” Vallin said. “It’s only a few months long but you can really see how much speed and strength people gain so it really sets up a great foundation before getting on the water. ”

Though land training proved to be very effective, senior Jack Barausky, captain of the boys team, is excited to lead the team onto the water.

“Land training is everyone’s least favorite part; there’s just no way around it,” Barausky said. “But we’re all looking forward to getting on the water after just bonding through the pain in this land season since everyone there just knows this is a tough sport, and the guy next to me is going through the same thing I am.”

Akshita Joshi can be reached at [email protected].