I also want to acknowledge that this year’s achievement was far from perfectly orchestrated; several buoys were struck, and crabs caught on the way to the finish line (metaphorically). Every fall, it felt as though HOCR came too quickly and awkwardly forced a focus on racing 4+’s, leaving little time to work on the 1V8+. Balancing requalification at Charles with winning the 8+, along with other priorities like collegiate points at Hooch made it tricky to find synergy within our top end when race season arrived. This year, we spelled out our priorities clearly from day one: first and foremost, win the collegiate men’s points trophy at Hooch, then requalify the 4+ at Charles and put out the fastest 8+ possible at Hooch. The shorter weekday morning rows were used to build connection and get volume in 8+’s, and we ran pieces on the weekends in 4+' s to simulate Head of the Charles. The result was gratifying: a top 10 finish in Boston and 3 immensely productive weeks fine tuning an 8+ that had rowed together off and on all season.

Rowing is a sport of margins, and at the top end, those margins are very, very slim. Despite all that hard work and GT leading the race for men’s points after a full slate of races on Saturday, it came down to the final points-eligible race of the regatta: the Open 8+ on Sunday afternoon. To secure the trophy, the 8+ would have to win out, beating all 4 8+’s put out by a deep Michigan State crew that were right on our heels. Few experiences I have had with this team will compare to the feeling of watching the bright yellow bow of the V8+ surging as they stormed through the final bridge in Chattanooga, each of those guys with 3 races already in their legs. In the end, they won by 10 seconds, despite a boat-stopping incident with a crew in a different event.

I've continued to train and stay active throughout my adult life. I'm a strength coach now, and I spend my days helping people build strength and maintain the physical capacity to do the things that matter to them. I still row on my erg most mornings, although these days it's usually 30 minutes at 20 spm, barely into zone 2. And that's a pretty different experience from racing a 5k on the Tennessee River.

But I also think rowing is part of the reason I've continued to train all these years. It taught me to appreciate what my body could do, to work hard, to be consistent, and to find satisfaction in doing difficult things. Those lessons stayed with me long after college ended, even as rowing continued to be part of my life in different ways.

And now, almost 30 years after I first picked up an oar, I got to experience the payoff. I could get back in a boat and do the thing. Not perfectly though... and not at 20-year-old-me speed, but well enough to compete and genuinely enjoy it!

That's something I hope to share with the people I coach. We don't always know what we'll want to do with our bodies 10, 20, or 30 years from now. But continuing to move, train, and challenge ourselves gives us more opportunities to say yes when something like this comes along. And I am SO glad I got to say yes.

But here's the part that matters even more to me. 

Four of us traveled to Chattanooga together after spending the weekend together in Atlanta. Not because we were organizing a reunion, but because we're still friends. We still talk every day. We still make plans, show up for each other, and share our lives... 25 whole years later.

In total, there were like 9 of us there that day who had been teammates at Georgia Tech in the early 2000s - Steve Georgalis, Anne-Marie DeBacker, Sarah Kimbrough, Melissa Hallow, Kelly Demestihas, Alex Demestihas, Joy Smith, Jordan Smith, and me, Cassi Niemann. We all went off and built different lives, pursued careers, started families (some together!), moved around the country, and became very different versions of the people we were back then. Yet here we were at a regatta again, carrying shoes in a crate, putting boats in slings, and doing something that brought us together in the first place.

We even got to race in the *Barbara, Elizabeth & Shirley*, a boat that women rowing alumni helped fund and name in honor of the first three women to graduate from Georgia Tech. There's something especially meaningful about returning as an alum and rowing in a boat named for women who helped make our own opportunities possible.

The whole weekend was full of those moments!! Reconnecting with teammates, meeting the current team, being around boats and the water again, and spending time with people who have been part of my life for nearly three decades.

And that's what Georgia Tech Crew gave me that I value most - not the races or the medals - it gave me people.

Mark your calendars for December 1st, for this year's Giving Tuesday, as we aim to organize alumni across 40 years of crew to help give back to the team. 

The funds, equipment, resources, and time given back by our alumni are a critical factor in holding the program to a standard of excellence. 

This season, we are aiming to raise $10,000 towards the Crew endowment as we march towards our long-term goals of self-sustainability outlined in our Five-Year Plan. You can read our 1 year update here as well.