The Beach Crew Journals

They’re back! After a long hiatus, we want to invite you to take a look at the Beach Crew Journals. We will post journals to BEACHCREW.ORG from a few rowers about their experience and anticipation of the activities upon them.

After completing an entire season, here is what one had to say about her experience:

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Not many people decide that in their senior year of college they’d like to join a new sport. Lucky for you readers, I was one of those few people. I can tell you now that joining Beach Crew was one of the most gratifying experiences highlighting my final year at Cal State Long Beach. Joining meant I signed up to not only be a part of one of the most demanding team sports out there but I also gave my early mornings to my team. Waking up every morning seeing the same dreary-eyed, sluggish teammates stumble their way into the boathouse waiting for that kick of adrenaline never got old, it just got funnier. It was especially funny knowing that any mirror spat that same image at me. We were a team, we worked out before the sun rose and went to bed sometimes when other college students were sitting down to dinner.

As a senior there was added external pressure to make sure I worked harder then ever in school but I also pressured myself to do the best I possibly could at crew, getting only one shot to prove myself. Sometimes I had to compromise between school and crew but more often I had to prioritize, organize, and even strategize but I got the job done. School always came first but crew was a photo-finish second place. Keeping crew at heart, I learned so much about myself physically and mentally, more so than any other year in college. I learned that I’m not as bad of a procrastinator as I thought I was and almost did away with that habit because of crew… almost. I learned that my body has known no harder workout than a morning of crew. And greatest of all (though it took me almost all year to learn this) was that whatever pain I was feeling during a race and during practice, the people in my boat were feeling it too. My coach, Danny Harris, taught me that one; I swear I didn’t believe him until our championship regatta in Tennessee. When I got off the water, barely able to keep my composure, dizzy with adrenaline and caffeine, heart racing, I knew that I as well as the other girls in my boat gave everything pain or not, and that’s all I can ask for in my last collegiate race.

– Jessica Kay Dewar
Women’s Team