Rowing Without Knowing

Rowing. The word wouldn’t have rung any bells in senior Rachel Haskell’s head before receiving a letter from the Kansas State University (K-State) rowing coach, Grace Ure. K-State expressed interest in having Rachel on their team, at the end of her junior year. She had only rowed twice before. Her sports were volleyball and basketball. She played varsity volleyball and is currently on the varsity basketball team.

But Haskell had known for a while that she wasn’t going to continue those into college.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to play a sport I’ve previously been into because I feel like I would have gotten burned out,” Haskell said.

Being on a team was a big part of her high school life, so she knew she’d miss the team atmosphere if she didn’t play a college sport. Practice everyday after school for two seasons was a big time commitment, and some of these girls on the team formed into her best friends, like fellow senior Jordan Kiehl.

Kiehl also took rowing into consideration right about the time Haskell did. The two talked about trying to row at K-State together. They were planning on joining a crew club called Kansas City Rowing Club(KCRC) that a lot of East kids are a part of.

“I decided not to because I’m pursuing a difficult major and the benefits of rowing didn’t seem worth the negative parts,” Kiehl said.

Haskell’s outlook changed after receiving the letter from Ure. It seemed weird to Haskell that they would recruit someone to play the sport in college without experience.

“They don’t want people who have a lot of experience in the sport because they have bad habits,” Haskell said.

Some of these habits are bringing the handles around your knees, not doing a full warm-up and the pattern in which you move your legs, arms, oar.

For Haskell, the positives, like scholarships, staying in shape and being on a team outweighed the negatives like being strained for time and more exhausting days.

Having tried out the sport twice during the summer with Kiehl, she was a perfect fit.

A perfect fit for a school like K-State. With their big football and men’s basketball programs, they are in need of women athletes.

Another reason women’s rowing seems to be prominent is due to Title IX.

Title IX is the fact that universities have to give out an equal amount of mens and women’s scholarships. By passing this in 1972, women have many more opportunities to play college sports. Since a football team could consist of up to 100 scholarships, that opens 100 women’s scholarships, including newer sports like rowing, that wouldn’t have been accounted for before Title IX.

In Haskell’s case, they recruited her because of her athletic background, height and competitive spirit. By accepting this scholarship, Haskell gets a large amount of her college paid for, and has opened a spot for someone on a men’s team.

Rowing is becoming a popular women’s sport for the reason of Title IX and the fact that the girls can be trained in college and don’t need the background in the sport that other women’s college sports need. For Haskell it offers a new experience with that team atmosphere she loves.

With that mentality, Haskell went to visit K-State in Manhattan, Kan., and see if this was something she would like to be a part of for the next four years. A new sport, no worry about getting burned out and a great team atmosphere is what she found.

East alumnus Molly Ross is currently on the team and describes the team atmosphere as family-like.

“Rachel will be great for the sport, ” Ross said. “It’s a sport that rewards those who work hard and she is an extremely hard-working individual.”

Ross also says this is the most difficult sport she has played. It takes a lot of training to become ready to compete, which is probably why all freshmen redshirt, or practice but sit out of games their first year.

“They ease you into it,” Haskell said. “I’ll start out with one practice a day and by the end of first semester I’ll have two.”

The decision to row seems like a perfect fit for Haskell.

“I never really wanted to play a sport in college but since I got this new opportunity I didn’t want to pass it up,” she adds.

See all the seniors who have committed to college teams here.