Sophomore competes in rowing competitions

Sophomore Brooks Sargent had been playing soccer since kindergarten. As a defender, his first recreational teammates at Leawood Park and then his Kansas City Legends teammates counted on him to clear the ball if it ever made it past midfield.

As a freshman at Bishop Miege, Sargent hoped to continue to compete in the sport he loved. But because of his late enrollment, he missed tryouts and was relegated to the C-team, unable to move up. The ultra-competitive Sargent was frustrated.

But that May he learned that small moments can lead to big turning points. It was an ad in the newspaper that caused his athletic career to change direction. It was then that his mom Susan saw an ad for the Kansas City Rowing Club in the “Kansas City Star.” “Prior rowing experience or not,” it said, there was a place for everyone. Susan mentioned it to her son. He said he would think about it.

Sargent’s next nudge toward rowing came soon after. An avid electric bass player, he spotted Rockhurst junior and guitar player Nick Massey wearing a KCRC shirt at Guitar Center. Sargent introduced himself and asked about Massey’s experiences as a competitive rower.

“Nick told me some things about how they practiced and it sounded like a good change [from soccer],” Sargent said. “He mentioned that they have pretty tough practices and that he’d get a lot of work done…It seemed [there was] a different sense of motivation throughout the team.”

About a month after that meeting, Sargent decided to try rowing, joining the club and practicing with the team. He was just in time for the start of the season. His first day he was put in a boat, also called a shell, with three other guys. They were sculling, or rowing, with one oar in each hand. He sees this immediate immersion as an advantage compared to practicing on an ergometer, or “erg,” a machine which can simulate the stroke and help novice rowers to learn its motion.

“Getting thrown right into a boat and getting critiqued early on everything I was doing—there was definitely a lot of good input from the team and  the coaches,” Sargent said. “Everything I was doing was criticized to the point where I developed a good stroke pretty early on because of how much that was going on.”

Waking up at 4:30 a.m. every day took some getting used to. The first week Sargent slept during the 35-45 minute car rides to Wyandotte County Lake, where the team practices, until his body developed a routine. But then he came to enjoy waking up before everyone else.

“That’s a nice feeling, to get out of the house early,” Sargent said. “By the time everyone else is waking up or maybe still even asleep in the summer, you’ve already practiced with your team and you’ve already got your exercise for the day and you have the whole rest of the day to do whatever you want.”

That first season Sargent didn’t compete in many regattas—rowing’s equivalent of a track meet, except without team points—but instead focused on developing his technique. Then, after transferring from Miege to East for the bigger environment, he worked to stay in shape over the winter months with a high-protein diet and a regimen of weight lifting and running.

This season Sargent looks to compete in singles races. Monday through Thursday, from 3:45 to 6:15 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., he’s practicing with his team.  Three separate four miles runs serve as warmups, while inter-squad races and erg workouts help develop his stroke.

Sargent thinks the hard work pays off, especially at the halfway mark of rowing’s 2000 meter races.

“Once you hit that 1000 meter mark…you just want to quit,” Sargent said. “But it’s also kind of a motivation thing for me personally when I see…that we’re halfway. I just go all out to the point where I have trouble getting out of the boat sometimes because I’m so worn out.”

Sargent prefers the position of bow, the person at the forward section of the boat who crosses the finish line first. His job is to direct the motion of the boat through commands such as “Power 10,” which signals the rowers to increase the pace during a straightaway. Sargent feels that he can do that while also maintaining a powerful stroke. However, he also acknowledges the importance of teamwork at a regatta.

“You’re so busy as a rower out there,” Sargent said. “If you’re not racing you’re helping someone else who’s going to a race…making sure their equipment is down by the dock so they don’t miss the race or become late for the race.”

But once a boat is on the water is when the magic happens.

“When you finally get everyone going the exact same pace—oars coming out of the water at the same time, oars going in the water—it feels really nice,” Sargent said. “It feels like nothing’s between you and the finish line.”

Sargent still appreciates the small moments though. But now they happen out on the lake.

“When you get the whole smooth motion going through the boat, and you’re just gliding on top of the water and it’s early in the morning when the sun’s just coming out, it’s a really nice experience,” Sargent said. “It’s kind of hard for anyone when they’re rowing to not enjoy it.”