As the Kent Girls Rowing team prepares for the New England Championships, coaches Ms. Wilson and Ms. You reflected on a season defined by growth, resilience, and a young roster learning to row together.
According to Ms. Wilson, one of the team’s biggest accomplishments this season has been “figuring out how to leverage our lows.” With only six seniors and a junior class of 16, the team is young. Most of the girls learned to row at Kent. “We actually only have four girls on the team who have rowed before coming to Kent,” Ms. Wilson said. “It’s a very homegrown team.”
The season has not been without challenges. Injuries have forced the team to adapt with the different lineups. “Fortunately, some of the key athletes who were injured have returned this week,” Ms. Wilson noted, which will help all three boats preparing to race this weekend. Ms. You added that the team struggled at times with numbers. “We did not have as many girls on the team as usual,” she said. “We’ve always had a fourth boat, but this year we’ve had about three and a half boats.” Despite this, the third boat was extremely successful at the Exeter Invitational, where it was the only Kent boat that made the cut. “Meeting Exeter is a big deal,” Ms. You said.
Both coaches agreed that the team has grown massively since the beginning of the season. “Technically, they’ve come so far,” Ms. Wilson said. She noted that the coxes, in particular, have become much more engaged. “They feel comfortable asking each other questions and asking for clarifying questions of the coaches.” Ms. Wilson runs the coxes as a “team within the team” because of their critical role in each crew. Ms. You pointed to three rowers in the first boat— Kate McDonnell, Lila Bruun, and Lorenza McPhail— whom she coached when they were novices. “Three of the girls sitting in the first boat now, I taught them how to row,” she said. For Ms. You, watching those rowers develop from beginners to varsity athletes has been especially rewarding.
A typical practice includes a dynamic warm-up, stretching, a brief meeting, and then time on the water. Ms. Wilson emphasized that a big part of their preparation is making sure the equipment is set. “Every day, we’re making little tweaks to the equipment. Sometimes there are small repairs, sometimes they’re big repairs. Sometimes they’re just individual rigging, so that athletes feel more comfortable in the boat.” The team also embraced a tradition in recent years: the “lionesses mentality.” They do not refer to themselves as lions, Ms. Wilson said, but as lionesses. The team even has small cheers corresponding to the lioness theme, and Ms. Wilson believes the identity has had a good effect on the team culture.
Looking ahead to the New England Championships, the goals are clear. The first boat is ranked 10th, the second boat 9th, and the third boat 7th. “The goal is to make it to the finals,” Ms. You said. At New Englands, there are qualifying heats in the morning. Depending on the race, they must finish in the top two or three to advance. The top six schools make it to the grand final in the afternoon.
Reflecting on the season, Ms. Wilson said she is most proud of how far the coxes have come. “They will all be returning next year,” she noted. She is also proud of how well set up the team is for next year, thanks to the large junior class and the enthusiasm the coxes have for their contribution. “The core of the team understands that they have to have each other’s back,” she said. “They understand the athletic opportunity that towing gives them.” Ms. You also agreed on that. “The girls tried their best every day. Rowing is a hard sport. Their hands really hurt, they get blisters, and their body hurts. But girls just showed up every day and tried their best.”
