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The Mercer Juniors have been hard at work this spring! Read the race reports below from a member of each Mercer team.
Neczypor Regatta:
What a way to start the season! Neczypor, even with the rough weather, was so much fun and a great experience. I can speak for everyone when I say we are all so proud of our first win of the season. We all trusted each other to give it our all, work as a team, and inspire each other to the finish. First race nerves definitely kicked in, but knowing we had each other in the boat, and the support of our coaches and team, made us feel confident to race. The feeling of doing good work on the water made us all so proud and love the sport even more. Neczypor was such a great way to start the season and made us all so excited to see what is to come for the rest of the spring!
-Gigi Brandt, Novice Girls Team
Mercer Lake Sprints:
On the days of Mercer Lake Sprints, while parents may have been biting their nails in
anticipation for their child(ren)s race, the rowers of Mercer were calm. Every rower was reassured and had their confidence reinforced by lessons learned through our coaches. For the Novice Boys, the end placement of most boats was not as high as desired, but it fueled the hunger for more. Each rowers brought their very best, sending their boat through the water, as
they maneuvered together as a cohesive unit, leaving each person with an euphoric feeling, grateful for the opportunity to perform. While each person had to work their very best, the results came from working as a unit. The coaching for the Boys Novice Program at Mercer Lake has
greatly developed every single person on the team, no matter whether varsity or novice, and has helped many develop as rowers and people in general. Every person on the team has such a strong desire for success, and pushes themselves to their limit, with the help of the coaches,
who try to show them their full potential, and this was a key factor in the success shown during Mercer Lake Sprints.
From my personal experience as a coxswain for the Novice 4+ and U16 8+, there is a large promise from the Novice Boys. No matter the conditions, we have been trained to row strong and hard, and to stay determined. This was shown during the race, when we did not let our competition best us, and inevitably had a very good race, because of this. Because of the family-like bond between teammates, we have created a cohesive unit within boats, visibly shown on the water. Each boat works in good synchronization, striving for perfect
synchronization as technique is developed with training. Under the tutelage of Novice Boys Coach Brian Price, there has been a steep incline of success throughout the Novice Boys Program, and hope for even greater success down the line. Mercer Lake Sprints was only the start to the journey upon which the team will embark, the next stop being Mid-Atlantic
Regionals, where we hope to execute the skills we have learned, and have medals to prove so.
-Keely Cote, Novice Boys Team Coxswain
Saratoga Invite:
This past weekend the Girls Varsity team had so much success at Saratoga! Everyone went into racing with the motivation of wanting to win. As the weekend progressed, we stayed humble, but kept fighting for each other both on and off the water. Even with tough competition, we were focused on one thing, putting in our all. We all successfully came home with hardware, weighing down ALL the vans on the way home. I'm so proud of all the hard work we have been putting in at practice because of everything we have accomplished this season!!
- Anna Ciardiello, Varsity Girls Team
Cooper Cup:
A few days before the Cooper Cup, myself and others in my boat could not be described as having a high level of confidence in our rowing capabilities. The boat would continually rock from side to side, and timing was lacking. Despite these initial challenges, over the course of the next three practices, we focused on technique, and the results were evident at the Cooper Cup. It is a testament to the capabilities of our team that our lower boats are competitive with other teams' best boats. There were especially strong performances from our U17 8, which was a narrow second in the final, and the 2nd JV 4, which placed third with a respectable time despite equipment issues.
-Eoin Graham, Varsity Boys Team
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