Ep. 23: Row Your Boat—EC Rowing Club Coach Carol Terryberry

Carol Terryberry, coach of the Elizabeth City Rowing Club, sits down to discuss her personal love for rowing, the origins of the club, and how they worked toward the success they earned at a recent national championship. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Hello and welcome back to Voices of the Albumaral. I'm your host, Izzy Kelly Goss. In a moment, we will be joined by my co-host David Prizer and our guest, Carol Terryberry. Miss Terryberry is the founder and head coach of the Elizabeth City Rowing Club, which recently competed in the national rowing competition with her young adults team. But for our news segment here, I am once again holding hostage our producer, Colt Wyford, to give you guys the happenings in and around Elizabeth City.

SPEAKER_04 0:40

What's up?

SPEAKER_02 0:42

So, first of all, the City of Elizabeth City will be opening cooling stations at Charles Creek Park soon for days when the heat index reaches above 100 degrees. People can come to the park and they will have shade, fans, and cold water for those in need of escape from the heat.

SPEAKER_04 0:59

Is that do they have like the freestanding building where it just missed you? Um Do you remember those?

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Yes, I do. I know exactly what you're talking about. I don't think so, but I know they have like the giant industrial-sized fans. So the Charles Creek Park will be like the main place for that. And they have like outlets there because there's like the picnic shelters. And um, then if that's taken up because you can rent that out, then they're gonna move over to Waterfront Park where there's all the wonderful shade from all the trees. And again, they'll have like cold water, and it's kind of similar to the warming shelters that they did in the winter. Okay, they have the policy for that, so they're updating the policy, but their next meeting's not until August. So this is a temporary solution. Um, Councilman Kim Spence, it was his idea, and he had a great point, which this could be any of us at any time.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Um, it could be any of us who are her stuck out in the heat, and he thinks it's a great way to keep citizens safe through the heat waves we've been having, and I agree.

SPEAKER_04 1:59

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Also, back real quick, just back to those uh those misting stations. Okay. Why were they always like soda themed? Like what it would be like Sprite, and it's like it's misting. Like, I don't want to walk through Sprite.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Sprite idol. I'm pretty sure it's just water. It's probably just a sponsor.

SPEAKER_04 2:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

But can you imagine walking through and being missed by like grape sunkists?

SPEAKER_04 2:25

Oh, great. Um I'm like a little sticky and I'm a little bit cooled off, but I'm so sticky. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

Secondly, the old Riverwinds Gymnasium on Carolina Avenue has officially been condemned and will soon be scheduled for demolition. Uh, the property has been the subject of conversation amongst many nearby residents after the proposed John Taylor Opportunity Center made no progress after their groundbreaking ceremony in November, and the building fell into further disrepair. I don't know if you had seen, but a lot of people were going to the council meetings that live nearby and talking about there was a video circulating of a group of teenagers going and bashing the glass out of the pool area, the old abandoned pool area. Oh, yeah. So there's all of this glass has been bashed out of the building. Upstairs, downstairs, people are breaking in. And there's obviously the feral cat colony, which they're all cute, but they uh I really hope that they get some homes. The SPCA has a barn cat program for that now. So people can adopt the feral cats that they've been taking and use them as barn cats, outdoor cats, to help with like mice population, and which I think is a really cool thing you don't see at a lot of SPCAs.

SPEAKER_04 3:38

Yeah, yeah. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

Um, yeah, a lot of people were campaigning because of the kids.

SPEAKER_04 3:43

Kids, let's not break glass. Let's not break glass. Let's not break glass.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

It's also bad for the kitties. You can step on it. Yeah. Um, there was also a fire there not that long ago, I think within the last few years upstairs.

SPEAKER_04 3:55

I remember hearing about that. And apparently it just stayed completely contained. And like it did.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

You can see where it went out one window, which is now boarded up. Um, and that's it. There's no no thank goodness, because that would have been a terrible, terrible fire.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Um, but now the the residents are happy to know it will be demolished soon. Hopefully, someone will use the property for some good. It's a wonderful waterfront property, and maybe they can build another opportunity or resource center.

SPEAKER_04 4:26

So sometimes in high school I would go and uh get cookout and go and park like oh yeah, you know, they have that little parking lot that faces out into the water. Um, I was just eating cookout. A lot of other people were probably doing something else over there, but um, but yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Yeah, my brother skipped high school, skipped class one day and went and sat at the water, I think with cookout. Yeah, he wasn't doing anything wrong, he was just sitting there, but his truck wouldn't start, and I had to go in the middle of a rainstorm and and jump his truck so he could leave. And that's what I think of every time I drive past that.

SPEAKER_04 5:01

Yep. Kids don't break glass, don't skip class.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Yes, don't break glass, don't skip class. Um, finally, a museum in Rotterdam, Netherland uh recently covered their floor with over 800 pounds of peanut butter to honor the late Dutch artist Wim Schkippers. Uh, he passed away last month, and according to the Associated Press article, he did a peanut butter floor exhibit back in 1969. And so this was their way to honor him. Isn't that crazy?

SPEAKER_04 5:32

Why?

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Uh well, I don't know. I guess it was like a big thing in '69. And people who work at the museum now talked about remembering the smell of it from when they went and saw the exhibit as kids. It smelled like peanut butter sandwiches. Apparently, the amount of peanut butter averaged to around uh 15,000 peanut butter sandwiches. Like it's just like in a square.

SPEAKER_04 5:56

Is everyone I guess they're not stepping on it?

SPEAKER_02 5:59

No, it's it's like a contained exhibit. Like they put 40 giant tubs worth of peanut butter in a square in the middle of the floor, and it just smells like peanut butter sandwiches in there. They have disclaimer signs for people who have peanut allergies, and which I just think it's so interesting. It's really on brand for 1969 in terms of like pop art, if if you think about it.

SPEAKER_04 6:21

That just that seems like a uh room you'd actually accidentally stumble into in like Willy Wonka's factory or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

And then you fall and you're stuck.

SPEAKER_04 6:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Yeah. And then they have to pour like milk on you. The Oompa Loompas have to pour milk on you to get you out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:35

Then they throw you in the trash and you're never heard of again.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

They throw you in the peanut butter sandwich factory. Um, my last fun fact to do with that is that he was actually Wimshippers was the voice of Kermit the Frog and Ernie for the Dutch version of Sesame Street. So um, rest in peace. R.I.P. and the P stands for peanut butter.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

On that note, I think we're gonna row on over to our interview with Carol Terryberry. Welcome again to Voices of the Albemarle, and thank you to Carol Terryberry for joining us today. Thank you for having me. We're very excited to have you on to talk about the rowing club.

SPEAKER_05 7:15

I've looked forward to this one. Yes, very much.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Yes, he has. We're so excited. Um, and to just kind of start us off, I'm hoping you can give us an overview of everything that you guys do with the club.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Yeah, um, there's many layers of things happening with our rowing club. Um, we have a very competitive group of rowers that travels and gets done extremely well. Uh, but it's like a journey. So you've got your beginners. We just did a learn to row week, and I've got some fabulous beginning rowers.

SPEAKER_05 7:48

I bet you're getting a lot more people interested.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

We are, yeah. Some of the wins and social media posts have been helpful for that regard. That's great. Um, so that's been driving some of that. But uh everybody's on that rowing journey together. So uh when we started the club, um, well, when I started the club, it was very small. I think we started as a actually a it was a group of homeschoolers that wanted to do something uh that the state was going to help organize within North Carolina. So I had nine kids and four boats, and we just worked out of my backyard, uh, which was far from ideal. We didn't have a launch dock, so you'd have to walk weight into chest high water and somehow climb into your boat. Um, but I had another parent involved doing the winter training, and then I did the the rowing. But from that it grew. So it was just, you know, a handful of kids. But then I did my learn to row camp that summer. So we started in 2020, believe it or not. And I just kept going through the pandemic because we were outside, we were in small boats separate, and then my two-man boats, I just put siblings together. And so uh there was some pushback, but it wasn't much. So we just kept going um through that. And then we um yeah, so we so we started my backyard, and then um the city, you know, I had moved my sailing program to the boathouse in 2017, and it was just waiting because that when I saw that building for the first time, I was thinking, oh, this is so perfect for rowing. And I measured it 75 feet long and eight is 60 feet long.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

And then 50 feet wide, it was perfect for rowing. So I got very excited and it took me three years, but I started asking for a rowing dock, which is a special dock where the riggers sit at the perfect level so you can get in and out of your boat. Okay. Can't just be any dock, it has to be a rowing, low profile eight-inch dock. So, anyway, so I asked the city um to put the dock in, and they did, which was great. It took a while, but um, then I was able to bring the boats downtown, and that's when we really started to grow because I was able to do some learn to row camps that were able to grow. Um then uh Norfolk Academy gave me four boats. Um that was very helpful because now I have an eight. Um, actually I had two eights, which was great, to eight-person boats um and a four and some doubles and some singles, so a handful of boats. Um but then yeah, so we we didn't have much, but we had boats and we had oars and we had some kids. Uh still nobody really knew anything about rowing, um, except for me. So I had to do everything and it helped get the boats in. It's very technical, very precise type uh program with very expensive equipment. Right. Even though we had freebies, it you still requires a lot of care. They're called shells because they're very, very thin so that they can be light. But you could just put your foot right through it if you do it wrong. Oh no, okay. So um one of the first days that I took the eight out because no one knew how to be the coxswain. I was the coxswain and the coach in the boat, and I went right into the stumps and put a hole in the boat.

SPEAKER_05 10:49

And just just for everyone, I kind of know the coxswain is what?

SPEAKER_03 10:52

Coxswain sits in the stern. Remember, the boat goes backwards, so he's going forward. Oh, he's nautical term, and he um steers the boat. Right. There's a small rudder, and he uses lines to steer the boat, and he also is in control of the boat. So he or she will call, you know, bow needs to take a stroke to turn the boat this way. Uh, all right, everybody sit ready, ready all row. He he directs the practice.

SPEAKER_05 11:18

A good coxswain has different skill sets than then than the rowers, necessarily, right?

SPEAKER_03 11:23

Yes. And I have truly found that my sailing program compliments a lot. I I make sure all my coxswains know because that now they're attentive to the wind. Uh-huh. And that's tremendously important.

SPEAKER_05 11:33

Yeah. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it was I'm I'm I'm getting excited about this, so I'll kind of count down.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

I I mean get excited, ask away.

SPEAKER_05 11:42

I this is almost going too deep. Where are you from?

SPEAKER_03 11:48

I grew up mostly in Hampton, Virginia. I was born in Michigan, but circuitously ended up in Virginia.

SPEAKER_05 11:55

The thing that came to my mind, because again, I'm not an expert at this. Um, my depth of rowing is I've bought two indoor rowing machines. But I also have no it's great exercise. But I guess get fascinated with with what I've read and what I've seen about it. And for the life of me, I never would have anticipated rowing to catch on in North Carolina. I mean, the the the common conception about it is that it's it's a little bit elite and then it's eastern, and but it doesn't have to be because there's been Olympics from Washington and all that kind of good stuff. So why is it caught on in North Carolina? Is it success, just a camaraderie or what?

SPEAKER_03 12:39

Well, it is a very unique sport.

SPEAKER_05 12:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:41

So um there are no superstars. So people who, you know, are maybe big soccer players or volleyball players, and they're used to being the star of the team might not be a good fit unless they want that team mindset because everyone has to pull their weight. There has to be a level of trust in the boat. Um, and there's something beautiful. It's like a combination of weightlifting and ballet. It's a beautiful sport. And when there's a magical moment when all eight oars are going together, slides are going together. You you develop this thing called swing where the boat is running out.

SPEAKER_05 13:17

I you I read about was it the the boys in the boat? Yeah, I read about about that. And he did such a fantastic job of describing that. Do you know the story about that? No. I said the Olympic team from was it the 1936. 1936. The Olympic teams from the University of Washington, and they they went back and forth between, I guess, a couple other schools all the time, and they just never won, but they eventually won. But the the the description of what they went through was just it's a true story, too. It was fascinating, just fascinating.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

Yeah, they poetry and motion used. Yes. It's a beautiful beautiful sport, but in that story, it's a little bit of a reflection of what we're doing here because these kids were such underdogs, they were hungry, literally hungry. Uh, they had they had no safety net, you know, especially the star, but a lot of them were poor. There's a moment in the movie where the coach is looking through the lockers. He's like, What is the edge? What is the edge? And he realizes they have holes in their shoes. Yeah, there's a couple of boys in that boat. If they're not in the boat, they have nothing. Yeah, they are not in school uh because it's providing the that's right. They put them up at the boathouse.

SPEAKER_05 14:24

Right, absolutely right.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

True story. And so, so it is, is it elite? Well, it's known to be elite, but we're certainly not elite in Elizabeth City because we started from scratch with Elizabeth City kids.

SPEAKER_05 14:35

And the boats cost a lot. I mean, my goodness, the equipment is just it's not I don't have to buy one myself, but for the team, my goodness. Right. And you have to take care of them.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

Yes, yes, you do. Yeah, so it's um, so I grew up, um, my dad was a college rower and was obsessed with rowing, obsessed with it. And so um we had a single uh one-person rowing shell in our my garage growing up. We lived on the Chesapeake Bay, and so he would go out in all kinds of weather. Um, and so when I was probably 10 or 11, I started rowing it. He was very smart. He never, all my friends would have like little motorboats or Boston whalers. I was never given one. He goes, just row. So I had to row to go visit all my friends who were lived around the corner and all, you know, because we lived just if there's a lot of water up in Hampton Roads. Right. And so that's how that was my form of transportation as a young preteen and a teenager. And so I got good at it, uh, loved it, enjoyed it, and just rode myself silly every summer.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 15:33

In a single. Um, and so lo and behold, I was a swimmer during the year. So I get to University of Virginia and I think I'm gonna be on the swim team. And you know, it's a division one, it was not to be. I was gonna be a JV walk-on, not travel. And I remember calling my dad, I'm like, I don't think I want to swim anymore. And he goes, see if there's a rowing team. So they were just the the boat house, there had been a fire and they had just rebuilt the boathouse. And um, so I went down there and they were rebuilding the team, which was perfect timing. They're like, if you have any experience, I'm like, oh, I do, actually. And so I was the only one who had experience in the novice class. So I think they took me, even though I'm not tall. Uh so I was by far the shortest rower, but I was able to row there for the next five years, which was great. I ended up switching majors. Um, traveled all around the country just smitten with it. We did very well at that time. It was pre-Title IX, or there was it was no, um, there was not a lot of funding in rowing. You had the elite schools and then you had everybody else, right? Mostly clubs. And it is not like that anymore at all. So night and day. Um, so when um Clinton signed the Gender Equity in Spending Act, you you have to offset football. How are you gonna do that? Rowing will knock it out in one check. Boathouse, boats, scholarships, that's $10 million. Done. So a ton of money went to women's rowing.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

Good God.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

The sad part of that is like I remember them getting rid of the swimming and diving team that Greg Luganus was on. And I'm thinking, there's a lot of carnage from this. Uh, the thing I wanted all my life was to get some money for the rowing program at UVA, because you know, football has so much money, and we we have it, but here's the here's the cost. So I go back and visit, and six of the girls ate in the number one eight are from Germany. So they are cherry-picking people from all around the world. And is that right? I don't know. I mean, it changes everything. Now it is so um, it's just a different sport, right? That's all I can say.

SPEAKER_05 17:35

But the team that you have is not from Germany. They're lovely. Exactly. Yes. So I gotta imagine that you said that you mentioned earlier the camaraderie. I gotta imagine the life lessons that they that these girls get. You know, it's it's I just to talk about that because they they they must get this whole feeling about what they're doing together. They're the swing.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

You saw my next question. Oh wow. So our first regatta, I'll take you back to that because that was pivotal for our club, I think. We don't have a trailer, we have very used old boats, and I have rowers who can barely row. Like we look at our it's just for fun. Sometimes we look at the videos from that year, and they're like, oh no, we we weren't good at all. So, but anyway, so I invited teams from Chesapeake down. They graciously came because I'm like, I don't have a trailer, so if you guys can come row with me. So three teams from Virginia came and I spent the week preparing the kids to lose, just saying, hey, this is gonna be fun. We're gonna see how we do, but just be aware, like we haven't been doing it very long, they've been doing it a long time, you know, they may have better boats. We're just gonna go out there and do our best. But I had no expectations. We won every race but one. Wow, which makes no sense.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Right.

SPEAKER_03 18:48

No sense. They just out, like if you looked at how we rode, it was terrible rowing. They just wanted it more. There was so much excitement starting a program and also just being the underdogs, the way underdogs.

SPEAKER_05 19:00

But how old are the girls were the girls?

SPEAKER_03 19:02

Uh, that was in 2020. So, um, and it was it was girls and boys. We had probably 25 in the club by then, which was how old were how old at the time? Um we take them from age 11 to 18. Okay. So it was a mixture.

SPEAKER_05 19:14

Got it.

SPEAKER_03 19:15

Uh, pretty young at that point. I still have a young team.

SPEAKER_05 19:18

What interests them in rowing?

SPEAKER_03 19:21

Um, if they've seen it, uh we do get interest from people who've seen Boys in the Boat because they see the magic of it and they understand the nature of this. Um, I think there are kids out there who really want to do hard things, and it is hard.

SPEAKER_05 19:34

It is hard.

SPEAKER_03 19:35

It is hard, and it takes a while to get developed the skill. It takes a good year to develop the skill. And then you're in your JV year and you're kind of in between and you're not really going to all the fun things, and then and then you have so there's a process that journey that I was talking about. So uh what's been fun about that for my team is they've seen, I still have the girls who have have national medals, silvers, golds on my team, and they watch them and it inspires them because they've seen how well they can do nationally. So it's inspiring the next generation.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Right.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

Um, in every day at practice, like this morning, I said, you know, when the varsity goes by, because I'm with the training the novices, stop your boat and watch them. And so everything I've just been describing to you is is embodied in what they do rowing by you. And so there's all and then they're they're a hundred times better when we pick it back up. Wow. They're being inspired by each other, which I love. Wow. There's also um so much teamwork because every it's an equal playing field, everyone helps each other because you know, you have to carry boats down, you have to carry oars down, we wash boats, we put boats away, we load trailers, we it's a lot of work involved, um, physical work and obviously the work of the practice. And so it does develop strong bonds in within the team.

SPEAKER_05 20:58

I've played team sports, and I don't want to exaggerate that, but going through high school, you know, football, baseball. From what I understand, I've never been on a rowing team, but from what I understand that develops a team feeling more so than I can ever remember ever getting from football and baseball. To take it from me, I just I yeah, we're members of the team, except I had my own thing to do, you know.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Right.

SPEAKER_05 21:23

The the rowing team, they're in a line. They're they've got they're kind of individual jobs, but they all have to synchronize.

SPEAKER_03 21:30

Right. They do. And it really comes down to the heart of the matter, like wanting it more. Um if they want it more, they're gonna they're gonna get it. And so there's so much of that m internal motivation.

SPEAKER_05 21:43

Can you coach that?

SPEAKER_03 21:44

You can't. That's the one thing I can't give them. I can inspire them, I can put them in positions to want it more. But um, and I try, for example, we're training right now for the Canadian Henley, which is a Canadian national regatta. Canada is their num rowing is their number one amateur sport. Like here, there's baseball fields everywhere. There, there's rowing club everywhere. So they are very good. Okay. So I do pro I do like going to our US nationals, which are here, and then the Canadian Henley, which is this much more competitive.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 22:16

Because especially when we do really well at nationals, I like them to, you got to keep the fire going.

SPEAKER_05 22:21

It's quite an experience for these young kids, too.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

It is.

SPEAKER_05 22:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 22:24

It is. And in Canada, one thing I do appreciate it about it, it's because it's spread out. One thing that is happening now more and more on the level, especially with these scholarships, is the clubs are cherry picking. So you have nine clubs in Philadelphia and they'll go around and they'll pick the best girls for their national boat and they'll put them in one club. Right. And so it's it's challenging on that level for my girls to go and win at nationals because they're up against these massive clubs and big rowing strongholds. Um, but we still we're still in the top. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Six. Yes, absolutely. You you don't cherry pick, but you do have I take what I get. Absolutely, but you do have some very, very good standings. Um Emma Meyer and Ella McFadden, they you guys went to nationals week before last when as we're recording this. Um, and prior to that, you told me they were seated number one in the country. Yes. And then there's Kieran and Gina Rogers, if I'm saying that right, who were third. You had all of these, all of these names that you were giving me, and all of them were in such high standing. Yes. And that's so amazing because you don't cherry pick. Right. So we have this talent here. Um how was Nationals? How did that go? How what was that like for your team?

SPEAKER_03 23:43

It was exciting. And again, it's it's always about expectations. You know, life is kind of like that. So the first year, I I was never actually planning to go to nationals because you have to go to regionals first, and regionals is a time trial. And then I'm like, I it's just too far, too much money. I'm not gonna bring that to the team. But we had gone down to a regatta in Florida in January, and um I had a group of girls that won by a lot, and they beat the Florida teams that are rowing year-round. And I thought, okay, we need to go this year. And so we go to regionals, we win by 24 seconds, which wow 24. Complete. Yeah. It doesn't, I have not seen that happen since. I think it's I it may have been coming off of COVID, but this quad was so good. So now I'm like, not only are we going to nationals, we could win because I'm looking at all the other regionals. So that year we got second, which was amazing for a first-year team going to nationals to come to get a second. Absolutely. Remember, there's you know, 40 or 50 teams in each category, and you have to work your way all the way there. Nine regions, um, big money teams. I mean, we're against Dallas, San Francisco, right, New Jersey, you know, the big New Jersey, New York. I mean, it's Chicago. There's certain events we cannot compete because, like the girls' eights will have six eights. And so your first eight is going to be the strongest. I don't have I have one or two, maybe. Right. Um, so I I go with the smaller boats to try to strengthen those. But that boat was incredible. So to come off the first year and get second, it's amazing. So then the second year, we got second again, but of course, by 0.4 as opposed to two seconds. So we got even closer to the gold, but we didn't quite get it. It was it was bow ball to bow ball for 2,000 meters. It's like about eight minutes of just brutal, brutal hard work. It is it's like running uphill with weights. It is very intense to row a 2K piece, 2,000 meter piece. So our expectations are always to meddle. Uh-huh. So we go this year, and I think part of it was the cherry picking. And I just have to be honest, because this these are, for example, the girls that rode against MNL are both going to Princeton. They're both on the national team. Right. So I'm like, you let them go and concentrate on you. And they got a tight fourth and were really proud of themselves. Absolutely. Because that was a really good row. I mean, fourth in the country, they're five foot five and five foot seven. Absolutely. These girls are monsters. And it's not size, it's heart. So I give up on that. I think it's I'm trying to tell all these college coaches, and and actually the the rewards speak for themselves. So I don't even need to paint the picture for them anymore. But um And how old are Emma and Ella? Fifth uh actually, Emma just turned 18 and she's off to college. Okay. And Ella is 16. She just got her license.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

So Emma is you said Emma is 18, is just going off to college. Yes. And they still got fourth against these girls who are already on a competitive Ivy League growing team. Yeah, that is still, that's really amazing.

SPEAKER_03 26:48

Yeah, we were thrilled. And then Gina and Kieran, the sisters, got six, again, hard fought, but it was it was a great race. They they put their all in. And then the boys' quad, which was the most exciting thing, they were seeded the highest. They were seeded seventh.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 27:02

Um, they got third, which was really exciting. Oh, exciting. It was it was all the way down. And um, these four boys all winter, and this is why I did this, when they would do the the ergometer brutal workout, they would just collapse afterwards. So they always put their all in. There was a lot of technical, you know, things that we needed to clean up, and we cleaned up some of them. I didn't clean up all of them, but they still outpaced this other these other teams.

SPEAKER_05 27:31

So it was big, big teams. The the the talent and and the the willpower of the of the the rowers is one thing. There's also a technological piece of this of this sport, it's the resources. Um that's the other part that amazes me because again, there's this elite world, and then I don't consider uh Elizabeth City an elite world, but I don't know about how the equipment matches up. Um can you talk a little bit about the boats that that you're that you that you are using? I mean, is it hard to find the boats? I mean, what what's the process?

SPEAKER_03 28:10

Yeah, that's a great question. So we um there's a lot of different kinds of boats. And um when I got to the point with my team where I'm like, I need to buy some boats. I need a I need a contract where I get a trailer full of boats and I do make payments on it because I can't just buy one boat here, one boat there. We're growing too quickly. Right. And I need to jumpstart my my top rowers, they need competitive boats because they are successful. And I was borrowing boats and renting boats, but I'm like, I can't keep doing that. We need to practice in the boats that we're going to race in. And so um, we just called around um to various places and the people that called me right back, and the best customer service, but also the best boats was this fluid design company that's up in Canada. And so brought me a trailer full of boats. Uh, I just made my last payment on four of them, and I've got another payment due, you know, anyway. So it was a payment process, but I had to do it. So that's why you'll see us fundraising a lot, especially for the next couple of years. Um, but that's how I did that is we it was my husband's generosity by getting us started. He's like, you must do this. It's the only way to grow. He's a visionary. And so he really helped with that process and helped fund a lot of it because it was a very expensive step to make. Um, and so that was really, he gets a lot of credit for that because he um connected me with them and they were, you know, and was able to kind of learn the business and see exactly what we need and plug in the weights of the kids and the ages of the kids and the size and the height, shoe size, and match them with their boats, and then have extras so that they can now you're gonna be competing to use that boat instead of the free boat. So the the motivation is built in at my boathouse.

SPEAKER_05 29:55

What isn't there a relationship between the rowers and the boat?

SPEAKER_03 29:59

Yeah, uh for sure, it needs to fit you well.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:02

Um, but not all boats are alike, even though I always tell my kids it's not the arrow, it's the Indian. And that's true to an extent. Right. Um, but getting, you know, having a free 30-year-old boat is not the same as a new boat because of the technology, the carbon fiber and the strength and the stiffness and all the things that are so important and so so great.

SPEAKER_05 30:26

Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 30:27

So kind of jumping back to what you said, you you can't teach that heart, you can't teach that drive. Right. But obviously, you are a great coach. You can tell just by the standings. They are doing a lot of that themselves. But a lot of that has to be from you, from those fundamentals. What are those fundamentals you're teaching them?

SPEAKER_03 30:47

Well, I have the blessing of uh when I rode in college, I rode with the not only doing a lot of sculling before college, but I rode with this one girl who ended up being on the national team, uh, gold medalist in the world. Wow. Wins this big, the big event every year, the head of the Charles. She's phenomenal named Charlotte. And so I rode behind her in college. She was very good. So she and her husband, they were both division one coaches, but they come down every year and coach my team in the spring.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 31:17

And I've learned everything from them. I learned it in college from them, but then so they do what's called the natural rowing technique, which is just a very fluid, uh, horizontal, you know, you don't want a bunch of up and down movements. The way they use the oars and the way they sit in the boat, it's very different.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

And so not a lot of places row like we do. Um, and so that natural rowing technique has been pivotal for our team. Technique is the coin of the realm, no question. Um, because you can have the strongest kids in the world, but it's more of a sport for surgeons than hacks. It's finesse, it's relaxation, it's power, like strength, but in a ballet sort of way, the ballet weightlifting piece. There's the ballet piece as well.

SPEAKER_05 32:00

Are able to learn that and match the fluidness with the raw strength that it takes. That's something that your body just you can take that with you. That's an amazing thing to see. And it's amazing, not that I've never felt that, but but it must be an amazing feel because it it it's such a confidence builder. I gotta imagine it's a confidence builder for these kids.

SPEAKER_03 32:25

Very much so.

SPEAKER_05 32:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

And we've taken, you know, we take all levels. So we take kids who aren't confident, and then through this physical training and the camaraderie, they become more confident. We watch it happen. It's it's beautiful, it really is. So uh I'm it's the best job in the world to coach these amazing kids. No matter where they start, you can bring them there. Can you give them the heart? I don't know. I think eventually you can. If they have the motivation, you can you can point out to them the fruit of that work and try to motivate from there. Um, but there are definitely some kids that, again, the ones with the medals who have that internal drive already. There's a reason every regatta for the last two years, I just think it's our new um secretary of war, whatever. They send all the marine recruiters to rowing and to swimming events because they're like they know how to deal with pain, they know how to push themselves. Yeah, they're not at all sports events, but they're at swim meets and rowing events, recruiting. It's really fascinating.

SPEAKER_02 33:28

I hadn't thought about that before. Wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:31

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

So your team and your your camp, you you said that you just had the camp for the littler kids. Yeah. Um, obviously, you guys are geared a lot towards the children of the area, but you do have an adult summer camp, basically. Yeah. Um, and that's an eight-week camp. And I want to know what that's like, maybe for myself in the future. Maybe maybe I'll give it a shot next year, David. You want to come with me? I'll do it with you. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

Yeah. Um, rowing um is we have a beautiful adult group that goes out regularly, and that's been such a blessing. And these adults, in turn, have blessed our team so much because we do these big events um where and they come and they step up and they help us. They've just the in the coolest group of people. So um, it's been such a pleasure. And and it's the thing about rowing when you're an adult is it's it's no impact or low, it's there's there's no impact at all. So my dad, who's 91, still rows. Wow. Um, because you're not hurting yourself when you're doing it. There's not any pounding, there's not any pliometrics. It's very smooth and very, very good for your musculature. So um you could, it's a life sport, which is great.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

Would you say that that camp is like beginner-friendly, or do you typically see people who are who are already interested, already have experience in the sport? It's very much beginner-friendly. Okay. See, David will be good.

SPEAKER_05 34:50

Um, the closest I've got to it is my rowing machines, but that's not the same.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

Well, but you're already building that muscle memory.

SPEAKER_05 34:58

I think you can do it. Probably I'll get them in there. Probably poor memory. I I have to imagine my technique is not nowhere near where it should be.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

But you know, maybe we'll find out. Um, speaking of the future, what lies in the future for your team? Obviously, like you said, uh, you guys are going to Canada, Canada Nationals. Yeah. But what beyond that, do you think you'll continue shooting for regionals and nationals every year? Is that going to be a yearly thing for you guys now?

SPEAKER_03 35:26

Absolutely. Uh, we have a great group of ninth graders, 10th graders who have we have some time with them, which is very exciting. A couple of great developments. One is the city, uh the tourism bureau has funded some more docks for me because my big rate limiting step is one dock, 30, 40 kids. Right. It takes 45 minutes to do to launch and 45 minutes to recover. So just today, I'm picking up the generous check and and I've already the docks are on their way. So I'm very excited. So we'll be able to launch multiple boats at once instead of one, two, because it's it's not safe either when it's windy and they're waiting to come in, just lined up all the way to the bridge, waiting to come into the dock. So um, so that will help the team grow and be more efficient, which will help everything. Um, the other exciting thing is there is a uh woman moving here who is a division one rower and a coach who wants to help us. She's going to be teaching at COA, uh kinesiologist. So she's teaching exercise science. So I can't wait for her to be here because I'm one person. So, for example, this morning I stayed with the novice because they need the most coaching, but I videoed the varsity and then I give them their video feedback. And I'm okay, you tell me what you see, what can you work on, but it's not as ideal as a coach, right? I'm I'm having to kind of wing it with that, even though they self-coach extremely well. Um to have more coaching, to have the doc, now the program can grow. Um, it's important that we are competitive. One of the things that we do with our with a race course that we also got from the city is we invite teams from all over the state and region and north and Virginia to come several times a year to compete with us. And they want to because we're competitive. They're like, oh yeah, we need to see how our team does against Emma and Ella and these other girls to see if we can, because they're it's not as competitive in certain parts of the state. But Raleigh, Greensboro, High Point um has some very and Charlotte um teams will come here and to our race course in Weeksville. And that has been helpful. So the more the team grows and the better we get, the better it is for the region because we're bringing in more teams, better teams, bigger teams. Absolutely. Um, and so that helps as well, especially with the extra coaching.

SPEAKER_05 37:45

I can ask you one thing. I when I was a little kid, one this this is sticks in my mind. It's weird, it's weird. A little kid, I had relatives that lived in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

SPEAKER_01 37:56

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:56

And that's where the TBA started, the Tennessee Valley Authority. And I'm looking, I was a little kid, and I'm looking out, and there's I mommy, daddy, what are the I don't know if I said that, but those people rowing out there, what are they doing? Evidently, my my cousin told me that ranking rowing teams would come down there during the winter because all the inlets created from all the all all the nuclear uh facilities and the dams created such great waterways. Now, when we ask, bring us to uh Elizabeth City. Is there something about our situation, our position, our resources that that helps out uh as far as do do we have good facilities as far as the natural resources?

SPEAKER_03 38:38

We do because I can leave my boathouse, which you know it has its issues, it floods, you know, it's kind of in a corner. Anyway, but it it's great because a lot of clubs don't have boat houses. So I'm extremely grateful for having a boathouse. I can leave my boathouse, I can go as far as I want to the south, uh, but you're risking the waves in the river, right? But I can go under the bridge and I'm on the intercoastal and I can go forever.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

Right.

SPEAKER_03 39:03

So no matter what the water, if it's really rough, sometimes you look downtown and you're like, oh, they can't possibly be rowing. All we have to do is make it to the bridge, right? Which also trains my rowers to do better in that kind of chop.

SPEAKER_01 39:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 39:15

So even if it's just from the boathouse to the bridge, it's 600 meters. Um, they get to the bridge and all of a sudden it's flat. Right. And then they round the corner, it's rough again. Then they round another corner, it's beautiful. But once we get past the hospital, perfect. It's always there's never a bad day back there.

SPEAKER_02 39:33

So for this visual, are you talking about the Charles Creek Bridge or the Elizabeth City Camden Bridge? Elizabeth City Camden. Okay. Yeah, there's no nowhere to go in Charles Creek. I didn't think so, but I uh sometimes people like to kayak down that way, but I go it was hard to have a hard time envisioning.

SPEAKER_03 39:49

Yeah. No, we'll go for a couple hours and go up past the hospital, spin around, come back. So the meters we're able to get in are great. And that is great training. And I think that's one of our secrets is all the meters and also the ability to row in different forms of water. My college rowing was in glass. It was a freshwater reservoir in Charlottesville, the Rivana Reservoir, and it was always perfect condition. So we'd go to Philadelphia and DC, and sometimes we'd get our butts kicked because we couldn't row in waves and wind. Um, but then I when I rode it, I rode in Buffalo for four years, um, and it was always rough. So we got a lot better. But my kids can row in almost anything, which is great. And they also the new sport is now beach sprints. Okay. It's um, you know, trying to make money off new boats and new equipment cynically, but you it's a it's a combination of running and then a slalom course. Um you're going backwards, so you go around a slalom and then you make a sharp turn and you come back, but you have to play the waves. And so we just got a gold, four silvers, and bronze as well in that national event right after our nationals, which I've not even had time to send the paper. But part of it, if you watch, especially if you were to watch them on YouTube, was catching the waves and knowing how to navigate. And that goes back to the sailing as well, but just understanding wind and waves and how to navigate that was has made us have some incredible. And we have we have some kids, M and L actually trying out for the national beach sprint team. Wow, that's amazing. I think they have a good chance. Fingers crossed. Yeah, because that's from that team, they draw the Olympians for 28. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Yeah. So hopefully we'll have some future Olympians on our podcast before too long. That would be exciting, very exciting. It sounds like you guys are doing an amazing job to represent the area and all the talent and athletes that we have here. And I really appreciate you coming on our podcast to talk about it. Thank you so much for having me. Of course, yes. We are really looking forward to see where you guys go next. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you. And thank you so much to all of our listeners. Please stay tuned for another episode of the city.