New Trier’s Novice and Varsity rowing teams kicked off their spring seasons with a successful performance in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The results were more than satisfactory, led by third Varsity eight-person team taking home a gold medal in their race. Second Varsity eight-person and second Varsity four-person each grabbed a silver, and first Varsity eight-person took fourth in a “very fast field,” according to senior coxswain Rachel Rane.

“As Cincinnati was approaching, we knew there would be some tough competition because we were facing some of the top teams in the country,” said Rane. “We performed very well as a team all around.”

“Cincinnati was honestly a grab in the dark for most girls on the team, because it was the first large-scale regatta of the entire season,” added Yida Hao. “Even though we were against some of the strongest crews in the Midwest, NT put out a solid performance on both the Varsity and Novice levels.”

With the added travel time came a step up in competition, as they faced and beat many club teams, as both Rane and Hao alluded to. These teams have the luxury of added practice time and larger pools to hone their skills, strength, and endurance.

“It was a regatta that really tested our endurance and persistence to push hard in every single race,” said Hao.

The trip to Cincinnati came on the heels of NT’s first regatta of the season, which was a victory against Chicago Rowing Foundation.

This regatta involved only New Trier and CRF, and while the competition was kept to one school, the race had its ups and down while leading to a win. The overall wins from the regatta left them with confidence.

Varsity and Novice Head Coach Rose Marchuk contributed greatly to their success at the regatta, along with the rest of the team, who put in hours of practice and training after school and during weekends.

“The win felt pretty good, but it was a close race with CRF and we definitely have some improvements to make,” said sophomore Annie Thornton.
Thornton thinks the win was a showcase of the hard work the crew has put into the spring season.

“This season has been good, lots of hard work has been put into it and I think everyone is really excited to get better and get faster, especially for our upcoming regattas, which have many talented teams competing,” she said.
Going against just one other team might seem like an easy task, but some Trevians disagree.

“The competition was hard, and for a while in the beginning we were sort of falling behind, but we picked ourselves up and we managed to take wins,” said sophomore Noel Knight, “which I’m proud of the team for, but it wasn’t easy and took a lot of hard work from everyone.”

Rane, on the other hand, was more confident in what they accomplished against CRF.
“We were able to sweep it handily,” she said.

The girls rowing crew hopes to use their successes in the first couple of competitions as a building block for the rest of the spring season. After a largely successful fall season, the Trevs are hungry for what will be the last NT rowing in which many of them can participate.

“I think so far this season our team is in a really good mindset and is putting in the work every day to get faster,” said senior Allison Elli. “I am really excited to see how the rest of the season plays out.”

“I’m excited for what’s to come,” said Rane, who will be continuing her rowing career at Texas next year. “Being on the water more, we are gaining speed. Stay tuned.”