With a dominating performance at the Miller Cup, the UCLA
women’s rowing team illustrated exactly what hard work, depth
and dedication can produce.
Not only did the Bruins capture the overall victory at Marina
Del Rey on Saturday morning, they also managed to outrow the
competition in every single heat.
A long way removed from four years ago, when rowing was still a
club sport, the team has managed to climb to a No. 13 national
ranking, the highest in the program’s history.
“Many of these girls didn’t know how to row when
they joined the team, and now they’re 13th in the
country,” head coach Amy Fuller Kearney said.
Besides aligning the Bruins with some of the top teams in the
nation, the ranking has also provided the group of rowers with a
heightened sense of validity and pride.
“People are starting to recognize us and that is
nice,” sophomore Jessica Holt said.
“We work really hard, and it’s rewarding to be
acknowledged.”
Joining the Bruins at the Miller Cup were UC Santa Barbara,
University of San Diego, San Diego State, Loyola Marymount and UC
Irvine.
UCLA managed to top them all with relative ease in both varsity
eights, the varsity four and novice eight.
Kearney attributes the success of the team on Saturday as well
as this year as a whole to experience.
With eight seniors leading the team, there is a depth that was
not as strongly present in prior years.
“The key to our success is retention of athletes,”
Fuller Kearney said.
“Our success is due to the athletes who keep coming back
every year.”
With rigorous workouts at times in the mornings when some
students may be just falling asleep, it is hardly surprising to
learn that many rowers fail to remain with the team year after
year.
“I have never felt pain like I have in this sport,”
sophomore Jessica Holt said. “And I’ve played a lot of
sports.”
For the members of the women’s rowing team who have
remained dedicated to the sport, they have reaped the benefits of
their sacrifices.
“There are many days where I have not wanted to wake up to
attend morning practice,” Holt said.
“But the success of the team depends on each of us getting
past that.”
The commanding performance at Marina Del Rey on Saturday was a
reflection of the athletes’ collective desire to continually
raise the level of the team.
Holt summarized how this drive for improvement keeps the rowers
waking up so early in the morning.
“Rowing is an addiction for me,” she said.
“A strange addiction.”