Eight oars glided through the air mere inches above the water, balancing the sleek boat with delicate precision as it hurtled down the channel. Sitting tall in the stern, the ninth member of the boat scanned the water ahead, guiding her rowers with calm yet commanding poise.
In a sport that can be aptly described as controlled chaos, coxswains are tasked with a crucial job: Control the chaos.
Chloe Kojima and Maddie Alden, the two senior coxswains on the UCLA rowing team, have experience doing exactly that. With 16 years of combined coxing experience between them, the veterans are helping lead a young crew through the home stretch of the 2015 season.
“(The coxswains) are so valuable because they understand the level of discipline that’s required and the level of focus that’s required,” said coach Amy Fuller Kearney. “To be in that coxswain seat and be the leader in the boat, they can hold the athletes accountable and make sure that they’re on every stroke. Especially in Chloe’s position in that eight where she can see all the oars, she really is a coach in there.”
No. 16 UCLA has faced stiff competition in almost every race this season. After sweeping Loyola Marymount in a mid-March dual meet, only three Bruin boats have gotten first-place finishes: the varsity four at the San Diego Crew Classic as well as the second and third varsity eight against No. 14 USC.
Alden, the varsity four coxswain, said that the four has been trying to get back to the successes it had early in the season.
“We were really focused at the San Diego Crew Classic, and my boat won,” Alden said. “I think we haven’t gotten the best results since then, but we want to be tough and know that we started off really strong, so we want to finish really strong.”
Since the San Diego Crew Classic, the varsity four raced to second-place finishes, losing to No. 1 Ohio State and No. 7 Washington State in the most recent regattas. While less than a second behind OSU at the Clemson Invitational, UCLA finished just over 10 seconds after WSU two weekends later.
The varsity eight, Kojima’s boat, duplicated both of those second-place finishes in its past races. While the eight hasn’t gotten a first-place win since defeating LMU, the senior said that the season has been a chance for the whole team to grow and learn what it is capable of.
“As much as the rowers are learning throughout everything and throughout every practice, we are too. We’re really learning how to communicate these ideas that are complex,” Kojima said. “When we have four seconds to explain how to fix some part of the stroke, we have to really learn how to communicate effectively and be dynamic and fluid in how we’re relaying these messages.”
The senior coxswains are now in their second seasons with their respective boats, and they bring their leadership to both the individual boats and to the team as a whole.
“I think a lot of it has been just making sure we’re being role models for them,” Alden said. “We rely on all of our freshmen – every one of our team members is important this year. We have a small and young team.”
Fuller Kearney echoed the youth of this year’s group under the team’s veteran leadership.
“In general, it’s just been one of those years that’s kind of a building year. We’re really young, there’s a ton of enthusiasm, and this team really likes to show up and work hard,” Fuller Kearney said. “We’re still waiting for that really good 2,000-meter race from start to finish, and we really haven’t been able to achieve that completely this year – it’s a work in progress.”