Rowing is consistently ranked as one of the most physically demanding sports in the world, but despite the sometimes harsh conditions and the always rough demands on the body, the NC State club rowing team finds fun and experience in the madness. Though rowing is a taxing sport that requires skill and fitness, all are welcome to join, no experience required.

Sydney Benton, treasurer of the rowing club and a junior studying business administration, joined the club during the second semester of her freshman year and explained what makes rowing truly unique.

“You have to synchronize so perfectly with other people, both physically and emotionally,” Benton said. “It really is the ultimate team sport.”

The co-ed club team was established at NC State in 1989 and this semester it has 35 members. The team has practices six days a week for two hours each time, but HT Slaughter, president of the club and a junior studying computer science, said that most members come to practices about three days a week.

“School work comes first and the club comes second,” Slaughter said.

The team practices on Lake Wheeler during warmer months and, from the end of November through January, members complete workouts off of the water. During the fall and spring, the team regularly competes in regattas throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee — even as far away as Boston and Philadelphia. The larger regattas often have hundreds of teams competing in them.

Slaughter said that the NC State club team is a relatively small team and often has eight boats competing in each regatta. The boats compete in either 2K races or 5K races. The 5K races occur during the fall and often have twists and turns, while the 2K races, also referred to as “sprints,” are straightaways and are competed in during the spring.

“It’s like cross country versus track,” Slaughter said, while explaining the differences between the two races.

While both have high physical demands on the body, they’re difficult for different reasons.

“Sprints are intense and 5Ks are long and more grueling,” Benton said.

Though the physical demand of the races is intense, rowers also have to learn how to be completely in sync with one another and control their emotions during and prior to the races.

“If one person is slightly off, the entire boat is defeated,” Slaughter said, speaking to the importance of teamwork in rowing.

Luckily, the rowers have a sort of leader called a coxswain that sits at either the front or back of the boat and steers it while keeping all of the rowers focused and coordinated.

Benton explained the importance of the coxswain and teamwork in general when discussing her most memorable experience from rowing.

“My favorite experience was during a 5K race in Tennessee,” Benton said. “We had a rough start, got passed within the first few minutes and when we hit the 2K mark, where we could see the grandstands, we were under a bridge. Our coxswain called for a Power 10, which means give it your all, and it echoed all around us. It was so powerful and in that moment I just thought, ‘This is why I do the sport.’”

Though the coxswains help keep the rowers in-sync during the races, the races only last six to eight minutes for 2Ks and 20-25 minutes for 5Ks. The rowers have to be prepared hours before then.

“You’re sitting around the boat for hours,” Slaughter said. “Then you warm up, get in the zone, get in the water, and row up to the starting line.”

“Rowing up to the starting line is either really terrifying or completely calming,” Benton said.

Because the warm-ups and the races are so physically and emotionally taxing, it’s important to have a strong bond with teammates both on and off of the water. 

“My friend group is pretty much all from rowing,” Slaughter said. “A lot of the team bonding happens to and from the regattas. You’re traveling with about 15 other people by van for hours, so it’s hard not to bond.”

The rowing club also hosts spaghetti nights to introduce new team members to the rest of the team and even though the team works hard both during and in between seasons, they also find ways to have fun and unique experiences along the way.

One year, the team went to Florida over spring break to take advantage of training in the warmer weather.

“We went out to practice and it was very windy,” Slaughter said. “The waves were splashing everywhere and filling up the boat with water. We had to end up taking turns bailing out the water with an empty water bottle.”

While rowing helps students build relationships, increase their physical fitness and have completely new experiences, Benton said that it has also taught her time management skills and the importance of competition, and Slaughter said that the leadership opportunity he earned throughout the rowing club has been helpful on job applications.

Though the seasons and workouts are intense, the camaraderie, connection and competition make the madness enjoyable and exciting.

Students who are interested in joining the rowing club, or simply want to learn more, can connect with the officers via www.wolfpackrowing.com/officers/.