Are they coming by land or by sea? In the Wayland-Weston crew team’s case, you better stay out of the waters because the season is officially in full swing. Not to mention they’re fresh from their 6th consecutive MPRSA Spring State Championship Regatta victory. It is evident the the team has wasted no time since the spring season.

Their first race took place last Sunday, October 2nd, after numerous practices in the past weeks. Junior Carly Skehan, a coxswain for the boy’s varsity team, gave insight about the practices leading up to the race.

“Lately we’ve been doing more power pieces to train a little bit more for our race,” said Skehan. “I think the team is ready.”

Junior Larry Guo, another boy’s varsity coxswain, recalls his experience on crew last year.

“It was a good bonding experience,” Guo said. “It was nice not being the best boat on the team but still winning races.”

Amidst the anticipation of the race, Skehan noted the loss of several key varsity players to this year’s team.

“Last season we had a lot of horsepower,” Skehan said. “Other teams have people who are 6’8″, 200 pounds, so I guess we make up for it by really focusing on technique.”

According to Skehan, Wayland-Weston’s new emphasis is on teamwork.

“There’s definitely a team aspect. You can’t just do crew for yourself. Everything you do is for the team,” said Skehan.

A daily practice for Wayland-Weston crew, according to Skehan, entails a run at 3:30, followed by stretching and ab circuits, allowing the team to be out on the water by 4:00.

“Our coach is really great, he plans out workouts a month in advance,” Skehan added. “If you go there, you’re there to work. If you don’t want to work, there’s no point in really going.”

With all hours of the week devoted to practice, Skehan believes that Wayland-Weston is ready for the challenge of their first race.

“You’re either ready or you’re not, and I think they’re ready,” said Skehan.

Fast forward to Monday, and the race is over. According to Junior Julia Lavenson, a rower on the girl’s varsity team, the results of the race were “better than expected”.

“We were expected to come in last, and I don’t think any of our boats came in last.  [The] 1st boats came in 3rd and 4th place. That’s pretty good,” explained Skehan.

Lavenson also explained the importance of the State Championship for the crew team. Wayland-Weston has dominated States for six years, and for Wayland-Weston’s coach, losing just may not be an option.

“Our coach is very focused on winning, and he gets very disappointed when we don’t do well. He’ll probably step up the power if we’re going to win States,” said Lavenson.

When asked what was next for the team, Lavenson expressed the importance of building power.

“It’s really important that we win States, so the focus would be to work really hard to make ourselves as strong as possible,” said Skehan.

Guo added that the races help to condition for States.

“States is actually our last race, so by then we’re pretty ready,” said Guo.

Despite any adversity the team might have faced or will face, Skehan remains positive.

“I still think we can do well,” Skehan said. “Because, obviously, we’re Wayland-Weston.”