This spring, the crew team has worked hard despite their late start on the water due to the closing of the Malden river. Since the river was reopened, the team has been training six days a week. The seniors all agreed that they had high hopes that the team would preserve through their challenges of adversity and still compete at their top performance. They had been working together as a really great team, whether on land when they are practicing, or on water when they are competing with others.
Due to a minimum amount of regattas, the team’s biggest competitors were themselves. Fifteen different cities competed against Malden during the season. The girls novice one won gold, the girls novice two won gold. The boys novice one won silver and the varsity boys two won bronze. Their regatta that was held in Cape Cod got cancelled due to the wind being too strong.
Coach Shauna Campbell was proud of the growth the team had this season even there was little practice on water. Although she was disappointed that some of the regattas got cancelled, Campbell feels that the team worked well and was really strong and she is going to “miss the seniors because they have great leadership skills and they are hard working”.
The members of the team feel that crew is a really fascinating sport because not many people know what it’s about. The season is different from previous seasons because many of the events got cancelled due to the boathouse being unavailable, which made it more difficult for the team, but made them determined to give it their all.
Captains Samantha Forestier, Stephan Lafauci, and Michael Light wish that the entire team feel a sense of accomplishment, due to the fact that not many sport teams lack an area to practice. The team is strong, whether it’s on land or on water. Varsity member junior Vivian Nguyen says that although this season is ending, but it feels as if it is actually just starting since the first two regattas they had were on Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22. Nguyen “enjoyed it for the most part despite the adversity [they] had to face regarding the river contamination.” She did not really set a goal for herself for this season except for dropping her time for the 2k test. She hadn’t gotten a personal best yet since she already set it when she was a sophomore.
Despite difficulties that came up during the season, the team continued to row and complete the season with a positive attitude.
