Beginning in 1852 with a race between Harvard and Yale, crew or rowing, is the oldest intercollegiate event in America. Today, the United States Rowing Association has over 30,000 members across the country. Crew's popularity has grown steadily over the years, especially among women, and Brandeis is no exception. One member of the varsity crew team stands out in particular: Sarah Robinson '07.
Sarah sets the pace as the stroke seat for the women's boat.
"She is an awesome rower," teammate Sarah Passarelli '07 said. "She is tall and strong."
Ian Sager '06, a member of the men's varsity crew, describes Robinson as a machine who is methodical and fun to watch.
"She makes it look effortless; she's a big part of the team already," Sager said.
Sarah's abilities and immense presence on the team are even more impressive because she is a first year at Brandeis. However, this is not her first time rowing.
Though most female rowers enter the sport in college, Robinson began rowing during her freshman year at Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Virginia. It is her extra four years of experience that makes Robinson as proficient as she is and an invaluable member of the women's team.
Robinson helped the women's boat place 31st out of 51 in the Club Fours race at the Head of the Charles Regatta this fall. The Regatta is the largest two-day rowing event in the world, attracting boats from colleges and clubs around the globe.
Robinson said that she and her teammates were excited about their ranking, noting that it was "one of the highest that Brandeis has [ever] had at the Charles." She described the race as an "interesting experience" praising her teammates for guiding her through her first head-race, which involves about 24 minutes of hard rowing compared to the 12 in spring races.
Robinson's success and enthusiasm sets an example for both the novice and varsity teams.
"Sarah gives the novice girls someone to look up to and have pride in," Lindsay Vaceck '07 said. "She is the same age as most of us and yet she has progressed so far."
But Robinson's strength can deceive some; Sager remarks that he "often forgets she is a freshman because she is one of the people everyone looks to for leadership-even the upperclassmen."
Robinson's teammates say she has so much to offer as a rower and an individual.
"Crew is very much a team sport and [Sarah] is part of the glue that holds us together," Passarelli said. Her coach, Matt Smith, describes Sarah as "the fastest girl Brandeis rowing has seen in a while," and that "she has the potential to make it to the national team by the time she graduates."
"She is part of a class of girls," Smith said, "that looks like it will be very fast this year. Look to Sarah and her squad to do very well in the upcomming season."
The crew team is incredibly dedicated and tight-knit, due in part to the rigorous training schedule. Varsity crew members devote over two hours a day to group workouts in addition to solo training. For Robinson, the hard work is worth it. She plans to remain on the team for the rest of her time at Brandeis and hopes to row as a single in an adult crew club after graduation. Robinson has no Olympic aspirations, despite the United States' success in the sport. U.S. Rowing is second only to track and field in the number of gold medals won at the Olympic games.
For now, Robinson is looking forward to the spring season which will begin with the team's trip to Georgia over February break for intensive training. After that, look for Robinson and the team to be entering the New England Championships and the Nationals in Philadelphia.
"The team is amazing," Robinson said. "They are great to work with. The effort they put into every practice and every piece is inspiring. They are great role models, this is certainly a step up from high school rowing."
The crew pride is hard to miss. The team usually walks around campus wearing their varsity sweatshirts. Along with the spring season, the next battles they face are getting the team to be considered a varsity sport, rather than a club team, and reviving plans to build their own boathouse.