This summer, the girls crew team went to Nationals and earned 2nd place in the B Final, 10th overall in the whole country

The girls’ team, consisting of Chi Vo ‘27, Broward Kavanaugh ‘28, Sophia Zhang ‘28, Presley Swain ‘27, and Olivia Bassin ‘27, initially won 2nd place in regionals, securing them a spot for nationals. After that win, their coaches decided to turn up the heat in order to make sure they raced well in nationals.

In a crew team you have the rowers and you have the coxswain. The coxswain calls the turns and tells the girls what to do in the heat of the race. In the nationals team, Vo served as the coxswain.

The girls said they had around two to three hours of extra rowing (in addition to regular practices) once or twice a day. It was around a “month of training after regionals,” said their coach, Connie Kirsch. “The girls did a really good job keeping themselves focused.”

Kirsch relied heavily on her assistant coach, Coach Kayleigh Thomas. “She did a wonderful job preparing the athletes for regionals and was an excellent coxswain coach,” Kirsch said.

Nationals took place from June 12- June 15, in Sarasota, Florida. The weather was hot and unpredictable, with lots of thunderstorms, causing a “lot of our races and practices got cancelled and moved,” said Bassin. Despite this obstacle, the team manages to stay focused and not lose sight of their goal. Additionally, it offered them free time to get to know each other and their coaches better. They would hang out in each other’s rooms and play games such as Banagrams and Uno.

Eventually, the girls had to participate in what is known as the time trials. In the time trials, each boat must complete the course as fast as they can. Their personal times will be compared to other boats’ personal times and depending on how well they did, they will be allotted a place in Final A, Final B, Final C, or Final D. The Bolles girls team got 12th overall, placing them in Final B. For the girls, this was a pivotal moment in their journey. “This was a huge realization that we can do this,” said Bassin.

Then, the girls raced one more time, coming in 2nd place, naming them 10th in the country. The girls worked hard to score this high, which also happens to be the “best result for any Bolles crew in the boathouse,” said Kirsch.
The team seeks to keep the momentum going this year of crew, hoping to return to nationals with more boats. The girls all have personal goals as well, “to become closer to the freshmen and new people that joined,” said Vo.

Along with their impressive accomplishment, this was a touching experience for the girls. “Turning the corner,” Zhang said, “and seeing all of your friends and family and coaches looking and cheering is really rewarding.”