A Dream Come True

It’s the synchrony of blades entering and exiting the water at precisely the same instant and angle, the result of hours upon hours of training, often in the most challenging of conditions. It’s losing oneself in the effort. It’s finding “the zone.” It’s the fulfillment of a goal, the realization of a dream, and the athletic embodiment of an ideal.

 

Emily Disler understands well. This past May 26, when she and her teammates from Bates College in Lewiston, ME, won their third NCAA Division III rowing championship in four years, the 2014 Collegiate School graduate shared that unmistakable feeling of “swing” that she will likely never forget.

 

“Swing is the fun part of rowing,” she explained a couple of weeks later. “Everybody’s tuned in. Everyone’s focused. Not all rowers can finish their careers and say they’ve felt swing. It’s very rare. It’s beautiful when you find it.”

 

Emily’s journey that ended that glorious day on a 400-acre, man-made lake in Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, FL, began early in her high school years when friends introduced her to River City Crew.

 

“I checked it out and decided to join the team without knowing anything about it or anybody on the team,” she said. “I really went very blind. It was definitely one of those moments that I took on faith and was pushed out of my comfort zone.

 

“I was welcomed by the team and learned the basics of rowing. River City Crew definitely started the process and made me realize how wonderful the sport is.”

 

College-level rowing involves eight-person boats with a coxswain whose role is to motivate the crew and steer. Rowers are assigned specific seats based on their strengths. For much of her career, Emily, who’s 6-0, has occupied the three-seat or five-seat, the “powerhouse of the boat” manned by the tallest crew members.

 

Her freshman year, she learned the ropes in the Bobcats’ novice boat.

 

“Amazing experience,” she said. “That introduced me to racing at a very high level. It taught me how to lose and how to want to win.”

 

Her sophomore and junior years, she competed in the third varsity boat. She began her senior year in the second boat, which achieved success in fall races including the Head of the Charles competition, a prestigious, three-mile event staged in Boston which provides top-flight entries in a host of divisions.

 

Her year-round commitment included winter training, a grueling ordeal considering the cold, snow, and ice that nature visits upon Maine and the fact that the Androscoggin River on which the Bobcats train is frozen until springtime.

 

“It’s a beautiful river, absolutely stunning, especially in the fall,” Emily said. “The leaves change. We saw bald eagles every day. Our coach (Peter Steenstra) would make us sit for a moment in silence and take it all in.”

 

The scenery in the winter, though, was hardly stunning. Rowers assembled each day in a small workout room equipped with ergometers and did all that they could to maintain conditioning and improve technique.

 

“It was definitely a mental challenge,” Emily said. “The coxswain’s in there yelling at us, trying to simulate, trying to synchronize so we can keep our timing sharp.”

 

As Emily entered her final spring, a bout with pneumonia sent her to the sideline, and, when she recovered, she returned to the third boat.

 

Then, just before the NCAA’s, she was assigned the sixth seat in the second boat. Since each squad is allowed two entries in the nationals, she would fulfill her dream of competing with her teammates for an NCAA title.

 

On May 22, the Bates contingent departed for the race site. In the first heat three days later, both of the Bobcats’ boats qualified for the finals, but the second boat – heretofore undefeated in national competition – fell to Wellesley in a close and very much unanticipated finish.

 

“People were disheartened and confused,” Emily said. “Our coach brought us together. His metaphor for that race was, ‘They just poked the bear.’”

 

His words proved prophetic.

 

“At the starting line (for the finals), it was so quiet and calm,” she recalled. “All these boats are lined up next to each other. Everything was about to get really frantic. We started. Wellesley got ahead, which we expected. We had a race plan. We really followed through on that plan.”

 

Wellesley hit 1000 meters in 3:26.736, Bates in 3:27.331. At 1500 meters, Wellesley clocked in at 5:11.804, Bates at 5:11.794.

 

“Then we brought up the intensity,” Emily said. “It was neck-and-neck, which our coach told us to expect. It wasn’t until the last few strokes that we edged them out.”

 

Bates blew through the finish line in 6:52.037, Wellesley in 6:53.715.

 

Emily and her crewmates, still in their boat, watched with anticipation, then elation as the first boat won the ensuing race ensuring the Bobcats the national title.

 

“It was completely surreal,” she said. “Pure excitement and relief. All the hard work had paid off. We were collapsing into each other’s arms, even though we were still sitting in the boat. There was so much joy and happiness.”

 

Later that Saturday, the Bates contingent departed Tampa just ahead of Tropical Storm Alberto and landed in Portland, ME, at 1 a.m. Sunday. Later that day, with very little sleep, Emily, a Dean’s List biochemistry major, enjoyed her graduation.

 

Following some vacation time with her family, she moved to Boston where she’s working as a research assistant in the OB-GYN department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She hopes eventually to attend medical school.

 

“I wouldn’t have done my Bates experience any differently,” she said. “My teammates were wonderful. The hardship and pain we went through together really bonded us. When you’re in the boat and everyone’s together, that’s ultimate teamwork. You have to completely work together. That’s the really beautiful thing about the sport of rowing.”

  -- Weldon Bradshaw