Preps

Passion keeps county crew teams afloat

They came with bananas, granola bars and blankets.

They brought books and pillows, happily flapped around in flip-flops and claimed shady spots underneath team tents. They weren't going anywhere for a while.

There were several reasons why the county's high school rowers met at the Bypass Canal for the City Championships, but one in particular. Hint: It wasn't about scholarship money and it definitely wasn't about getting their names in the newspaper.

Quite simply, "The people that do it do it because they love it," Hillsborough senior captain Colin McDonald said.

It is not necessarily the act of rowing they're in love with, though. What they love is their insider's crew language, such as "power 10s" (a 10-stroke sprint), "starboards" (a rower's position on the boat) and "catching crabs" (when the oars catch and drag in the water).

They love their small community (it is easier to bum rides off of each other) and they love measuring progress in boat lengths rather than baskets or goals or touchdowns.

They love the classic competition between the haves and the have-nots. The private school rowers, whose parents more easily afford the club dues, uniforms, boats and travel costs, are the haves. Public school rowers, especially ones from Hillsborough High, are the have-nots.

On Sunday, the have-nots edged out the haves, although the second-place Hillsborough rowers will tell you that the Plant rowers didn't have to wash as many cars or sell as many baked goods to get to first place.

Plant had 67 points for winning the most events, Hillsborough had 54 and won the men's and women's varsity eight-person boat events, and Tampa Prep, Berkeley Prep and Tampa Catholic followed.

But who's keeping score? While Plant and Hillsborough have become fierce rivals the past couple of years (high school crew is about five years old), for the most part, these athletes are just happy to have the company.

"We wouldn't be friends normally, but we're probably the best of friends now because of crew," McDonald said.

McDonald, a former baseball player who took up crew as a freshman because pitching "trashed" his shoulder, has been on a one-man crusade to build points for Hillsborough's crew and scope out the competition for future state-level regattas. The lone male sculler has spent the past month traveling to sculling events in Gainesville, Orlando and Miami with his one-person boat. He won gold medals in all three competitions.

Some crew friends sympathized with his plight and went along for the ride. His non-crew friends probably thought he was nuts, and McDonald wouldn't have it any other way.

It is the little quirks and dilemmas that only a rower can understand that make the sport so loveable to those who do it. Under the Plant tent, some novice coxswains talked about coxing. These are the folks at the front or back of the boat (depending on the boat's age) who don't actually row, but navigate the speed and direction.

"It's easier to get along with all of the people in the boat," freshman Joanne Pelfrey said. On the other hand, "The cox is supposed to get the blame. It's your fault if you don't pay attention and steer the boat the wrong way."

Still, she loves it. They all do. If they didn't, what would be the point? No one gets pressured into rowing by their parents. The scholarship offers are scarce and the blisters on the hands are ugly.

There's something about the highs and lows of rowing. There's something about the soggy shoes, the bickering on the boat and the exhausting high of finishing a race.

The average high school boat race takes 6 minutes, 30 seconds, and while that time is essential to the rowers, it is not even the most important part of the sport.

It is the other stuff that they love.

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