In preparation for the spring season, a few of the Jefferson crew team’s senior girls, Katie Jimenez, Ashley Lo, Lillian Schirano and Serena Sindhi, planned a workout for the team’s winter conditioning last Tuesday, on Jan. 23.
In the fall, the team has green days every Monday, when novices can learn how to row. Later, winter conditioning prepares the team for the season, which begins in the spring.
“The green days were a lot of fun. It was really nice rowing out on the water and we saw a lot of cool animals,” freshman Nora Lyon said. “The winter conditioning is a lot of fun too, because that’s when you really get to know your teammates and meet a lot of people.”
The typical winter conditioning workout consists of ergometers (ergs) which are rowing machines that you can use indoors to simulate rowing, as well as weights, planned by Matt Shoop, the girls Varsity coach, affectionately nicknamed “Coma.”
“Usually [what] happens is Coma plans out the workouts. We had this on the calendar for a while, where the seniors were going to plan a workout,” senior Lillian Schirano said. “We asked Coma to bring a big parachute, like the ones you did in elementary school, and we asked him to bring [scooter boards] and hula hoops.”
The workouts that the seniors planned had a lot of positive feedback, as it gave them a break from their usual routine.
“I thought it was a lot of fun, it was a nice break from the workouts we usually do,” Lyon said. “I thought the [scooter boards] and parachute were really fun.”
The parachute and scooter boards were well-liked as they brought back a lot of memories from elementary school for many of the team members.
“At the end, we got a parachute and we had a lot of fun. It was great because a lot of us haven’t done that since elementary school,” sophomore Rhesa Hicks said. “They’re just so nostalgic.”
The fun workouts and friendly atmosphere for both new and returning members provided a lot of joy for people.
“It was a lot of fun,” Lo said. “Some people brought their friends and we had a lot of fun.”
The team’s winter conditioning is coming to an end in a few weeks and will officially start the spring season on Feb. 20.
”I’m really excited to start actually practicing,” Lyon said. “Crew is a nice break from school and I really like being outdoors too. It’ll be nice being on the water.”