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Article published Jul 6, 2008 Water world: Maryville rowers bring sport into spotlight
By Melanie Tucker of The Daily Times Staff
They are a mean, lean rowing team and the first ever for Blount County.
Maybe you've seen them on the lake in Louisville, powering their way through the water with rhythmic precision. These teenage girls, mostly from Maryville High School, signed on with coach Adam Stoermer back in 2006 to get stronger and faster on the water as members of the Smoky Mountain Rowing Club/Maryville Crew. Their training -- which has no off-season, has certainly paid off. Last season they won three or four races, placed second in a few others and medaled in most.
On a recent weekday afternoon, team members Rachel Moore, Madison Heinsohn, Sydney Beshore and Katie Fernandez, headed to the Ruby Tuesday workout facility on Church Avenue for some summer training. The season just ended in May. It was another successful attempt by this team to get their name out there and compete hard. Fall season will start Aug. 13.
Heinsohn is a junior at MHS and started rowing as a freshman. She learned about the formation of this team through an announcement at school. She and some others -- about 20 in all -- liked the idea of a new challenge and embraced it.
Stoermer set up a meeting, invited local girls to come investigate the sport and was pleasantly shocked at the initial interest. He said he had hoped that maybe eight or 10 girls would show up; there were 40 who did.
On the water and off
As Moore explained it, they compete in head races in fall, which are 5,000 meters, and sprint races in spring, at distances of 2,000 meters. Winter is spent in the weight room and putting in lots of hours on the rowing machines. During summer, both indoor and outdoor workouts are scheduled.
While the team members weren't looking forward to all that time in the gym, they do recognize the place it has in their strategy to win. The coaches are right there, making sure of it.
"They figure if we are going to be here spending our time, we need to be working hard," Moore said. "As long as we are doing our best, they are satisfied."
The girls all said they prefer being on the water over gym workouts and spend a great deal of training time on the lake in Louisville, weather permitting.
"When we're on the rowing machines, it's basically looking at a wall," Fernandez said. "I like it the least of all."
Moore, Heinsohn, Beshore and Fernandez are all ambassadors for their sport and some of them have recruited friends for this team. Stoermer hopes the sport catches on in East Tennessee. He is doing his part to spark that interest and will start a boys team in the fall.
Leading the way
He also believes his priorities have been placed in the right order.
"Focusing on the girls team at the beginning was something that was good for them," Stoermer said. "Especially in sports it seems like it's the boys who get to try something first. Then a girls team is added. We did it in reverse."
Stoermer rowed at Southern Methodist University and was captain and president of his club for three years. He came to East Tennessee in 2004 and began building up a program here. His assistant coach is Sarah Arms, a four-year member of the varsity rowing team at the University of Tennessee.
The boats are four-man and eight-man, with some of the girls rowing in both. They compete in either lightweight or open weight.
Those team members who have been rowing for less than a year are novices and compete against others in the same category. This team has 14 novices. In addition to the MHS members, there are also girls from Maryville Christian, West and South Doyle high schools.
It is not a leisure rowing experience, Moore said. And arms aren't the only body parts that need to be strong, the others added. This sport requires core strength, good leg strength and lots of endurance.
The fact the girls team came before the boys team is pretty awesome according to these rowers. They are willing to help get the boys team started and can even boast of beating a women's team from Georgia Tech.
"We feel pretty good about that," Fernandez said.
Oars in the water
There is evidence rowing is gaining in popularity. Stoermer said there were only a few clubs in Dallas when he was there in 2000. When he went back in 2004, there was a state championship and almost a dozen teams in the Dallas area. Florida likewise has seen growth, he said.
"It's moving inward and in the Midwest," the coach said. "And in the Southeast. Those are two big areas right now. It is really exciting to be a part of that."
Currently, there are a couple of high school teams in the Chattanooga area and also one in Oak Ridge.
Where all this will lead certainly hasn't been written yet. For girls like Beshore or Heinsohn and the others, maybe a rowing scholarship is in their future. Then there's the Olympics. Or maybe they will keep up with the sport as adults and continue to recruit new athletes.
It is a sport everybody can enjoy, Stoermer said. You don't have to be a certain height or weight or age. The Smoky Mountain Rowing Club has been hosting a series of special days and camps to get others in on the thrill.
"It is a lifetime sport," Stoermer said. "You can do it until you're 85."
That first year, Stoermer admitted he came away totally surprised at what these girls accomplished. That's not the case any longer. He sets goals for them and they establish personal goals to work on, and the success keeps coming.
"Nothing they are able to do now surprises me at all," the coach said. "They are great kids. They are great rowers. They are only getting better and they are only getting faster."