Gwendolyn Foley is rowing towards her dreams with the Indiana Hoosiers
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Gwendolyn Foley graduated from Martinsville High School in 2020 and is now a sophomore at Indiana University. During her first year of college, she received an email from the novice coach with information for the Indiana University’s rowing team tryouts. Gwennie thought, “Why not give it a try.” Growing up she remembers having an IU rowing sweatshirt and always thought it would be awesome to be a part of the team. After two long weeks of tryouts, she accomplished her goal and made the team.
The IU rowing team is a Division 1 collegiate athletic team in the Big 10 conference. The Big 10 is made up of universities mostly located in the Midwest. There are about 60 rowers currently, with more coming in this fall after tryouts. “Team tryouts were the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” Gwennie states.” They were two weeks long with a lot of running, erging, and different exercises. It takes a lot of physical and mental strength to get through tryouts and many people quit during the first few days or throughout the first two weeks, but I made it my goal to stay no matter how hard it was or no matter how much my mind was telling me I couldn’t handle it.”
During rowing season, Gwennie’s schedule is very busy. This upcoming semester, the team will have weights a few days a week and practice every day. On top of that, the team runs the stadium every Friday morning. Not only does she have rowing to focus on she also has to manage school as well. This hard work paid off and got her a spot on the Dean’s List last year for her academics. “I always like to leave a little portion of my day for relaxing,’ muses Gwennie, “ because without it I would be so frazzled and tired.”
The team practices on Lake Lemon, which is located roughly 20 minutes from IU’s campus. When the lake is frozen in the winter, the rowers practice in the erg room at IU. Last year the novice team even had to erg in the lobby of Assembly Hall.
Gwennie’s role on the team is a little different than the rowers. She holds one of the coxswain positions for the team. This means that she sits at the front of the boat and makes calls through a headset to make the boat go faster. She also steers and makes sure that everyone in the boat is safe.
Overall, this experience has been a new and exciting one for Gwennie. She has learned so much not only about her sport, but about herself throughout this process. To watch her in action this year, go to the IU rowing team’s website for their schedule.
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