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2007 - 2008 Team Captains

Ever wonder if it is all worth it?  Well, here is some feedback from some Hylton Crew Alumni (Click Here) and from your fellow students (see below) - Judge for yourself!

Message from JR Taylor, the Senior Boys Student Representative, May 22, 2005:

I just wanted to extend a huge Thank You to all of the boosters, families, and friends that traveled with us this weekend to Stotesbury. A lot of times it goes unnoticed the amount of hard work that has to go into planning, executing, and having things run smoothly with a plan.

Mrs. Moss and the entire chaperone staff, including the bus driver were very accommodating, and dealt with all of the ruckus very, very well. They probably had the hardest job having to deal with kids like ... me. :)

The regatta site parents did a wonderful job with setting up the tents, and preparing the food. Although at times I wish one of you had a switch to turn the rain off, that would be my only complaint.

And to the coaches who allowed us to perform at our very best this weekend, and had the deepest faith in us - thank you. It truly shows the dedication and trust that a coach has in a boat ... when one is willing to literally sprint from one end of a course, to the other in search of a missing wheel ... with literally seconds depending on whether we race or not. Thank you to the best coaching staff on the water!

So ... I know that sometimes we may come off as snobby, or rude, or even foul ... but please know that we are extremely proud to have each of you represent us the way you did. Our weekend occurred because of the combined efforts of the "over 18" crowed ... with the exception of Victoria.

Thanks SO Much!!
- JR and the entire student athlete team

A Four Year Rower Reflects on Hylton Crew

Hi:)
Lessons I have learned....hum....you don't have to be 6 foot and 180 lbs to make a good showing, crew gave me some of my best friends. When I come back those are the people I call and got out with. They say you make your closest friends in college and although that is true I know I have close friends from crew. I rowed with some of those girls for 4 years and if you don't learn something about them and yourself then you don't belong in crew. We had pasta parties as boats and even hung out when we weren't in spandex.  Things that we went through taught me that I can keep pushing myself beyond what I thought my limits were. At Stotes my Jr year there was an awful storm and we launched  I think 2-3 times. The weather was so bad we had to keep coming back in. We were drenched to the bone. I had the best times in crew. I know if you talked to anyone I graduated with, we all would tell you crew was one of the best experiences we could have had at Hylton. I miss it so much, I know I am rambling but it really was. We always joke that crew was a cult and once you got sucked in you never got out. I think the reality is that crew is a family and once you are in you never want out. Rowing is very tough, there is not getting around that, but I would do it 10 times over to have the memories and the friends I have now. I went through spring break practices and weight training and although they were hard and at times painful I would never trade any of that. I was on the swim and tennis team at Hylton and the people I still am in contact with are the crew junkies. Over my spring break last week I went down to the boat house not to see any particular person but just to go back and see where I had spent so much of my time. I know last year with 15+ rowers graduating it took its toll but I know we left the program in good hands. The parents are a huge part too. They were the ones who were the 1st and last to leave (along with the coaches of course). I mean they were the ones who set up the tents, cooked food for us at Nats. and Stotes, had extra clothes and were there to cheer us on. The coaches are great too. I don't know many of them now because many of the coaches I trained under are gone but Brian is awesome. When I was back for Christmas break, the senior girls all got together with him and went out to eat. You don't find that on just any team. I don't know if any of that is what you were looking for but, there are so many stories, memories and friends made over the years, it is awesome. Crew was and still is important to me, I just wish others would know how great it actually is, the hard work pays off at the end of the race as well as at the end of the season. I hope you guys have better luck, the sweat, tears and pain are def worth it, even when it doesn't feel like it at the time!!!!! I am not going to lie, there were times all I wanted to do was sleep instead of go to practice but you learn that it takes EVERYONE and you depend on everyone to make a boat. 8=1, there is no getting around that.
~Liz:)

Hylton Crew: Why We Row

I had a lot of nightmares as a child, but before last spring, I had never felt such a wrath that time could burden a team with. During the 2001 Virginia State Rowing Championship (V.S.R.C.’s AKA Nova’s) the men’s second eight felt the wrath of a finite segment of time. It was a sprint from hell for the other crews, we turned many heads and silenced the crowd as we, the rowers – in our bubble of attitude and endurance - rowed those last few hundred meters like we were being chased by pirates. Coming from fifth place, we knew we weren’t going down like that. We had been in top contention for that spot. Last year we won the bronze, and the previous year in 1999 Hylton’s JV took home the silver, all crews I had been a part of.

This was different, this was a rivalry not as much against Woodbridge or other crews yet – though the aftermath, to put it nicely, would amount to that – but against the idea of defeat. Nobody wants to lose; we weren’t going to. We did. Out of six boats, we placed fourth. The top four boats were within two seconds. The second, third, and fourth place boats were all within nine-hundredths of a second. It matters not how much you win – or lose by – for that matter. What matters is who crosses the finish line first; the Men’s JV found out exactly that right then. Woodbridge took home the bronze, to steal our streak of medals in the state championships throughout the past few years.

After the race, an official photo finish was called, controversies arose, rumors spread, and people were left wondering. My most definitely motley crew was at the brink of tears when we heard our biggest rival had beaten us by .02 seconds. Needless to say, we were proud of our finish. For that segment in time, we became the Rocky Balboa of rowing.

In later weeks we heard stories about varsity coaches averting their rowers’ attention during our sprint. We had been on fire. From over a length back on the top three boats with less than a minute left in the race, our coxswain must have said the right thing to us. None of us remember those last 300 meters. We were locked in an adrenaline rush from the pearly gates of heaven. People still ask us randomly how we did it. If we knew, we’d all have gone to Sydney in 2000, but we’re merely high schoolers with a job to do. Coming from over a length behind, we finished behind by .02 seconds.

At full rowing speed, that’s less than the length of pencil.

"What-ifs" and "Why-nots" ran through our heads for the next week as we trained for the Regional Championships that we had qualified for. In our heat our main competition would be Woodbridge and Whitman. Woodbridge was now our full-blown rival. We wanted our revenge. Whitman was the D.C. champion. At the beginning of the sprint we were neck and neck with Woodbridge. Whitman was a length up. To get into the finals of the championship we had to place as one of the top two boats in the heat. We would not lose to Woodbridge at all costs. We didn’t.

Another rush came from the brink of insanity during the sprint and all of us looked out of the boat at Woodbridge even though we knew we weren’t supposed to. They weren’t as good as us, we knew we could beat them. We could see it in their eyes, too. They stole 0.02 seconds - just a fragment of time - from us. We wanted to steal their chance for a regional championship. We blasted like lightning to pay respect to the name of our boat the Blitzkrieg. It was another rush that we can hardly remember what we felt, but this time, at least I know I remember what I saw. We didn’t give an inch because we knew it meant everything. Instead, they gave us half a length, and we ended only a seat behind Whitman, Crossing the finish line second to advance. We made teenage boys - some of our best friends yet rivals none-the-less - cry.

A friend of mine from Whitman, after they ended up winning the Championship, asked me how we pulled off that sprint, even though I still had no clue. He told me "You guys scared the hell out of us!" That is the intensity in the sport and art of rowing. That is why I row.

So many people ask me why I row and few can grasp the words I describe. Camaraderie, determination, perseverance, persistence, attitude and teamwork – these aren’t ideas or just words. They are just as tangible as the oars that blister our hands day in and day out. I do row because I like to win, but I don’t win nearly as much as I’d like to. I row because I like the intensity, the fellowships and friendly rivalries that push us to endure, but most of all I like the challenge. You can always be faster, more precise, more powerful than you were last week or than the person in your rival’s two seat, as I learned.

Some crews look at us as we usually are perceived and are credited, as one of the top crews in the area. Other crews look down at us, "No sweat, we won’t worry about them." That one finite moment when we are pictured infinitely as something other than 8 cylinders and an insane driver – whether in victory or defeat – is why we all row. We want people to utter under their breath "who the hell was that?" If it causes someone tears, that’s what is at stake, that’s what we love. We are Hylton crew. We dress to impress.

-Bert "Siggy" Garcia
Men’s Student Representative, 2002

Hylton Crew: My First Year

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