A University of Waterloo student rows her first regatta with the team at Trent University, competing in the women's eight over 4 kilometres. She documents the weekend from packing through the race, including early mornings, boat prep, and the physical and mental challenge of the event.
Chapters
Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel! It's been a while, I've been a bit missing in action on YouTube, but don't you worry, lots has been happening behind the scenes. First and foremost, I have discovered a new passion, a new sport, which is rowing. You heard that right, I am now officially a part of the University of Waterloo rowing team. And this weekend we had our first ever rowing regatta, which I will take you guys along to. Hi guys, so I just finished packing. This is what I'm bringing. I'm just bringing this huge hiking bag that I always bring on any travels. This, just this is enough. And then I'm also just bringing a sports bag. This is just stuff I always bring to rowing practice. Some other stuff, a sweater, and then I'm just gonna put this inside the bag too. Now it's 11 and I'm gonna be heading out to go to campus at around 1, so I have about 2 hours left and I think I'm just gonna just relax. I'm probably maybe gonna try to take a little nap 'cause I am kind of tired. Yeah, pretty much all set to go. I'm so excited for this. It's gonna be so much fun. You're vlogging this experience? So when I arrived on campus, I met up with the whole team where we all got on a bus that would take us to our hotel. Here's a sneak peek of some of the team members. Everyone's so amazing, and even though it's only been a month since being a part of the team, I already feel like we're all a family, and I can't wait to continue getting to know everyone as the years go on. It was about a 3-hour ride, but as time went by, I managed to take a little bit of a nap, listen to music, read a little bit, and talk with one of my teammates, Kate. I didn't end up doing any homework at all. I just didn't really feel like it. So yeah.
This is a lot, na?
We then finally made it to the hotel, and the rooms were actually pretty nice even though we were only here for one night. After putting our bags in our room, all of us then went to dinner at a restaurant.
Cool winds on me, I'll buy a shake.
I got these quesadillas, which I kind of regretted because they were a bit spicy and I can't have anything spicy in the evening or else my stomach will hurt. So yeah, not the best purchase.
Did you sleep?
I actually slept well, yeah. I feel like I woke up a few times.
Are you jaywalking? Yes, I am. Wait, are we jaywalking?
The next morning, my teammate Sarah and I woke up at around 5:15 AM to head over to Tim Hortons and grab ourselves some food because at least I made the mistake of not packing a proper meal. I just bought lots of granola bars and crackers, not the best choice of food, so I bought myself a sandwich and a muffin. Probably not the best choice of food as well, but better than nothing. Then at around 6 AM, all of us got ready to hop on the bus and go to the racing location, which was at Trent University. Pretty much every year for homecoming, instead of a football game, Trent's tradition is to have a rowing regatta, which is called Head of Trent. So it's always quite crowded on this day. It was super cool to see so many other universities come together for this event.
It's getting a little bit out of control.
As soon as we arrived, we got straight to work by taking out all the boats. Our coach Tanya then gave us all a tour of the whole place as well as talked about how the race was going to look like. Crossed, the canal opened, and now there's nobody coming down the canal anymore.
Now we're going to go up. You will be told—
this is my favorite place. It was a very peaceful walk along the campus. Pretty jealous of Trent University, they're located in a pretty good area. We also saw Regatta Sports selling Barbie unisuits, which some of the guys on our team purchased. It was really hilarious.
Vibration. No, they're too lucky. That's crazy.
The first few races were approaching, so we helped with rigging the boats, which means setting up and adjusting the equipment on the boat, such as the oarlocks, which are the brackets that hold the oars, which are the, like, the paddles. It's gonna be like a short vlog or whatever. Yeah, it doesn't— well, enjoy the moment just instead of the vlog. Yeah, you're not gonna get this moment again. Of course, the next year, you never know. So like, oh, the blue color. Oh, this one right here.
I love this though.
Are they back? Wait, is this racing? Yeah.
Oh, okay. Woo! That's so cool!
And then the races finally began. Here are a few clips of some of the other universities racing. Here's one of our varsity men, Jacob, rowing in a single. And then here's Ben and Muhammad racing in the double. And then we have Graham and Keaton on the double as well. All of them did so well.
I don't feel alone now, 'cause all of my thoughts take the air out of me, and I can't disagree with the lies that I think you believe.
Guys, so I'm at trend right now. I haven't had a chance to vlog yet, but I'm all in my like uniform. And then one of the girls, Chloe, she was so kind enough to do my braid. Looks so nice with the glasses, and I'm just so excited. Our race is at 5:00 PM though, so we have a long way to go. Then we had the men's 4 go out: Kieran, Joey, Nick, and JT, with one of our amazing coxies, Hannah. She absolutely killed it. Up next was the women's four with the wonderful coxie Leah, and the rowers were Helen, Emma, Katie and Emily, they look so strong. Is it a video? Yeah, it's a video. And then up next were the men's 8-boat. There's too many, so I'm not gonna name all of them.
Let's go, Foxy!
And then we had the varsity men's double with Ahmet and Anatoly. And then it was the women's 8 boat, which I was in. I was in the third seat if you start counting from the back. You guys, my form was absolutely horrible. We won't talk about it, but we will fix it for next time. It was so challenging. We did a 4K, which felt so long. My mind and body were literally in a battle. When my body wanted to give up, my mind was just telling me to keep on pushing. Overall though, I think for our first race, we did so well, and I'm excited to keep on improving with the girls.
Lucky I met you, and I still can't believe that I get to see those eyes from more than tonight. Swear you must have fell from the sky, and I feel so lucky I met you.
Then at around, I think like it was maybe 7 or 8 PM, there we got it finished, and we all hopped on our bus to head home right away.
It's not optional. It's not optional. How gravity just pulls me right to you. To you.
Before that, we stopped at Subway to get some dinner because we're all super hungry after all the hard work we put in.
Still sing at night. Every word just comes out right when I'm with you. With you. Aye.
We came back to campus at around 11 PM, and I got on the ION train to head back home. Okay guys, so I just came back home and I'm just gonna wait for my sister to pick me up. And yeah, I'm gonna go to bed because I'm so tired. Oh, and I see my sister's car. Perfect. I'll see you guys.
Can't believe that I get to see those eyes from up there tonight. Swear you must have fell from the sky. I feel so lucky I met you.
