The sun is bright and the water is glimmering. 9-year-old Madeline Jensen is sitting on a boat with her sister and her rowing instructor, when he informs them that they will capsize the boat on purpose. Nervousness runs through her at the prospect of falling out into the cool water. Suddenly the boat tips and they all plunge into the blue depths. As they all climb back into the boat, fear dissipates and is quickly replaced with excitement and joy. The three erupt into laughter.

This moment is a favorite rowing memory of Jensen’s. Jensen has been rowing from a young age, and she began to row competitively around age 11. Her interest in this sport began with her parents, who both were very involved in rowing back when they lived in Portland, Oregon. In fact, her parents met each other through rowing.

Jensen’s father started rowing in college and coached in Oregon. Her mother picked it up after being broken up with as a “little heartbroken girl”. The two of them met while her father was a coach of a dragon boat racing team, which Jensen describes as being “viking-ey”, and her mother was a team member. From there they began their relationship and their wedding ring was even designed by a member from their team.

Although both of Jensen’s parents were, and still are, major fans of the sport, Jensen had a difficult time getting into the sport. In fact, she only got really invested in rowing about two years ago.

“I think just getting into it as a kid, it was really hard, because I was around a bunch of adults, and I didn’t know what I was doing. But I think that the older you get, and the more you get into it, the more you realize, ‘oh, this is something I’m like, involved in, but I want to be more involved later.’”

Though it took Jensen a while to get into the sport, she has really enjoyed adding it to her collection of hobbies and interests.

“I love doing very niche things and I love being involved a lot, and this is something that really can just blow off my steam really easily.”

Over the years she has progressed through many different parts of rowing, going from mostly rowing and erging, which is rowing with an indoor rowing machine, to now being a coxswain (the person giving directions to the other rowers) for teams who need it.

When in this role, Jensen sits at the front of the boat in a cramped position and instructs the eight rowers on the boat on where to turn, when people should jump in, when to increase speeds, if there are big rocks or sharp water coming and sometimes even when everyone should stop completely. She is also in charge of making sure the rowers are rowing at the same time. Jensen believes this role is key in the functioning of the team even though those who aren’t rowers may not know of it.

“It’s almost like a forgotten about part of rowing, but it’s vital because otherwise the team wouldn’t know where they were going and also know when to stop.”

She really enjoys this position because not only does she direct the team, but she also gets to be the one who encourages her teammates.

“It’s such a neck and neck sport, and considering you’re so close with your team by that point, it’s really fun to just amp people up and see them celebrating and stuff.”

The job of being a coxswain can often be one that is hard to fill, because it requires very light and small people so that they don’t add much weight to the boat and so they can fit in the confined space available. Though the ideal size for a coxswain is quite petite, Jensen would describe rowing as a “tall person’s sport” with the average female rower height ranging from about 5’10” to 5’11”. Because of this size preference, Jensen sees being a coxswain as “the farthest I can go professionally in my career”.

By this she means that if she were to row in college, it is highly likely that her role would be as coxswain. As far as college goes, Jensen would love the opportunity to row on a team outside of the Midwest, but she recognizes that it would be harder to do this since rowing can be much more competitive in areas outside of the Midwest. Additionally, as of right now she isn’t on a specific team, since Nebraska doesn’t have a very built up rowing program, especially for high school students.

Even if Jensen were to not be on a competitive team, she recognizes the perks of being on a team and how this sport can be beneficial in different ways than school sports.

“This is something you can continue for a long time, and while it’s physically demanding, it’s not as physically demanding as some other sports, and it’s also like, if you know you aren’t gonna run track in college, join the rowing team. It’s the same atmosphere, and you still compete, and you still exercise, and you’re still in a sport in college, but it’s way less competitive, especially in the Midwest, than it is anywhere else.”

Jensen also promotes rowing because it is something that teens can start later in their lives compared to sports that take lifelong dedication.

“The time to start rowing is now, because like, soccer kids are gonna need to have at least years and years of experience, whereas for [rowers], it’s like, oh, you can kinda just join randomly.”

Another reason Jensen recommends rowing on a team is because of how united it makes rowers.

“I feel like water sports are so much fun because it’s really like, you’re either all in it together or you’re all in the water, you know, rather than team sports where it’s like, ‘oh, one of us falls, it’s fine’. If one person doesn’t do their job on the boat, we’re all going to fall in. Like the boat tips, we all got to get out.”

The sociality of rowing for a team has gained Jensen many lifelong friends and has helped her with her people skills. This aspect makes rowing a much more comfortable sport to be participating in.

“I think it’s definitely calming in a sense of like, you know, when you’re around people you feel safe with and it’s warm, I feel like rowing is a very warm, safe place for a lot of people.”

Not only has Jensen benefitted by making many new friends from rowing but she also feels as if the sport has helped her grow.

“I think I’ve just kind of grown as a person, because you really realize like, starting something new, which I do a lot of, is something that’s so humbling. And I don’t often say that but I think that when you start something new, and you get so humbled by it like, ‘wow, I really suck’. Like, wow, these people spent their entire lives prepping for this moment, and I’m just like this random girl.”

Throughout the years she has grown from being the young girl starting something new to being the one who she looked up to as a child.

“The further I’ve gotten along, the more I’ve realized that I am becoming that person, that’s like, I’ve been waiting my whole life for this. I think my favorite part of growing has [been when I] realized like, I no longer am that humble kid that was like walking awkwardly beside people, to like, now like, I’m helping, direct orders and stuff, and that’s really fun.”