Participating in Rhinebeck crew was such an important part of my high school career.

The hard work and dedication was constantly paying off with all the fun that was had, the beauty of our surroundings, and friendships that were made. However the cherry on top was qualifying and rowing at nationals my junior year. It was a thrilling experience just sharing the venue with the other amazing rowers from across the nation, and being immersed in the crew culture.

My senior year started off bittersweet. I was excited for one more year of my favorite sport, but worried my best races were behind me. However pretty early on I realized that wasn't the case and my lightweight eight boat was stronger than ever.

With a taste of what was possible we were determined to reach our goal, and so we did. We medalled at states and qualified for nationals. We were so pleased with our performance and looked forward to the big race.

However the excitement was tarnished with the news of our race being on the same day as prom. Many girls in the boat thought of prom as the quintessential high school experience and that they were being robbed of something they had looked forward to perhaps for several years. We had to continue to work together to find the perfect solution so that everyone would be satisfied, and so we did.

Many of us had already planned our proms and gotten dresses, and we decided not to let that go to waste. So we planned our own “prom” in Philadelphia. The day was spent at the regatta where we rowed the best race we could and my high school rowing career came to a fulfilling end. It was then time to celebrate all we had achieved as a team, we got dressed up, took photos, and were taken out to dinner.

Over the years being a part of the crew family we all learned how to adapt to a difficult situation and make it work best for everyone involved. I am grateful for the flexibility we learned and exemplified as a team. No one felt they missed out on an important high school tradition, if anything people were happy to have had a more meaningful and unique prom experience. And of course everyone was so happy they participated in the culmination of our high school rowing career.

Casey Heady
2020 Boys Varsity Coach