Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
Gael Spotlight | The Making of an All-WCC Rower
5/28/2021 9:54:00 AM | General, Women's Rowing
The Common Interest Management Gael Spotlight is a monthly feature story about Saint Mary's Athletics and a behind-the-scenes look at the Gaels.
MORAGA, Calif. — Over the years, the Saint Mary's Rowing program has found success in the statewide hub for rowing that is Washington. One of its most recent success stories just wrapped up her senior season on the water. Emily Sprigings has not only been one of the best rowers at Saint Mary's for four seasons, but she has been one of the best in the West Coast Conference.
Most collegiate athletes find their sport at a very early age and excel at it for years, but with rowers, that does not tend to be the trend. "I found rowing at the end rowing at the end of junior high and at the beginning of high school, so that summer in between," recalls Sprigings. "My cousins rowed in high school, but I never really knew what rowing was. I remember watching the 2021 Olympics and seeing the women's US team and that sparked my interest. A lot of Olympic team members don't start until they are in college when they walk-on."
Sprigings found Saint Mary's, and the Gaels became a perfect fit for the Snoqualmie native. It helps that she feels at home with her teammates and those that she is around. "Being a rower is a being different kind of athlete," explains Sprigings. "You are surrounded by a bunch of people who have that fight and that grit to push themselves to their tipping point, and that creates a bond with the people you are around. I was immediately drawn to that and that has kept me around."
That fight and grit was put on display over the past year and a half, when Sprigings was sidelined with a shoulder injury that required surgery in October of 2019, months after she was named to the All-WCC team for the first time in her career. "I didn't touch a boat from May of 2019 until January of this year, 2021," Sprigings said about her time away.
It would be easy to think there was a lot of rust in her performance during the 2021 spring season when the Gaels got back on the water. Not quite.
Sprigings came right back when the Gaels were cleared to be in the water by January, and she didn't skip a beat. She resumed her role on the stroke seat in the Gaels Varsity Eight boat and continued to elevate her game. All of her hard work paid off at the WCC Championship, where the Gaels finished fifth and she was named to the All-WCC team for the second time in as many seasons. Sprigings became the eighth Gael since 1997 to be named to multiple All-WCC teams.
"That was humbling to receive an award like that after bouncing back from those curveballs," Sprigings recounted. "It's a reflection of not only my hard work but also my teammates for pushing me to get to that level."
While unable to row, be it due to the injury or to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, a couple of important areas were worked on by Sprigings and others: the mental side of the sport, and cardiovascular fitness. The former might seem unimportant to the casual fan, or the novice, but Sprigings was quick to point out just how important the mental side of the sport is.
Our bodies our more than capable of performing, especially with the amount of training that we do," Sprigings explained. "With rowing, you are doing the same thing over and over again, whether it's 'erg-ing' on the rowing machine or you're on the water taking stroke after stroke. You kind of just have to turn your mind off and focus and that's how you power through. You have to go to that next step mentally to be the best of the best.
"When I am rowing, I really don't think. I know that is hard to do, but I don't remember races when I'm going hard. You want to be conscience and aware but you want to be able to row automatically. It's like running a marathon: you don't want to think "I'm one mile in,' because that will psych yourself out."
That parallel about running a marathon? That's not exactly an example that Sprigings pulled out of thin air. While the world was sheltering in place, and the Gaels could not workout as a complete team, a majority of the team found themselves training for a half-marathon. And this was not the first time they had done so, either.
"We almost did one the year before, too, but it wound up being a 10k instead," said Sprigings. 'We were training for it over the summer because not everyone had access to a gym or a rowing machine, so running was the most accessible training for our team. Having that external goal that wasn't related to the sport made it fun."
It really isn't as crazy as you'd think, at least when you talk with Sprigings about it. "Rowing and running both involve long-distances, so you have to kind of tune out," she explained as she brought back the mental component to both. We were very happy with our fall training and the building up of our cardiovascular fitness, so that when JanTerm came and we hit the water, we could hit the ground running. Our attitude was everything in embracing the togetherness of the moment."
Perhaps in a school year like 2020-21, embracing the togetherness of the moment is what pulled the Gaels through.
MORAGA, Calif. — Over the years, the Saint Mary's Rowing program has found success in the statewide hub for rowing that is Washington. One of its most recent success stories just wrapped up her senior season on the water. Emily Sprigings has not only been one of the best rowers at Saint Mary's for four seasons, but she has been one of the best in the West Coast Conference.
Most collegiate athletes find their sport at a very early age and excel at it for years, but with rowers, that does not tend to be the trend. "I found rowing at the end rowing at the end of junior high and at the beginning of high school, so that summer in between," recalls Sprigings. "My cousins rowed in high school, but I never really knew what rowing was. I remember watching the 2021 Olympics and seeing the women's US team and that sparked my interest. A lot of Olympic team members don't start until they are in college when they walk-on."
Sprigings found Saint Mary's, and the Gaels became a perfect fit for the Snoqualmie native. It helps that she feels at home with her teammates and those that she is around. "Being a rower is a being different kind of athlete," explains Sprigings. "You are surrounded by a bunch of people who have that fight and that grit to push themselves to their tipping point, and that creates a bond with the people you are around. I was immediately drawn to that and that has kept me around."
That fight and grit was put on display over the past year and a half, when Sprigings was sidelined with a shoulder injury that required surgery in October of 2019, months after she was named to the All-WCC team for the first time in her career. "I didn't touch a boat from May of 2019 until January of this year, 2021," Sprigings said about her time away.
It would be easy to think there was a lot of rust in her performance during the 2021 spring season when the Gaels got back on the water. Not quite.
Sprigings came right back when the Gaels were cleared to be in the water by January, and she didn't skip a beat. She resumed her role on the stroke seat in the Gaels Varsity Eight boat and continued to elevate her game. All of her hard work paid off at the WCC Championship, where the Gaels finished fifth and she was named to the All-WCC team for the second time in as many seasons. Sprigings became the eighth Gael since 1997 to be named to multiple All-WCC teams.
"That was humbling to receive an award like that after bouncing back from those curveballs," Sprigings recounted. "It's a reflection of not only my hard work but also my teammates for pushing me to get to that level."
While unable to row, be it due to the injury or to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, a couple of important areas were worked on by Sprigings and others: the mental side of the sport, and cardiovascular fitness. The former might seem unimportant to the casual fan, or the novice, but Sprigings was quick to point out just how important the mental side of the sport is.
Our bodies our more than capable of performing, especially with the amount of training that we do," Sprigings explained. "With rowing, you are doing the same thing over and over again, whether it's 'erg-ing' on the rowing machine or you're on the water taking stroke after stroke. You kind of just have to turn your mind off and focus and that's how you power through. You have to go to that next step mentally to be the best of the best.
"When I am rowing, I really don't think. I know that is hard to do, but I don't remember races when I'm going hard. You want to be conscience and aware but you want to be able to row automatically. It's like running a marathon: you don't want to think "I'm one mile in,' because that will psych yourself out."
That parallel about running a marathon? That's not exactly an example that Sprigings pulled out of thin air. While the world was sheltering in place, and the Gaels could not workout as a complete team, a majority of the team found themselves training for a half-marathon. And this was not the first time they had done so, either.
"We almost did one the year before, too, but it wound up being a 10k instead," said Sprigings. 'We were training for it over the summer because not everyone had access to a gym or a rowing machine, so running was the most accessible training for our team. Having that external goal that wasn't related to the sport made it fun."
It really isn't as crazy as you'd think, at least when you talk with Sprigings about it. "Rowing and running both involve long-distances, so you have to kind of tune out," she explained as she brought back the mental component to both. We were very happy with our fall training and the building up of our cardiovascular fitness, so that when JanTerm came and we hit the water, we could hit the ground running. Our attitude was everything in embracing the togetherness of the moment."
Perhaps in a school year like 2020-21, embracing the togetherness of the moment is what pulled the Gaels through.
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Rowing
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