Pittsburgh, Pa. – In the sport of rowing, there is an axiom which says "everyone had a first day, and nobody was great on their first day, but it's what you do after your first day that determines your success." For 15 Duquesne Dukes, their first day in the sport of Rowing happened during the 2023 fall semester.
Every year, the Duquesne Rowing team looks for a class of new athletes to join its team, both recruited prior to their arrival on campus as well as those who played other sports in high school but never rowed before. For the latter group, classified as Novices in the world of rowing, their fall season is all about learning the sport, gaining fitness and finding the fun in the sport of racing rowing shells on the water.
"Joining the rowing team has been the best decision I have made during college so far," freshman
Olivia Tuhy said. "The team has such a great atmosphere and is truly like a family. Rowing is so different from any sport I have done before, bringing difficult and rewarding challenges. Practice is the highlight of my day, and being surrounded by amazing people and coaches is an honor. I am excited to see what the season has in store and am excited to make new memories."
In addition to learning to enjoy the sport of rowing, being a Novice provides a pathway to success in a sport most athletes never knew existed.
"I never thought that I'd be able to play a sport at the collegiate level, so joining the rowing team has been such a privilege for me," sophomore
Antonina D'Eramo said. "It challenges me to improve both mentally and physically, it gives me the chance to get outside and be on the water and, most importantly, it's opened the door to an entire community at Duquesne that I would have otherwise not been a part of."
The community that rowing provides is always something that keeps athletes engaged in the sport. The workouts can be difficult, and they often times start and finish before others even wake up, but knowing that you have a whole group of athletes at your side, ready to go through the experience and improve with you is what tends to form the strongest bonds between athletes. Additionally, the steady, repeatable routine keeps the athletes focused and able to succeed as students and athletes.
"When I first got to Duquesne, I knew I needed to find some type of activity or sport that would give me structure and routine," freshman
Emma Mills said. "The rowing team has done just that for me. Deciding to walk on to the team has really been the best decision I have made so far. It is what I look forward to every day and I've met some of my closest friends from it. The environment is so fun and encouraging, and I'm looking forward to the spring season with varsity."
The source of the excitement and enjoyment in the learning process of the Novice athletes comes, in a large part, from coach
Jill Peters, who is the primary coach responsible for the development of the Novices.
"We have a very exciting group of walk-ons entering the team and it's been incredible seeing how much they've developed as athletes these past few months," said Peters. "They've been putting in the work both on and off the water, and they aren't afraid of a challenge. Walking onto a D1 sport with no experience is a daunting task, but all of them have stepped up and crushed every workout I've thrown at them. I'm thrilled to see what they can do once Spring season comes, and I believe they will be great additions to the team's speed."
Their first semester in the sport of rowing nearly complete, the Novices will start to blend in with the current varsity squad during the winter training season, learning from the more experienced athletes and finding new ways to challenge themselves and succeed. In the past, Duquesne even had Novice athletes develop enough to race competitively in the Spring against more experienced opponents. At the A10 Championship in 2021, Duquesne's Varsity 4+ contained four Novice rowers and an experienced coxswain. That crew finished fourth overall at the championship.
The success of a Novice athlete isn't dictated by how the first day goes, but how the athlete develops after that first day. For this class of Duquesne Dukes Novice Rowers, it will be exciting to see how their energy and enthusiasm for the sport of Rowing helps lift the entire team to new heights not only in the upcoming Spring season, but in seasons beyond.
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