Seniors Overcome Obstacles to Leave Legacy of Leadership

Senior captain Jessie Duckworth described the Dartmouth women's rowing senior class's four years as "chaos into a really powerful piece."

There were a number of circumstances happening around the class of 2023 that they couldn't control — including the COVID-19 pandemic — but the 10 seniors stayed focused and continued to push the Big Green forward.

Turning chaos into success happened very early as freshmen, including at the Foot of the Charles in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was a head race in November of 2019.

Women's Rowing Seniors as Freshmen Foot of the Charles — Before launching for the Foot of the Charles

"In the morning, we raced in boated lineups with mixed classes and in the afternoon, we raced a Freshmen Eight," said Duckworth. "We had eight of us and a coxswain in a random lineup that we had never practiced. We ended up beating the Varsity Eight's time, which included seniors, juniors and sophomores."

The regatta is something Duckworth will never forget, but not for what happened during the race.

"It was cold, so at the start of the race, we were passing back layers," she said. "We had one of the senior captains' gloves in the pile of clothes that we were passing up from bow to stern to give to the coxswain to hold for the race. One of the gloves fell in the river and we were panicking because they were about to pull us up to the start.

"They were like, 'Dartmouth, pull up to the start… Dartmouth to the start,'" Duckworth continued. "We were like, "We need to get this glove!' We finally got it, and we were all so distraught. But we pulled up to the start and ended up having a great race.

"The chaos into a really powerful piece is something that has happened a lot for our class."

When the current seniors were freshmen, they learned that the head coach who had recruited them had left Dartmouth. Assistant coach Kelly Harris was named interim head coach.

"We didn't know what to expect, but we all came in with the intention of changing the program and being the start of something new," said Duckworth. "Coach Harris emphasized that and made sure the team was aware that the 23s were here to start the building process."

On any team, the coaching staff sets the student-athletes up to succeed, but the athletes ultimately determine how invested they want to be in their own success.

"I think the sense of we are the team, the athletes make the team, gave us a lot of independence and strength in how we shaped our experience and how we really relied on each other," said senior captain Allison Smith. "In a way, I feel like a lot of the turbulence, changes and challenges made us stick with it longer."

Perseverance would be tested even more in the spring of their first year when COVID-19 hit the United States.

When everyone separated, different leadership came to the surface, including from the class of 2023.

"The captains at the time, Hannah Frater and Sophie Kamhi, had a unique challenge of keeping us all unified through Zoom," said Duckworth.

It wasn't solely the responsibility of the captains or seniors, though. Duckworth saw an opportunity, which she stepped into.

"I hosted Zoom circuits for the team throughout COVID," she said. "I would say I'd be doing this cardio workout before starting the team Zoom session. It was me and one of the other 23s, Ava Koros, and it was a random group of people all the time participating. We were doing random body weight circuits because we didn't know the varying levels of equipment that people had available.

"It was a way to interact with people as much as possible and get a little bit of motivation, just to know that someone's there with you, which is the environment we missed the most [over COVID]."

The unknown of the COVID-19 pandemic was most challenging — staying motivated despite not knowing when things would be back to normal.

"One time, we had a team Zoom meeting, then we would break off into class meetings and would stay on for so long talking to each other," said Smith. "There was one team meeting when we stayed on Zoom for a couple hours in silence doing remote homework with each other.

Women's Rowing Seniors Ater Winning 2022 Gardner Cup — After winning the 2022 Gardner Cup

"That kind of thing was really special to keep the team unified."

The longer the pandemic went, the more clear it became that the younger student-athletes would play an important role in leading the program forward. Why? Because by the time they would end up being back for competition, it would be the class of 2023's junior year.

Luckily for the Big Green, it was a role the class was ready to step into.

"I remember having these [leadership] conversations freshman year," said Smith. "We were determined to make a conscious effort to shape this program into what we want it to be, and other people want it to be."

One of the biggest areas of focus has been on positivity.

"The work we do in rowing is so difficult," said Smith. "If you're in a negative headspace and you don't want to be around the people that you're doing this work with, it's automatically 10 times harder. Finding a way to be competitive with your teammates, but still lift them up at the same time, is really, really important."

Smith will always remember one workout in particular during her freshman year.

"We were doing five-by-five minutes, which is one of our more intense workouts towards the end of the winter to get ready for the spring," said Smith. "I was doing it with a '22, Ellie Urdang, who was sitting next to me, and we were pushing each other so much. It never once felt negative; it was just fun. It was fun to go together and know that we were trying to beat each other, but we were trying to do it to elevate the whole program."

Smith knows there's a balance between, as she said, "being positive and holding everybody accountable."

"You can do that by saying, 'I know you have more to give' instead of 'I'm working harder than you.' I think the '23s do a really good job of setting that example as seniors," said Smith.

These seniors would describe themselves as sisters.

"You have your little fights throughout the years, but you always are going to come back to each other at the end," said Duckworth. "You always know that they're there to support you no matter what. You can go to any single one of them and cry your eyes out if you need to or scream… whatever it may be.

"There are varying levels of emotions that have come out these past four years across the board and I could go to anyone about anything," Duckworth continued. "It is a really special group of people that I will really hold closely for the rest of my life."

It's a connection that felt "right" from the start.

Seven out of the 10 current seniors were on their official visit to Dartmouth the same day when then-assistant coach Kelly Harris asked a question.

Do you know each other?

Women's Rowing Seniors as Freshmen — Before the first day of classes as freshmen in the fall of 2019

"She was like, 'You guys are talking like you've known each other for years,'" said Smith. "That was so special and to have seven people on an official visit commit to Dartmouth spoke to that unspoken chemistry and bond we had right off the bat."

That bond has only grown stronger over their time at Dartmouth and carried forward under current head coach Nancy LaRocque. The Big Green are making important strides, little victories that will add up to bigger victories down the road.

"I'm proud of the leadership this group established as freshmen and continue to exemplify today," said LaRocque. "Jessie and Allison have been terrific captains this year and have set the bar for next year's captains and beyond. This program will always thrive on the cohesiveness within the team and what they resolve to do together."

Speaking of together…

"You realize [Dartmouth rowing] is bigger than just yourself and your contribution matters for everyone," said Duckworth. "But also, because it's based on time and you're getting to see those improvements and the margins on other boats, you have a very quantitative look at what the field looks like. Even if it's just a second of improvement or you're beating a boat that was in a different heat that you lost to in the morning, you see that you're moving forward."

When thinking of the big picture, one person comes to Smith's mind.

"One thing that's really unique about our team is that we have someone like Martha Beattie ('76) around the boathouse pretty often, who was part of the first class of women's rowers at Dartmouth," said Smith. "To have her around gives this very present reminder of legacy and the work that you put in now paying off for years to come."

Smith hopes years down the road, the roles can reverse where her class can look back at the success of Dartmouth women's rowing with pride… much like Beattie does today.

"I know I've talked with other seniors saying when they're on the podium at the Ivy League Championship [in the future], we'll know we did a lot of grunt work in the process," said Smith. "That can be a little harder to hang on to than the instant gratification part of rowing, but that's a very special aspect of being part of a building program.

Women's Rowing Class of 2023 as Freshmen Class Day — Class Day Race in Spring, 2021

"You know the work that you're putting in today is going to pay off for the women who come after you for years to come."

In the short term, these seniors are focused on giving it their all at their final collegiate race — the Ivy League Championship on Sunday.

"We want to go into it knowing there's nothing to lose; there's no more races after this," said Duckworth. "We just have to put all our energy into these two races (morning heats and afternoon finals). There's going to be time in between when we can reflect on our first race, learn from that and then go into our second one, whether it's in the grand or petite final, and go for it."

In last year's Ivy League Championship, Smith was in the Second Varsity Eight that was in the petite final.

"I remember Aarushi (Jain), our coxswain, called this move and the way the boat responded and soared was so fun," said Smith. "I would love to see some really well-executed, really competitive, fun racing on Sunday.

"That would be the ideal way to go out in my Dartmouth career."

Four years of "chaos" is almost over for the senior class and they're looking to leave Dartmouth with one final powerful piece. It would be a fitting ending.

"No matter what happens, I am going to be really happy to be a Dartmouth rower," said Duckworth.

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