Rowers Evan Ruan, Atticus Smith, Janice Chen, and Yawen Zuo rowing, with coxswain Krystalyn Vo in the back. Photo submitted by James Valente.
This year, Malden’s Crew team began with the utmost hope and wishes for the upcoming season. However, they began facing difficulties with their team’s size, which is a 5-person minimum requirement in order to face off against other high schools. If this minimum is not met, the team would face dissolution.
After the departure of alum and former Editor-in-Chief of The Blue and Gold, Mack Keating, and senior Audrey Nguyen, the team found themselves in a finicky position with a team of three. In the end, they would recruit junior Krystalyn Vo and sophomore Janice Chen to make the team whole. This year, Vo replaced junior Yawen Zuo as coxswain, taking on the position to direct the team, while Chen would join the rest of the team on the shell, which is the type of boat used in the sport.
Vo explained how, as coxswain, she had to learn to navigate the team on the water and stay confident, putting faith in her “thoughts and intuition.”
Having been on the team for three years, Zuo explained how a lack of members put the team at a weird balance, as their shell needed four rowers minimum, and anyone missing would put the team at incredible risk. “We need more people on the team; we are trying to rebuild the team,” said Zuo.
However, they met the 5-person quota this season, consisting of senior Evan Ruan, juniors Atticus Smith, Vo, Zuo, and sophomore Chen, which allowed the team to formally compete in their races.
This year, the team utilized its new rowing facility and practiced daily, whether it was after school or during spring break. It acclimated the team’s novices to the environment and also trained returning members, which proved successful in their races.
In total, the team faced two official matches, with the first being the Mayor’s Cup Invitational, which took place at Tufts William A Shoemaker Boathouse at the Mystic/Malden River on May 3. The meet consisted of two races: the first against Westford Academy at 2:20 pm, and the next against Megunticook of Maine at 3:48 pm. Malden won both races, winning 07:00.4 to 08:15.9 against Westford, and 06:47.4 to 06:51.9 against Megunticook, with the team collectively winning a bronze medal.
Zuo congratulated the team’s efforts in their first meet, claiming it was “definitely a highlight” of their season, as they had trained tremendously to work towards that goal.
May 24 marked the team’s final meet, which also acted as their state’s championship, as deemed by the Massachusetts Public Schools Rowing Association Spring Championship. This race had taken place at the Merrimack River, located at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Bellegarde Boathouse.
Typically, in a rowing race, teams are usually separated by gender: a boys’ and a girls’ team, but due to a lack of participants on Malden’s end, results were recorded towards a Boys’ 2nd Varsity 4+ score, where 2nd refers to their division, and 4+ signifies the number of rowers, including the coxswain (Vo).
Their competitors were Medford and East Bay, where two races took place, consisting of a time trial and their official race. Their time trial race, deemed the Boys 2nd Varsity 4+ race, began at 8:05 am, where they timed at 06:44.642. Their final race, referred to as the Boys 2nd Varsity 4+ B Final, began at 3:07 pm, where they ultimately placed second at a time of 07:07.338, behind Medford at 06:05.218, and ahead of East Bay at 07:47.654.
Although only having two official races, the team showed off their talent in a variety of unofficial races and scrimmages, such as the Mystic Mashup race on May 17th, against other local high schools.
Despite the adversities faced, such as transportation and weather, overall, the season proved successful for the team, with recruits greatly improving. Vo concluded that, as a sport, crew enables adaptation towards a new environment, like how she had to “grow quickly” alongside her team, trust her instincts, and “be open” to new faces.
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