I have never belonged to anything the way I have at crew. As I push to keep my freezing muscles working, I know that everyone else in the boat is feeling what I am feeling now. I formed friendships so quickly at crew. Working together, dedicating weeks of your life to these last eight minutes creates an incredible bond.

We are in the home stretch now, the last piece, the hardest piece. By now, my muscles throb. Pain shoots through my thighs. My throat is dry and I feel as if it is bleeding, cracking and tearing as air rushes past it to my lungs. I can smell this dryness, yet I know I must keep going; I cannot stop. My body sends my brain message after message, pleading with it, but I do not respond. I can do it. I tell myself this over and over again. I am not thinking; I do not have the energy to think. I am simply doing. The other boats are in front and behind us, and we are almost there. 100 meters left.

I summon strength I did not know I possessed as I use all of my weight to fight against impending collapse. Only ten strokes. Nine. I must, I must, I must. Finally, finally, we glide over the line, and we stop. Breath heaves in and out of me; my lungs expand and contract as they begin to remember what inhaling oxygen is like. The entire boat breathes together, gulps of air. The boat slows; water no longer speeds past us. A gentle breeze I had not sensed before toys with my loose hair. I feel like I am going to vomit. Even as I think this, I am filled with joy. I did not let my team down.  I did it. We did it. I finished my last race. We did not win, but we did not really lose either. It does not matter that I will be unable to walk properly for a few days, or that my hands are blistered, or even that my heels are bleeding. I did all of this to be a part of a team. It was worth it.

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