Clockwise from top left: Abigail Van Dorn ’25, Bella Wissler ’23, Sophia Kelting ’23, and Daven Linck ’25. Photos by Mr. Michael Aldridge.
Since Crew is not one of the major sports at Northwood, about half of the athletes partaking in it each season are new to the sport and have had very little experience in a shell. This spring season, the Crew team took on five new athletes, four of whom make up the Northwood Nordic Ski Team. Those athletes are Bella Wissler ‘23, who will ski for Middlebury, Sophia Kelting ‘23, who will ski for UNH, as well as underclassmen Daven Linck ’25 and Abby Van Dorn ‘25.
While Nordic skiing and rowing share a major similarity in that both hinge on endurance, there is still a pretty big learning curve when it comes to balancing the boat and rowing it effectively.
Linck has already fallen out of the boat once, but he’s enjoying crew. “It’s good. Took a little adjustment period but it was made out to be harder than it is. It gets more fun as I get more comfortable in the boat,” Linck said.
“My first time in the boat was a little weird,” Wissler said. “I couldn’t get off the down without Mr. Runyon, and it took a while for me to get used to being on the water. I’d used the machines, but being on the water felt very new. The second time, it felt a lot better, and the third time on the water, I was able to use my full body to propel the boat, which is the stage I’m at right now,” she added.
While the Nordic athletes are too new to rowing to race at State Championships, Linck and Van Dorn have the potential to become very skilled rowers due to the endurance nature of their other disciplines. The future is bright for the Northwood crew.
