University of Tennessee Athletics
CAPTAINS PROVIDE LEADERSHIP FOR LADY VOL ROWING
May 16, 2002 | Rowing
May 16, 2002
They may be exhausted, but Ginny Bradley and Grace Harrington keep on pushing. They maintain their rhythm and consistency. They have to. After all, they sit in the powerhouse of the boat - the middle four seats that provide the majority of the power and speed during the race. They can't let the rest of the boat down.
Bradley and Harrington may feel like resting, but there's a little voice in their ear reminding them of what they're there for. The voice keeps them motivated and focused on the race and it keeps the rowers in rhythm, making sure each blade is going in the water at the same time and exiting at the precise moment. In fact, everyone in the boat can hear the little voice. It's the voice of coxswain Shannon McMahon.
The trio of Bradley, Harrington and McMahon is something special to the Lady Vols rowing team. The three team captains have seen the program grow from a seed to a full-fledged competitive team in their four years at Tennessee. And with their mix of personalities, the captains bring a full plate to the table when it comes to setting the standard for UT rowers.
"We kind of have personalities where everybody contributes differently," Bradley said. "Shannon is the coxswain with leadership. She keeps everybody in shape. Grace is really on the ball as far as getting things started and keeping everybody afloat. I just go to practice every day and yell at people really loud."
All three captains have shared time in different settings, but the bulk of this season has seen the seniors in the same boat. Their contributions have created chemistry like no other. Of course, it does help when one boat holds all three of the team's captains.
Bradley, Harrington and McMahon began the season in the Varsity 8+ shell. However, head coach Lisa Glenn held seat races this spring to determine the fastest combination and the trio of captains was bumped to the second Varsity 8+ boat.
"I think going from the first 8+ to the second 8+ was really just a change of roles for all three of us," Harrington said. "On a strong team, you want to take on that role to the best of your ability, no matter where that position is. But at the same time, it's really exciting to be in the second 8+ and really, really pushing the first boat."
"Our role in the second 8+ is to make the first 8+ faster," McMahon said. "If we're making the first boat faster, we need to be faster so they can be even faster. I feel like in the times when we were faster, regardless who you ask, we're filling our role."
Bradley, Harrington and McMahon say they consider it a great challenge to push the first boat to be faster. In practice, as the second boat clocks faster times, the pressure is on the first boat to clock an even faster time to stay consistent with the seating. Therefore, the team gets better overall.
"It's very disappointing for us, obviously, to not be in the top boat," Bradley said. "But at the same time, it shows me that our team is getting so much stronger. Our underclassmen right now, especially our freshmen, are just incredibly strong. And that's a really good sign for the direction our program is going to take. It's really cool to see how our program has gotten so much better over the past four years."
The three captains pointed to one single race as the measuring stick for how far the UT program has developed. On Oct. 20, 2001, the Lady Vols took to the water in Boston to prepare for, perhaps, the most prestigious regatta in the world, The Head of the Charles. After navigating the course in 17:31.82, the UT rowers were completely exhausted. But there was plenty to be excited about, because the group of McMahon, Kacey Montgomery, Kelly Kraiss, Kay Logan, Kaitlin Bargreen, Harrington, Bradley, Sally BeVille and Amy McIntosh won the race.
"I think the reason it was so memorable was because it was the first time for our program to get such a big win," McMahon said. "And it was important that we were a part of that. In everybody's heart, we knew we had given all we had.
"We had been talking about getting those results for years, but it had never quite happened. We were always getting better, but we were never at the top. For that one moment in time we were at the top, and it was great. Nothing can take that away."
The leadership that the three captains have shown has been irreplaceable, too. Over the years, Bradley has been the enthusiastic and spirited leader that has molded her into a captain. She has been on the Varsity 8+ shell each of her four years at Tennessee. Prior to her time in Knoxville, she was a rower for her high school team at James W. Robinson High School in Fairfax Station, Va.
"Rowing has been my life for the past eight years," Bradley said. "I almost don't know what I'm going to do without it."
Harrington is from Memphis and was introduced to rowing as a freshman at Tennessee. As a senior at White Station High School, she visited the campus for a tour and bought a Tennessee Crew shirt simply for fashion. Little did Harrington know she would be cruising the water in less than a year for the Lady Vols.
She fit the mold of the type of rower Glenn was looking for and has filled the role to perfection. After spending a mere semester as a novice, she quickly moved to the Varsity 8+ shell and was named second-team All-South Region by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association her junior year.
"When I started rowing as a freshman I was with the novice and didn't know a whole lot about rowing," Harrington said. "Ginny and I were pair partners day in and day out in the spring and it was great. I was always asking her all these dumb questions like what in the world coach was talking about.
"It's really been fun for the three of us to be together and backing each other up for four years. We look back four years ago on where we were then and where we are now. It's sort of neat to still be together."
McMahon is the ring leader of the Varsity 8+ boat, so to speak. The coxswain has the job of keeping everyone in rhythm while also making sure each athlete is properly motivated, all while navigating the rowers throughout the course. McMahon, who is from Altamonte Springs, Fla., has served as coxswain each year at UT, moving from the Novice 4+ shell to the Varsity 8+. She also lettered in rowing during her high school career at Lake Brantley High School.
Bradley and Harrington both agree that McMahon is the battery that keeps the boat going when they are on the water.
"Shannon's basically our coach in the boat," said Bradley, who also doubles as McMahon's roommate. "We would all be completely lost without her, especially me. She's the one who really keeps us rolling."
"It's fun to have Shannon as a coxswain," Harrington said. "I know when she's right on her game, which is always. It's just neat to have that connection."
For McMahon, developing a personal relationship with each member of the boat is something that comes with being a coxswain. The closer the coxswain is with each member, the easier it is for her to motivate the rowers. Motivation is the top priority, according to McMahon, because if the rowers lose motivation, they lose sight of their goal as a boat and as a team.
"A big part of my job as the coxswain is getting to know each rower in the boat and finding out what drives her," McMahon said. "Everybody is motivated by something different. I just like to really get to know the boat and the way to get to know them is spending more time with them. Once you get to know people and their goals, you're able to find out what drives them. As a coxswain, that's a big part of it."
The three senior captains have done a tremendous job in setting the standard for UT's next generation of rowers. In a team sport such as rowing, it can be difficult for a leader to emerge in the boat or on the team. However, this year's captains have done the job.
"In rowing, there're not really standout players," Bradley said. "But at the same time, it's a large group. I think we can lead the team when it comes to being organized and setting a good example."
Harrington says that's the best part about it.
"What I've really enjoyed most about being a captain is setting the example every day of the intensity, hard work and effort that everybody needs to put in, day in and day out to take this program where we want it to be," Harrington said. "We've seen it grow over the past four years. Part of our legacy that we leave behind is that we want to show them where we want to be going."
