Then he announced that Ted Nagorsen, our volunteer assistant coach for the past couple of years, had been hired officially as the new assistant coach. We’re all pretty excited about having him on board!

But due to our incredible success last year, Adrian’s main message for this year is that we will train until we reach the point where we win every event we enter. ‘Hurst won the men’s lightweight four race, placed second in the men’s varsity pair, and took third in the women’s varsity eight D-II final at Dad Vail, one of the biggest and most prestigious races in the spring season that over 115 teams (3,000-plus athletes) attend. The third place for the women put us in a position to receive a bid to the NCAA championships in Sacramento, Calif., where we ended up finishing fifth.

Nevertheless, we can do better, push harder, pull faster, and get stronger this year. With that inspirational message in mind, we’re beginning the first leg of this Amazing Race, concluding for the men at Dad Vail in May and for the women at the NCAA championships at the end of May 2009. Those are our dreams. And like Jim Dietz, coach at Massachusetts, has said, “Rowing is a sport for dreamers. As long as you put in the work, you can own the dream. When the work stops, the dream disappears.”