Captains:
Gen Guilfoile
House: Cutter
Major: psychology
Praatika Prasad
House: Morris
Major: government / psychology
What are your personal goals for the season? Did you achieve them?
My personal goal for the season was to continue to become stronger and do a better job at being a vocal leader rather than just a leader by example. I feel I have accomplished both and am continuing to improve those areas everyday. GG
The team has been working hard all winter / off season to get faster. Our goal is to push ourselves to be the fastest we can be, race hard and of course win some medals! We are looking to win the NEWMAC’s and hopefully earn a bid to the NCAA’s. PP
What is it like working with two other captains? How do you divide up the work?
I feel it has its advantages since we have such a large team. We tend to have captains meetings and the work naturally gets split. We all have our own places we gravitate toward. I would say we divide the needs of te team between all of us evenly. I would say it’s a very positive situation. GG
I am a coxswain, and part of the role of a coxswain is one of a natural leadership role. We are responsible for making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be and on time and communicating what the coaches want to our boats during practice. Off the water, Gen and Jane handle most of the indoor and additional workouts, while I work on other things like designing things and planning other events. We work well together because we all have very different backgrounds and personalities. We come at problems from different angles but are very good about making decisions together. PP
What type of training does the team do?
We practice six times a week all mornings during the seasons. We do strength training on our own twice a week and tend to work all training systems during the week. Anaerobic and aerobic. We do 2k prep, technique and steady state workouts on the water spread throughout the week. GG
Favorite event this season. Why?
It will be the end of season BBQ. There are awards, it’s usually warm with captains nominations as well. It’s also when we do wills. It’s a fun and bittersweet time. GG
The season has just begun, but our Spring Break training trip to Georgia is always one of my favorites! The whole team eats, sleeps and rows together for a week and it is a great opportunity for everyone to bond, especially varsity-novice bonding without the distractions of class, work, people who aren’t on the team or other commitments people have. During this trip, we get one afternoon off, where people can do whatever they want. A lot of us play laser tag every year and that is always a lot of fun because every one gets really competitive and it’s great to do something competitive off the water, and something even the coxswains can compete in! PP
How does the team bond?
We spend most of our time together since we all wake up early and go to bed early. We eat breakfast together and set up movie nights and study parties every now and then. Also Saturdays are race days so with traveling and all we spend every Saturday together. GG
We also have our annual Holiday Party in December and “Arcane Amiga” or secret psych-ups the week before Spring Break. The Spring break trip is where most of the bonding happens. PP
Do you have any rituals before or after a race?
We “do water” where we take some water from smith college and bring it to dump into the lake where ever we are. It symbolizes that we are owning a piece of that water we will be racing on. We do some cheers and the captains do a little speech. Sometimes we give psych up gifts from captains or boat to boat. They can be songs or t-shirts or anything to get us pumped up to race. GG
Every week before race day, we have “Superhero Friday” where people come dressed up in ridiculous / fun costumes and clothing. It’s meant to help reduce pre-race jitters. PP
What would you like the team to do for the rest of the season?
Stay strong, know that we have a lot of power and know that it’s nothing to be afraid of. Keep listening and applying the knowledge you’re given. We can go far. I can’t wait to see what this season brings. GG
Continue doing what we’ve been doing – training really hard and getting ready to beat everyone else! PP
* Captain Jane Turner ’13 is not present in the profile.
