Meet Sarah Williams! She is a junior here at WVU and involved in many activities, among those being a member of the WVU Rowing Team! This is her second year being apart of the team and she received the Novice Rowing Most Improved Award last spring. With her bight smile and kind character, Sarah is going to go great places after her time at WVU.
Jeana Mahan: What is your major and why did you pick it?
Sarah Williams: My major is exercise physiology and I picked it because I like to study the human and I want to be a physical therapist one day.
JM: Why did you choose to come to WVU?
SW: I went on a campus tour and I really loved it. It was close enough for me to be able to go home but still far enough away to be independent.
JM: What made you decide to join the WVU rowing team?
SW: My former athletic trainer and director Mr. Lough knew the assistant rowing coach here and the coach had been going around to different athletic directors asking for girls that would be interested in joining the team. Mr. Lough called me and told me I should try and I had a lot of extra free time and where I had played basketball for so long I missed being on a team and so I tried it!
JM: What do you like most about being on the rowing team?
SW: It’s always a new challenge every day. There’s always potential to be better and being surrounded by girls that are my friends and knowing they’re working hard for me and I’m working hard for them.
JM: Can you explain what exactly a day of winter practice is like?
SW: We have 8 hour weeks so far but soon we’ll go to 20 hours. Practice is at 6 am and they’re in the shell (an indoor track below the Colosseum). We row between 15 to 20 kilometers a day on the indoor rowers. We do different practices everyday, and some are more intense than other days.
JM: How do you balance being on a team, in school, and other things you’re involved in?
SW: My planner! I have to stay organized and my planner is the key to my life. I like to schedule everything out. I try to be consistent with staying on top of school work and making sure I have time for my priorities, which includes sleep and taking care of myself.
JM: What’s a life lesson you have learned by being on the team?
SW: Take everything one day at a time. Some days we do workouts that feel impossible and when you think bout long term goals, for the team or life, you have to remember to do the best you can do in that moment and for that day.