Unlike most club sports teams, Lafayette Crew frequently competes against teams in the NCAA. With this comes increased leadership opportunities, including executive board elections. The team’s newly elected 2022 executive board has many plans in the works to change the team for the better.

The team’s new president, junior Arden Westphalen, said that their close-knit team dynamic will help the executive board work well together.

Junior Jacob Mina is the new men’s team captain, and sophomore Rose Broderick will serve as the 2022 women’s team captain. Junior Lauren Salbinski will serve as the vice president and junior Abby Hammel is the new secretary. Additionally, sophomores Kendall Lamm and Skye Loures will be the new treasurer and alumni relations chair, respectively.

Sophomore Nelly Fadil will serve as the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee chair, which is a new position the team added to the executive board for next year.

“I think [Fadil’s] going to do a really great job,” Westphalen said. “She’s really passionate about a lot of the different aspects of having that position.”

The team endured a series of challenges this season, including the cancellation of the Frostbite Regatta due to rain and managing COVID-19 cases on campus at the beginning of the semester. However, Westphalen explained that despite the “highs and lows” of the season,  it was great to have everyone together.

“I’m glad we were able to have a full fall season, despite some of the challenges with the weather and everything with a hurricane earlier this semester,” Westphalen said.

Westphalen explained that training for the spring season needs to shift the focus to a shorter, faster pace.

“It’s definitely a challenge to get back into the spring season with the 2k races,” she said. “It’s a whole different ball game than the fall races just because 2ks are so much faster and it’s a shorter distance.”

The team recently started their “boot camp,” their winter training indoors where they do cardio and lifting when it’s too cold to row outside.

“We’re doing some fun things too, like a soccer tournament at the end of training,” Westphalen added.

Salbinski’s love for rowing and everybody on the team is what made her want to get more involved and run for vice president. She explained that something she’s really excited about is fundraising for the team, which is something she has experience with.

“We have an ‘erg-a-thon’ next year in the beginning of the semester, which is our biggest fundraising event of the year. We reach out to alumni, people at the school and our families and we essentially row for thirty-six hours straight,” she explained. “Someone is always rowing, so like at four a.m. someone is there.”

Salbinski expressed that a key goal of the board is making sure to integrate the team’s underclassmen.

“It’s interesting this year because there’s a lot of second-year students who are joining as well as freshmen, which is great because we love having more people. It can be harder to come in as a sophomore just because you miss that first year. In the spring, they’ll get more of a taste of the short races, and hopefully, everything goes well with them,” Salbinski said.

Sophomore Harrison Mobarak will be the novice men’s captain, and the new novice women’s captain will be sophomore Hannah Sterrett.

“I care about the crew team so much, which is why I wanted to be on the board to be able to have an impact,” Hammel said.

Hammel has many ideas in the works to ensure their social media and communication encompasses the achievements of the whole team and connects them with alumni and parents.

“For the Instagram, I want to do more takeovers from people of all class years and just more posting in general because I think it’s super important that people feel like their accomplishments are seen,” Hammel said. “I also am thinking about making a team TikTok.”

Additionally, Hammel plans to revamp their Facebook page in order to further connect with alumni and reach out to parents of current team members with a monthly email blast that shares updates on the team.

Hammel said that the executive board’s friendship will aid them in being leaders and making decisions.

“We work really well together, and I think the biggest thing is that all three of us care so much about the team and have shown our efforts and a passion for rowing,” she said. “We’re very comfortable with each other, and if we have an opinion we’ll share that.”

“Crew is competitive, but we still all love each other and respect each other on the team,” Hammel added. “It’s helped me so much in college, especially freshman year when I was trying to make friends. Being a part of a team is my favorite thing.”