The View From The Stroke Seat

Henley-on-Thames, England — It was the 1,000-meter mark on Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River.

That was when everything changed.  When a group of nine girls stopped being collegians and started being champions.

One thousand meters from the starting line at the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta.  One thousand meters to the finish line.  

It all changed with one stroke. 

“Something happened,” says Ellen Rohlfing, remembering the scene vividly.  The Purdue senior was in her normal position — the stroke seat — that day as the Boilermakers’ women’s varsity eight charged down the Schuylkill in pursuit of an Aberdeen Dad Vail gold medal.

With its season on the brink, 1,000 long meters to go and Old Dominion in hot pursuit, the nine members of Purdue’s varsity eight finally became one.  It was one stroke.  One seamless, faultless, incomparable stroke that triggered something inside every member of the crew.

“We clicked,” Rohlfing says.  “Everyone sort of ... decided to win.  Everything built up to that one moment.”

***

Sitting in the dining room of a rustic manor on the banks of the River Thames, Rohlfing joyfully explains how Purdue’s varsity eight morphed from the No. 12 seed at the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, to Dad Vail champions, to ACRA champions, to a crew representing the United States in the senior eight at the Henley Women’s Regatta.  

“It’s kind of crazy how this all happened,” she quips.  

Following a disappointing performance at SIRA way back in mid-April, Purdue women’s coach Sandy Calfo adjusted the lineup in her varsity eight.  Little by little, things changed.  With the Aberdeen Dad Vail on the horizon, the boat developed its identity.

“From that point on, we started hitting very good splits in practice and really came together,” Rohlfing says.  “The first race at Dad Vail was when everything came together and the boat moved.  We knew we had potential before that, but it hadn’t actually jelled until that first race.  And then the next race (Dad Vail semis) was better.  Then, obviously, our last race, the finals, was the best one we had.  It was kind of interesting that it took until then and we chose that point to decide, ‘Oh, let’s get together.’”

Now, that same crew has come together in Henley-on-Thames.  From the last seat in the boat, Rohlfing has watched her boat transform over the last six weeks.  A season built around the crew’s performance at the Aberdeen Dad Vail suddenly has a whole new purpose.

Dream big.  Win Henley.  Make history.  

“Throughout the year we train for Dad Vail,” Rohlfing says.  “We used to be able to build up for Vails and then carry that over to ACRA.  Now to have another competition.  There is kind of a mental game you have to play with yourself.  Physically, our bodies can keep practicing and we’ve trained so we’re hopefully in the best racing condition, but it’s kind of hard mentally to keep that hard work going.  I think we’re doing it though.”

On Friday at 1:00 local time (9 am EST) in Henley-on-Thames, Purdue will face Tyne Rowing Club of Newcastle in a first-round, head-to-head matchup.  The Boilermakers know nothing about Tyne.  Tyne knows nothing about Purdue.  It’s one of the dynamic aspects of racing at Henley — the great unknown.  

“I prefer it this way,” Rohlfing says.  “We have no idea, so we can feel like underdogs. It gives us the opportunity to just sit in our boat and worry about what we have to do — think technique and strategy and race our race.  That’s all we can do and we’ll see what happens.”

A victory over Tyne would result in a Saturday morning (9:55 am) semifinal against Queen’s University-Halliday.  But that’s looking ahead and Purdue avoids that pitfall at all costs.  The team attributes its success at the Aberdeen Dad Vail to its ability to only worry about the next race.  

It’s a cliche, sure, but it’s a cliche that works.

“Going into Dad Vails, we didn’t expect to win,” Rohlfing said.  “All we could do was take it one race at a time.”

Then one race led to another race and that race led to gold.

In the end, that gold led the Purdue women to Henley.

“It’s so exciting to think about racing in a different country against all these other teams from places that we’ve never even been to,” Rohlfing said.  “All of a sudden we’re representing not only our university, but also the United States and our sponsors from Aberdeen.  It’s a huge thing.”

***

Passing the 2,000-meter mark on the Schuylkill River, Purdue didn’t know what to think.

The boat crossed the Aberdeen Dad Vail finish line nearly bow-to-bow with Old Dominion.  Immediately, the Boilermakers heard a victorious roar from the opposing boat.  After a short somber moment, the crew accepted its second-place finish and relished in simply winning a Dad Vail medal, which was the goal all along.  They all felt that stroke at 1,000 meters.  They knew what occurred. 

And they were proud. 

That was when an Aberdeen Dad Vail motor boat churned toward the crews to announce the order for the shells to approach the awards dock.

“Third place, Grand Valley State,” hollered the official.

“Second place ... Old Dominion University,” he shouted.

The Purdue women stopped.  Wait a second ... what?  As one, they looked over toward the official.  

“First place ... Purdue University!”

No boat on the Schuylkill River that day cheered louder than that Purdue boat at that moment.  Pure euphoria.  Unfiltered joy.  Disbelief led to tears and realization led to hugs.  

“We died,” Rohlfing said.  “To put so much effort in for four years and to finally reach that moment at the end of everything was just the best thing that could have ever happened.”

One month later, Rohlfing still returns to that scene in her head.  It’s a uniquely personal memory that’s difficult to put into words.  

And it all came from one stroke — one perfect stroke that enabled Rohlfing & Co. to dip their oars in the Thames.  

It all starts on Friday.

More memories await.

STORY:  Brendan F. Quinn

PIC: Amanda Stevenson