Bryant: ‘This Team Is All About Love’
November 23, 2021 | Women's Rowing
McKenna Bryant thought she'd blown her chances the very first day.
The Kennedy High School alum followed big brother Cullen into rowing. She thought she'd follow him to Gonzaga, too, but shocked the family by opting for Washington and more independence. Her first day in Conibear, she psyched up for a 6K test.
"My friend and I had the slowest times," remembers McKenna. "We walked out of the boathouse and I said, 'That was fun while it lasted. There goes my UW career.'
"To my total surprise, they said let's see how you develop. Keep doing better. Take on challenges. It helped me become a better rower and competitor, and I owe it all to my teammates. When they race their hardest and do their best, they are pushing me to do things I never thought I could do."
The team's confidence in McKenna paid off. In the 2021 season, as a junior, she stroked the Second Varsity Eight that won Pac-12 and NCAA titles.
"Stroking the 2V8 at Nationals, we were down about five seats with 250 to go," she relates. "We had this amazing sprint to get us out front. Our coxswain was screaming at us; she knew we could do it. Everyone was giving their all. It was an incredible feeling, not only because we won, but how we did it — together. The teamwork is the coolest part of the sport."
During the summer, McKenna earned a Gold Medal in the U.S. Women's Eight at the 2021 World Rowing Under-23 Championships, where Washington's reputation as a rowing powerhouse preceded her.
"The other girls at the Worlds said they were terrified to meet us because they see us as this high-level program, every woman for herself, fighting and tough," she laughs. "But it's not like that. This team is all about love. I could call anyone and ask for help and they'd all have my back."
McKenna contends that rowing "has taught me everything I could possibly need to know — who I should be as a human being, how to work hard and show up every day, how to be a team player and a supportive, kind person."
As the senior psychology major plans to compete for a fifth year after graduating in June, she is passing along what she's learned about rowing — and life — by coaching girls' rowing at Holy Names High School.
The Kennedy High School alum followed big brother Cullen into rowing. She thought she'd follow him to Gonzaga, too, but shocked the family by opting for Washington and more independence. Her first day in Conibear, she psyched up for a 6K test.
"My friend and I had the slowest times," remembers McKenna. "We walked out of the boathouse and I said, 'That was fun while it lasted. There goes my UW career.'
"To my total surprise, they said let's see how you develop. Keep doing better. Take on challenges. It helped me become a better rower and competitor, and I owe it all to my teammates. When they race their hardest and do their best, they are pushing me to do things I never thought I could do."
The team's confidence in McKenna paid off. In the 2021 season, as a junior, she stroked the Second Varsity Eight that won Pac-12 and NCAA titles.
"Stroking the 2V8 at Nationals, we were down about five seats with 250 to go," she relates. "We had this amazing sprint to get us out front. Our coxswain was screaming at us; she knew we could do it. Everyone was giving their all. It was an incredible feeling, not only because we won, but how we did it — together. The teamwork is the coolest part of the sport."
During the summer, McKenna earned a Gold Medal in the U.S. Women's Eight at the 2021 World Rowing Under-23 Championships, where Washington's reputation as a rowing powerhouse preceded her.
"The other girls at the Worlds said they were terrified to meet us because they see us as this high-level program, every woman for herself, fighting and tough," she laughs. "But it's not like that. This team is all about love. I could call anyone and ask for help and they'd all have my back."
McKenna contends that rowing "has taught me everything I could possibly need to know — who I should be as a human being, how to work hard and show up every day, how to be a team player and a supportive, kind person."
As the senior psychology major plans to compete for a fifth year after graduating in June, she is passing along what she's learned about rowing — and life — by coaching girls' rowing at Holy Names High School.
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