Dear Washington: McKenna Bryant
6/4/2023
A letter to UW written by Washington Women's Rowing senior McKenna Bryant
Dear Washington,
Five years ago I sent out an email to the UW Rowing Coaches. I knew I wasn’t a high-level recruit but I wanted to try because the worst they could say was “no.” So, instead, I got something even worse - they didn’t respond. I wasn’t surprised because the team had just won the National Title and I had done nothing with my name. Before giving up completely, an old teammate of mine told me I should email them again. Sure enough, the second email got picked up, and in a matter of 24 hours I was asked if I wanted to commit. I wasn’t offered any money but I was offered a chance. I took that chance and capitalized on it.
Looking back, if I was never encouraged to send that second email I wouldn’t be here today. So the moral of the story is always send a follow-up email. Okay but in all seriousness, never back down from a challenge.
Arguably, I don’t love the sport of rowing. You are asked to test your physical and mental limits daily. You are constantly challenged to reach a point of suffering. Yet you’re never alone in your suffering. You have 60+ women choosing to enter into that suffering with you and by your side. To me, that’s the most beautiful part about rowing. It’s a sport of communal suffering.
You are asked to test your physical and mental limits daily. You are constantly challenged to reach a point of suffering. Yet you’re never alone in your suffering. You have 60+ women choosing to enter into that suffering with you and by your side. To me, that’s the most beautiful part about rowing. It’s a sport of communal suffering.
This season was the most inspiring season I’ve had with the team. Similar to how I entered my journey with UW, we were not always seen as a top team. Yet we disrupted this label and created our own through our hard work and dedication. Thank you to all my teammates for capitalizing on every stroke we took this year. The team embraced every challenge we faced with love. We embodied the theme of ‘All of Us or None of Us’ by collectively working together to elevate one another. No one individual was better than the rest. Together we made this program.
We embodied the theme of ‘All of Us or None of Us’ by collectively working together to elevate one another. No one individual was better than the rest. Together we made this program.
I will forever be grateful for the Women’s Rowing Team. I learned how to love the challenges you are faced with. I learned how to believe in myself. I learned how to disrupt with love and embrace the suck. But most importantly I found a sisterhood that will help me embrace the future challenges I will face.
Go Dawgs!
-McKenna Bryant