After multiple knee surgeries ended her long distance running career, Kristen Obbink, a Vet-Med employee and former student, wanted to find a way to stay in shape and still be able to push herself competitively. Crew club has served as a suitable substitute. Obbink joined the crew club at the beginning of the semester in August to participate in the fall season.

Previously, Obbink ran track in high school, but didn’t run long distance until college. She has ran several half-marathons, as well as marathons, where she ultimately injured her knee.

She said running continued to aggravate her knee, and she wanted to find another form of exercise that would be less strenuous on her knees.

Though Obbink was quick to say that crew club does require lower body muscle as well as upper body, she also added that you need to be strong everywhere. 

“They’re both really challenging, just in different ways. Crew is more technically challenging,” Obbink said.

She went onto say that crew club also serves as stress relief, something that her long distance running did as a student at Iowa State as well.

Obbink came into the club with zero prior experience and had only heard about crew as a student when she first arrived in Ames.

“The more experienced members, and coach, are great about teaching us how to do things properly,” Obbink said.

The technicalities of the sport are hard to pick up right away, but Obbink said she’s started to learn them bit-by-bit and doesn’t quite have all of the skills down.

The club has both novice boats and varsity boats. Obbink said she’s been in both, but is primarily in the novice boats due to it being her first year. The club practices at Hickory Grove which is just east of neighboring town Nevada, Iowa.

The regattas, the competitions that the club participates at, are 5,000 meter races, but the lake that the club practices at is only about 2,000 meters long. That obviously brings a unique challenge to the Iowa State crew club.

The club of around 25 students also has land practices at Lied Recreationonal Athletic Centerer on campus. Obbink touched on getting used to the early morning practices, which start at 6 a.m. 

“You get used to rowing on a rowing machine, and then you go out onto the lake,” Obbink said. “And it’s obviously pretty different, so sometimes it is difficult to adjust.”

The crew club has medaled consistently throughout the season, most recently medaling in all of their events at the regatta in Moline, Illinois. This was the third regatta of the season, following the two regattas in Des Moines, Iowa and Rockford, Illinois. The club has one more in Witchita, Kansas before the fall season comes to a close in November.

The club does have a spring season, but it is heavily weather dependent due to the melting ice and then finishing before the onset of finals for the spring semester.

“It’s a pretty big time commitment, but it’s definitely worth it,” Obbink said.