May 2,  junior Caroline Bias and the St. Louis Rowing team took first place in the Regatta, a rowing competition that took place in Indianapolis. Their team raced against six different regions in the Midwest.

“We won by five seconds which was a really big deal. We are now qualified to go to Midwest which is like a regionals. That competition will be held in Cincinnati and then the top two qualifiers to finish will move on to nationals in Florida. Going to nationals is our big goal so we are going to continue to work really hard and keep doing what we’re doing to move forward,” Bias said.

The St. Louis Rowing Team practices seven times a week for about two hours each practice.

Sometimes the team has morning practices before school. Each practice is held on Creve Coeur Lake.

“It’s really hard for everyone to stay together when you first enter the blade in the water. That’s the catch, so everyone has to be in sync and unison. That is the key to winning, it is what basically proves which are the best,” Bias said.

Each boat is arranged into eight seats. The seats go from eight to one, eight being the stroke seat.  The stroke seat is at the very front of the boat and they set the pace of how fast you go. Bias sits in seat seven which two away from the stroke seat.

“I love traveling to all the places and racing against all the other teams. I love the regattas that we compete in. We always race a 2K which is 2000 km and it takes about seven minutes depending on the wind and the water, and I just love racing,” Bias said.

Bias’s interest in rowing started when her friend suggested that she might like it. She went and talked to the coaches and they showed a lot of interest in her. Bias has been rowing since September, and in February she moved up to varsity.

“Racing is something that I really enjoy and I have so much fun doing it. Varsity is a lot more work but that is what makes it so much more fun. I can’t wait to keep competing with my team and hopefully we make it to nationals,” Bias said.