Photo // Grace Leffert
‘WHAT ARE WE SERVING?’. Grace Merrill shouts back encouragement to her teammate Megan Gregor as they race in the canal.
By: Claire McKenna
Staff-Writer
On Sept. 28, a very unprepared team of IU South Bend Student Government Association members were sent to IU Indianapolis for their annual Regatta competition. Unfortunately, the team sent were unable to attend their training day due to scheduling conflicts, so Grace Leffert, Dhruval Chaudhari, Megan Gregor, Grace Merrill and Jack Laney were left not knowing what awaited them. So, naturally, they got brunch.
There, they met IU Indianapolis Chancellor Dr. Latha Ramchand and IU President Pamela Whitten. Of course, IU South Bend was not the only school present, so our SGA members were able to connect with students from IU Indianapolis, IU Bloomington and IU Kokomo.
The SGA team chose the name IU South Bend SGA Titans and competed in the Campus Connections division.
Even with no experience, the team was lucky enough to get a quick tip from another team that had already rowed.
“We saw them sitting on their knees and we asked if that helped them,” Merrill explained. “They told us that it was good for keeping the rowers balanced and sturdy.”
Photo // Grace Leffert ROW TO THE FINISH. SGA team Grace Leffert, Dhruval Chaudhari, Jack Laney, Grace Merrill, and Megan Gregor Jack Laney pose with their gold medals and trophy as newfound Regatta winners.
With Gregor and Merrill rowing the first leg and Laney and Chaudhari rowing back, the team placed fourth in their division with a time of nine minutes, 57 seconds. Although the team placed fourth, they were still called back for finals, because every other team had gone home.
The SGA members raced back to check in and row again. This time, they had gotten a little more advice from Leffert, who had been canoeing before. This advice worked so well that Gregor and Merrill cut their first time in half.
“They looked like they did rowing every single day,” Leffert laughed. “I was sprinting, and I couldn’t keep up with them.”
Once the team had finished, they waited for awards to be called and were surprised and overjoyed to hear they had finished in first place. The SGA members went up to get their medals and trophy for their victory.
Although all the judges and most of the other schools had already left, the SGA team really appreciated this first-time experience representing IU South Bend and are excited to come back next year.
“We wanted to get involved and make new connections on a sister campus,” Gregor said.
“It connected us too, and the five of us that went now have a deeper connection than ever before.”