Why I Row: Amy Tedder

For our third and final installment of Why I Row, former rower and assistant coach Amy Tedder wrote about why and how she joined LSU Rowing. 


I joined LSU Rowing the spring semester of ‘09 and had all kinds of preconceived notions about both the sport and the team. The previous semester I had an Italian class with Alyce Thibodeaux, who was the women’s captain at that time. Through a project we were assigned where we had to describe out interests and activities in Italian I found out that one of hers was rowing. As I was also one of tallest girls in our class (second only to her) this got my wheels turning.

I had been a competitive gymnast from the age of 7 to 17, so when I got to college and suddenly lacked the structure and discipline of a committed sports team, I felt lost. I was also rather tall for a gymnast and was relieved to discover a sport where I could utilize my height rather than lament over it. Eventually Alyce and I became friends, she recruited me a little, and I got on an erg a few times over that winter break. I showed up for Learn to Row and then the first new members’ 6am practice- ready to be intimidated and maybe even cut from the team. I was surprised to find a group of people who weren’t intimidating...and weren’t cut-throat either.

But one thing they absolutely WERE was committed. As I struggled with the early morning practice time I began to realize that the other girls in my boat counted on me being there just as much as I counted on them, and it gave me a new motivation to get to practice on time and earn my spot in a boat.

I can honestly say I know of no other sport that is more team-oriented than rowing. I have done individual sports my entire life so the transition to rowing was not an easy one, but I learned so many lessons about working together, being physically and mentally in sync, and realized the concept of “you are only as strong as your weakest member.” As I began to bond with the girls in my novice boat, and then varsity, I accomplished things I never thought I would. We ran together and pushed each other to 4, 5, 6, even 7 miles. We dropped split times together on the ergs, we held extra practices for our boat to earn the chance to go to SIRA. We won medals based purely on our hard work...we relied on each other and succeeded because of each other.

The relationships that I formed through LSU Rowing have already echoed far beyond just my time as a rower and an assistant coach. I can say the same thing about the lessons I learned and the things I accomplished.

As I look to continue my career as a Masters Rower in Philadelphia, I struggle for a way to fully express my gratitude to LSU Crew. It was truly one of the best decisions I have ever made.

(Stroke: Amy Tedder, Coxswain: Allie Petit)

Amy Tedder

LSU Rowing Alumna

Spring 2009-Fall 2010

Assistant Coach Spring 2011

LSU Class of 2010, BS in Psychology

Amy is currently living in Philadelphia and will be joining Undine Rowing Club as a Novice Master’s Sculler in March.

Why I Row: Erin Petersen

Erin's story is the second in a three-part series on current and past members' experience with joining the club.

My first few weeks of going to LSU didn’t meet my expectations. Before college, I thought that I was going to meet a ton of new people from my dorm and my classes and make so many great friends! I was going to avoid that freshman 15 and stay in shape even though my high school swim career was over. I was going to love every minute of college! 

Everyone says that these are the greatest years of your life, right?  

Well, that wasn’t exactly the case for the first few weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I loved LSU, but something was missing.  I wasn’t meeting people like I had anticipated and trying to stay in shape was definitely a challenge. For the most part, I missed my old swim team.  I loved the sport and missed the camaraderie the most.  It was this longing for a team that compelled me to look into the club sports at LSU.

At first, I was hoping that there was a club swim team that I could join, since swimming was really the only sport I was good at.  However, there was no such team, and I had to look at other options.  Basically, I stumbled across the rowing website in my search for a club and thought it sounded like a lot of fun. 

I love being in, around and on the water so I thought that I would give it a shot.  I made sure to attend the organization fair at LSU’s URec and found the LSU Rowing booth to put my name on the email list. 

Before I knew it, I was at the dock for the first day of Learn to Reaux, nervous but excited.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect.  The current members of the team showed us the proper techniques to erg and quickly went over general rowing terms like starboard, port and “wayenough.” There were so many terms and new ideas being thrown at me that I was overwhelmed at first. Eventually, I was standing next to five seat in the Sting being told to step in the boat. The feeling of being on the water in a rowing shell for the first time was completely exhilarating. 

The thought of gliding over the water for that first time still gives me chills.  The first time taking a stroke, however, was the most awkward thing I had ever done.  I couldn’t get my oar out of the water; I slammed my fingers on the gunwale, and could not get the motion of rowing down at all. It was a bit frustrating at first but varsity members kept tell me that it would get much better and that it just takes practice.  Luckily, I believed them and made sure to set my alarm for practice on Monday morning. 

That sunrise over the lakes was the first of many, many more to come.

When I came to LSU in the fall of 2010, I never thought that the words “wayenough”, erg and regatta would become a regular part of my vocabulary.  If you had told me that I was going to be waking up every morning at 5:33am, I would have told you that you were insane.  If you had told me that I was going to be a captain of a college club team, I would never have believed you.  I would not give up a single moment of my time spent as a member of LSU Rowing.  There are so many wonderful memories I have from this club: that first sunrise, my first race, the first medal my boat won, the first time I realized that I was not only surrounded by my teammates, but my friends, and countless other moments that I couldn’t even begin to describe. 

Through rowing, I learned what it truly means to work hard and persevere. I saw the progress in my erging and rowing.  I learned what it really meant to be a part of a team and how to be a leader.

Joining the LSU Rowing Club has by far been the decision I’ve made since coming to college and is an experience that I will never forget!

(Pictured from left to right: Allie Petit, Erin Petersen, Liz McGehee, Mikael Estis)

Erin Petersen
19-year-old French and International Studies Junior
Captain- Varsity Women

Why I Row: Marc Kemp

Marc's story is the first in a three-part series on current and past members' experience with joining the club. 

Upon graduating high school, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy. I performed my training in Great Lakes, Illinois as well as Virginia Beach, Virginia. Currently, I am a Master-at-Arms Petty Officer First Class serving in the Naval Security Forces unit at the Naval Air Station New Orleans. There I am tasked with anti-terrorism, force protection, law enforcement, and physical security. I am decorated a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Vigilant Mariner, both of which I completed from May 2009 until February 2010. I am also part of LSU Rowing.

I enrolled at LSU a few months after completing training for the U.S. Navy. During those arduous six months, I had grown accustomed to being surrounded by a large group of people who were extremely tight knit and passionate about a common goal. When I got to LSU, I lost that feeling of esprit de corps and I missed it greatly. I enjoyed my going to parties and hanging out with friends, but there was something missing. I yearned to be more involved at the school that I treasured so deeply. I missed being part of something bigger than myself.

 My first encounter with LSU Rowing was in my Louisiana French class when I saw a girl wearing a black jacket with “LSU Rowing” emblazoned on the back in purple and gold letters. I was unduly impressed.  There was just something mystifying about that jacket. Maybe it was because I had no idea that LSU had a crew team or maybe it was the visions of Olympic races complete with gold medals and our nation’s flag flying triumphantly in the wind. Either way, I decided that I wanted to learn more about this uncommon sport. After a few quick trips to Wikipedia and the UREC’s club sports website and I was ready to start rowing.  

I went to the LSU Organization Fair and searched out the rowing table. Once I found it, I was surrounded by enthusiastic members telling me about the sport that they truly enjoyed. I put my name down for attending the “Learn to Row” days and got excited. At the end of that week, I showed up at the LSU dock and was quickly thrust into a shell. Once I got over the unsteady rhythm of a boat full of aspiring rowers I was hooked. I loved gliding on glass-like water just inches below me. I enjoyed feeling the connection between my entire body and the thrill of fast through the water. After that short introductory session, I knew I’d found the sport in which I belonged.

I started showing up to practice at 6:00AM. It was early February and cold and dark out on the lake. The water stung when it splashed into the boat and my lungs ached as I took in the frigid air. But the people I was with made all of that disappear. Everyone moved in sync with each other in extreme coordination towards a common goal: to move the boat fast, very fast. The boat is like a clock. There are many moving pieces and if one is out of sync, the entire thing gets thrown out of balance. To this day I still love the sensation of gliding perfectly balanced after a few strokes with oars out of the water.

After weeks of practices we were finally ready to go to our first real race. We travelled together on a bus to Lake Lanier in Georgia. We set up camp in the parking lot, hoisted the American flag atop an old oar standing in as a flag pole and began to reassemble our boats. I mostly remember how nervous I was that day as we waited for race time. When it was finally time for our flight to launch everyone was ready. This was to be a great race. We started off strong and quickly sprinted past our competition, ensuring a first place win. The next day we repeated this success and won our second race. On the trip home everything seemed to have a glimmering gold sheen to it.

During my first season, amidst wins and losses,  I quickly learned that the members of this team made it special. With early morning practices, grueling erg workouts, road trips to races, the thrill of victory, and the despair of defeat it became clear to me that these folks were family. Everyone had my back, just as I had theirs. We push each other to be the best we can and don’t leave anyone behind who is having trouble. I realized that I found the exact thing that I was looking for. With LSU Rowing, I became part of something bigger than myself:  a winning institution that had the potential for exponential greatness. 

Marc Kemp

23-year-old Criminology Senior

Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class

Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Vigilant Mariner