by MOSES LEOS III
Excelling on an athletic level is nothing new for Hays High junior Emily Demmer. A former member of the Hays softball team, she has always done well when it comes to sports. However, not even Demmer envisioned the way her life would transform after a day on Austin’s Town Lake last summer.
Demmer and her family were no strangers to kayaking and canoeing. Yet the young athlete was inspired when she saw a man rowing in a single scull, making his way down the pristine waters under the Lamar Street Bridge.
“I did not fully grasp what rowing was until (that day) last summer,” Demmer said. “When I saw it, I told myself, ‘that’s what I want to do.’”
That one moment changed Demmer’s athletic outlook for good. She decided in January to put softball on hold, trading a mitt for an oar. It was a decision she has welcomed ever since.
“[The decision] came down to what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” she said. “I felt that I could excel in rowing over what I was doing in softball.”
On February 8, Demmer began her training. For two weeks, she trained within the recreation rowing program at the Texas Rowing Center in Austin.
Her competitive spirit motivated her to strive for something more. After only two weeks in training, she approached rowing coach Monica Nelson, wanting to join her Novice team.
“After two weeks, I felt I was good enough [to join],” Demmer said. “I told (Nelson), ‘I want to join; I’m competitive. Please let me do this.’”
Despite a prerequisite of one full semester of rowing with the Texas Rowing Center, Nelson agreed to allow the eager Demmer on the team.
The first day of training was admittedly not the smoothest for Demmer – she flipped out of her scull, twice.
Yet, Nelson kept the faith and took her under her wing.
Demmer trained with Nelson six days a week for sometimes 18 hours. The coach saw how hard she trained in the scull, admiring her work ethic.
“I have coached rowing for over ten years and I have never seen another person learn [the sport] so quickly,” said Nelson in a letter to Emily’s mother, Nancy Demmer.
Nelson had so much confidence in Demmer, she allowed her to compete in a single scull during a March 2 competition. In less than one month, Demmer was able to finish second in her heat, finishing in fifth place overall.
A few weeks later, Demmer qualified for the eight-person A level rowing squad for the State Championship Regatta. Demmer unseated a seasoned member of the squad who had helped the team win the silver medal at State a year previous.
“Initially, some girls were angry,” Demmer said.
However, at the State Championship Regatta on April 23-24, Demmer and her team won first place in the Novice 8+ member race. Despite a lack of experience, her performance helped Demmer bond with the group.
“The girls in my boat congratulated me on helping them win State,” Demmer said. “Though they all were baffled that I did so in a short amount of time.”
Demmer credits Nelson with giving her a chance to make an impact on that team. “(Nelson) knew I could be a good fit. That’s why she placed me on the team.”
In her final competition on May 3-4 in Oklahoma City, Demmer found herself on the bow, or steering position, on a B-level four-person, or Quad. boat. Having never rowed in this position, Demmer learned the spot in the span of 24 hours, navigating the boat down 2000 meters of water in 29 mile-per-hour winds.
Demmer said the rush she gets from rowing surpasses any athletic sport she participated in before.
“(Rowing) was overwhelming at first,” Demmer said. “But I have played sports all of my life. I have never had as large a passion for a sport as I do in rowing.”
“Rowing is not an easy sport, yet (Emily) was determined to learn the technique in order to compete against experienced rowers,” Nelson said. “Emily’s determination, intelligence, athleticism and passion came together and she breezed down the race course ahead of her competition.”
Demmer aims to continue her rowing experience into her senior year. She hopes to one day join a collegiate rowing team and compete at the NCAA level.
