8 Years of Competitive Rowing Make a Lifelong Impact

Mark Bezold, Bishop Ireton class of 2007, was the captain of the ’07 boys’ crew.  He went on to row for 4 years at the University of Virginia, where he graduated in 2011.  Bezold captained the 10-11 team that last year and culminated his college rowing career with an appearance in teh Royal Henley Regatta in England. He reflected upon his rowing experience with the Cardinals and Cavaliers in this note below:

When I first joined the Ireton rowing team as a freshman in the Spring of 2004, the team couldn’t have been more different from how it is now. The women’s team, already a few years old, was larger and more successful, but at that point Ireton had never entered a men’s varsity race. In fact, we only had six guys on the team. That meant that two of us had to double row just so that we could field both a Varsity and a Novice 4+.

I don’t remember the exact results of our races, but I’m pretty confident in saying the men’s team didn’t win a single varsity race that year (or many at all in my four years). I don’t bring this up to disparage the program back then; exactly the opposite, in fact. I attribute much of the success I had in college to the lessons I learned from the Ireton rowing team. Hard work on the Anacostia and tough losses on the Occoquan taught me lessons that would carry me through a lot of difficult times in my life. Learning to cope with defeat week in and week out was not easy (as I’m sure my teammates will remember), but I’m confident that it made me more resilient and successful later on.

Thankfully for everyone on the Ireton team now, the days of struggling to make it out of heats are over. As someone who’s seen how bad it can be (both in high school and in college), it’s incredible to watch how much the team has grown and how successful the team is on the water. And if you’re reading this, you don’t need to be told how special Ireton rowing is to everyone involved. Those of us from the early years look back fondly on our time at the Anacostia; it’s a great thing to see the team reaching levels of success that we couldn’t even approach in our days.

As cliché as it sounds, the time I spent rowing at Ireton set me up to be successful in college, both academically and athletically. Everyone says that one of the hardest parts of college is learning how to manage your time entirely on your own. I can say definitively that rowing forced me to do this. It gave me a purpose and direction not just for the 20+ hours we spent training each week, but for the rest of the day, including studying and maximizing my time for training – staying healthy, sleeping enough, etc. I’ve wondered what I would have done with my extra time if I wasn’t rowing, but I’m sure it wouldn’t have been more productive, and certainly not more rewarding.

Rowing at the University of Virginia brought me some of the greatest highlights and worst low points of my life – from winning Dad Vails and the ACRA Club National Championship, to placing second to last at the Head of the Charles. My time at Ireton helped teach me how to react to both of these. I learned to embrace the good points, to enjoy them while they last, and to use them as motivation after they pass. More importantly, though, I learned how to deal with the losses. It was a painful skill to develop, but it proved to be invaluable in all parts of my life.

I was lucky enough to have my rowing career be capped with a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This summer, the Virginia Men’s Rowing team went to the Royal Henley Regatta in England. It was particularly special because all eight of the rowers in my graduating class got to race. We flew to London a week early to get adjusted to our new surroundings. During that time we got to do pieces against Leander, one of the top British clubs. These pieces created some buzz around our crew. Before we knew it, racing had started and every day we were just trying to hold on until tomorrow. Henley consists of a series of single elimination duel races, meaning half the remaining field is gone every day. Well, we made it to the fourth round on Saturday, when we were in the Final Four of the 64 teams that had entered the event! Unfortunately, that day marked the end of my rowing career as we lost to a very fast Dutch crew. Looking back on my eight years, however, it was an amazing journey.

I’m still grateful that I had such a great experience with the Ireton rowing team and it has been great to see how the team has progressed from the early days, back when Coach Julie Fischer was a coxswain (and coxed my first race).Whether you’re a rower, parent, alumni, teacher, or supporter, I urge you to make the most of your involvement with this great organization. For the rowers, it’s a chance to form lifelong friendships in a close knit group, while learning invaluable lessons along the way. As a parent or supporter, it’s a chance to get to know other families and to help your kids and their classmates have an experience that will stay with them for years to come. Whatever your role, you’ll know that you’re part of an organization that’s helped give hundreds of kids and their families memories that last a lifetime.