Buff & Blue Forever: Lauren Bennett
5/4/2022 12:00:00 PM | Women's Rowing, My GW: Celebrating our Stories
Lauren Bennett has been a key member of the GW women's rowing team's top boat over her four seasons with the program.
Last year, the Hingham, Mass., native was named to the All Atlantic 10 First Team after helping the Buff & Blue Varsity 8 to a runner-up finish at the conference championship. Away from the water, she is pursuing a Criminal Justice degree with a master's in Public Administration and closing out her second year serving as GW SAAC President.
Coming down the final stretch of her collegiate rowing career, Bennett takes a look back in the latest edition of our Buff & Blue Forever series.
For the rest of my life, I’ll miss the 5:30 AM wakeup calls. Of course, I’ll appreciate the extra hour or two of sleep, but nothing will be able to wake me up like those early mornings on the Potomac.
I’ll miss watching the ripples bounce from the shell, and the way each sunrise burst behind the silhouetted monuments.
I’ll miss the send of a powerful and confident boat, and I’ll miss how good it felt to be absolutely exhausted after a race.
Mostly, I’ll miss the girls.
I’ll miss moving in absolute unison (or as close as we can get), pushing harder than we ever thought possible.
I’ll miss fist bumps down the boat before the race, the unparalleled burst of energy at the start, and slumping back into each other once it’s done.
I’ll miss the post-race huddles, the walks back to the trailer excited by a result and even the races that ended in disappointment.
I’ll miss carrying those heavy boats together, probably more than my taller teammates will.
I’ll miss watching my best friends become more powerful every day on the way to doing things we all thought were impossible at one time or another.
I’ll miss waking up with the same people with the same goal, laughing and crying and pushing further every day.
To this day I can remember how it felt to be out there as a freshman with our seniors, and each year that’s gone on, I haven’t forgotten.
Every time I’m on the water I feel just as close to all my graduated teammates, like we’re all still waking up together.
I can remember Antonia Lycouris stroking, Rachel Kaufman’s brilliant coxing, Emma Peele’s laughter.
I can remember cruising in a pair with Olivia Herbstritt in Deland and backing Kate Donohue up on the start line of A-10s as her pair partner.
I think about all the moments I’ve had with people on the team now, especially my graduating class, and all I feel is tremendously grateful. I won’t ever forget that feeling.
So down the line, once I’ve graduated and retired the uni, I know there will come a day when I take out a single at sunrise and I’ll remember it all again. I look forward to waking up with everyone when that day comes.
Raise High,
Lauren Bennett
Class of 2022