Donalds Take On The World

“The journey to Brest, Belarus begins today! “ they wrote via iPhone.  “We leave Boston at 7 pm and fly to Paris where we will transfer planes and then fly to Warsaw, Poland.”

 

The Donald twins headed across the pond for the 2010 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, where they will be competing in the women’s doubles race. The opening ceremonies are Wednesday, July 21.

 

Just seven years ago, neither one of the twins was thinking about rowing – or imaging that she would be competing in the elite international circuit. Elizabeth had been playing soccer and basketball. She needed a spring sport as an incoming freshman at NMH, so she started chatting with girls rowing coach Vicky Jenkins during a revisit day panel.

 

“When you meet her for the first time, you feel like you’ve known her your entire life,” said Elizabeth during a recent phone call from Craftsbury Small Boat Training Center (SBTC), where she was preparing for the World U23s. (To read the Craftsbury article on the Donalds, click here.)

 

“I talked to her and she said, ‘You should definitely come out for rowing,’” Elizabeth said. “I loved being athletic and I knew I wanted to play a sport. It didn’t take much convincing.”

 

As Jenkins remembers it, the twins made an impact on the team the moment they joined. Elizabeth started rowing in the fall of her freshman year and Rebecca began in the fall of her junior year. Jenkins said each one quickly formed a unique style of her own.

 

“Rebecca was wild and crazy in rowing, Elizabeth was focused,” said Jenkins. “That’s the strength of both of them, they complement each other beautifully.”

 

Elizabeth agrees. The Donalds have always been competitive and athletic, she said, but, in rowing, they found the perfect balance of their strengths.

 

“Rebecca is a bit stronger than I am, I am a little bit better technically,” said Elizabeth. “She pushes me on the rowing machine; I push her technically on the water.”

Jenkins recalls that the twins had an uncanny ability to motivate their team. Rebecca would tell the rowers they could win and Elizabeth would review the race plan. The Donalds were always the first ones at the boathouse and they were the last ones to leave.

 

“They were such a package,” said Jenkins. “Their influence in my program is still ongoing.”

 

When NMH students headed home for the summer, Elizabeth and Rebecca would join rowing programs in Boston and Cape Cod. It was during these summer sessions that the twins were introduced to smaller rowing shells such as doubles, pairs, and fours.

 

By their junior year, the Donalds knew they wanted to continue rowing at a collegiate level and began visiting schools with that in mind. They chose the University of Pennsylvania for its mix of academics and athletics. It was while at UPenn that the twins “fell in love” with sculling, said Elizabeth.

 

Since then, the Donalds have developed a rowing language all their own, said Rebecca.

 

“Because we spend so much time together, we can say short phrases, or say one word and we’re both going,” she said. “The hardest part for other people who are rowing in small boats is finding a pair partner. We have an advantage in that sense.”

 

While watching a rerun of the 2000 Tour-de-France, the twins noticed that Lance Armstrong had a specific look he would give the competition, just before he left fellow racers in the dust. The Donalds decided to use that same move during practices, when they raced against male rowers.

 

“All I have to say is ‘Lance,’ and we just go,” said Rebecca.

 

The Donalds have been rowing an Italian Filippi racing shell. To compete in the World U23s, their Filippi representative shipped an identical boat to Belarus. The Donalds will bring along their own measurements and riggings. Just like at the USRowing U23 World Championship Trials in June, they will try to maintain the same training schedule while in Belarus.

 

“Rebecca and I are not superstitious, but we try not to change anything,” said Elizabeth. “We always have the exact same cereal – Frosted Mini-wheats with a banana on top – for breakfast.”

When they describe their past races, particularly the US U23 Trials, the Donalds are apt to joke about their nerves or how Rebecca was so overwhelmed by the heat that her only goal was to “get to finish line before I passed out.”

Their lighthearted approach downplays what a force they actually are on the water. The Donalds won the Lake Mercer trials with a time of 07:16.729, a full 7.4 seconds ahead of the next boat. In rowing terms, the Donalds blew away their competition.

Rebecca and Elizabeth don’t like to speculate too far into the future, preferring to talk about the speed of their competitors or the experience of SBTC coach Larry Gluckman, then their own prowess. “We’re just excited by the progress we’ve been making this summer,” replies Elizabeth when urged to speculate on the pair’s Olympic potential.

 

Still, there’s little doubt that Elizabeth and Rebecca Donald are perfectly positioned to make a splash on the world stage – after all, this is only their third summer sculling. In August, hard on the heels of the Belarus competition, the Donalds plan to race in the USRowing National Selection Regatta III at Lake Mercer in Princeton, New Jersey.

 

“Our philosophy has always been to see how far you can take it,” said Elizabeth. “We have goals for ourselves, but we’re just focused right now on training hard every practice.”