wanting<\/em> to \u2014 you have to enjoy the training, you have to enjoy the team, and you have to love racing,\u201d Steenstra says. \u201cAnd if that doesn\u2019t all fall into place, people end up leaving. It\u2019s a sport that is based on, he who works hardest will win.\u201d<\/p>\nDoroski says she got hooked when she first saw the Bates Boathouse and its idyllic setting along the Androscoggin River in Greene and felt the character and personalities of the Bates crew. Since then, she\u2019s been a vital example to others. \u201cShe won her place every year out of sheer determination and consistent effort,\u201d says Steenstra.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe women who are in the program now, we dedicate most of our lives to rowing,\u201d Doroski says. \u201cWe still take our studies really seriously, but we\u2019re always ready to be out and practicing.\u201d<\/p>\n
This ethic was in evidence right to the end of her Bates career, as Doroski and her rowing team flew to Sacramento to compete in the NCAA Championships on Memorial Day weekend \u2014 they finished second to Williams \u2014 and hustled back to campus for Commencement on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Bates arrived at the 2010 championships ranked fourth behind Williams, Ithaca, and Trinity, all of whom had defeated Bates in the regular season. Yet during a conversation in mid-May, Doroski exhibited a measured confidence as she looked ahead to the championships. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be Williams and Bates, a showdown between us two,\u201d she said prophetically.<\/p>\n
“There was never a question as to whether or not Danica\u2019s going to be there or give me her all.”<\/p>\n
As the only graduating senior to make the NCAA-bound squad all four years, Doroski provided team continuity during the turmoil of three different head coaches since 2006. (Steenstra took over in 2008, and was preceded by an interim coach and by Andrew Carter, who helped grow the program in the early 2000s.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot to be said for that one person that just seems to always be there,\u201d says Steenstra. \u201cThere was never a question as to whether or not Danica\u2019s going to be there or give me her all. She is always competitive, always pushing her teammates, and always working.\u201d<\/p>\n
An environmental studies major, Doroski volunteered four years with the Junior Naturalist program sponsored by the Stanton Bird Club for elementary school children, leading field trips to measure the age of trees in a nearby old-growth forest and holding sessions with the youngsters, like \u201cTerrific Trees with Danica.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just as Doroski noticed her own maturation as a athlete, others noticed a change, too. \u201cI saw Danica shortly before she graduated, and I had never seen her so laid back, so relaxed, so self-confident,\u201d says Susan Hayward, environmental coordinator for the club\u2019s Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary. \u201cWhat a huge difference from when I saw her as a first-year, trying everything and being so excited, but not having that core of assurance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her friends, meanwhile, describe Doroski as humble but not without pride in what\u2019s she\u2019s accomplished at Bates. \u201cDanica never gloats,\u201d says Briana Gerrish \u201910, Doroski\u2019s first-year roommate and close friend. \u201cBut I could see throughout the years how much crew has meant to her and how proud she was of being an integral part of such a great team.\u201d<\/p>\n
In turn, Danica remains almost astonished at what rowing has done for her. \u201cRowing taught me a level of competition I didn\u2019t even realize I had in me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Danica Doroski’s success shows that rowing is more than poetry in motion…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[10856,2327],"class_list":["post-34433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-athletics","tag-bates-magazine","tag-class-of-2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34433"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87693,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34433\/revisions\/87693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a>While passing the time, they might easily daydream of eight bodies moving gauzily as one, their boat rippling quietly and intently through the water among ducks and water lilies.<\/p>\n