Every member of the Mills Crew team are preparing for a strenuous event where they will each row 10,000 meters- on the grassy field of Adams Plaza. It will be the third annual Bridge to Bridge Erg-a-thon, a fundraiser where members of the Mills crew team will row on machines called ergometers that, according to junior crew team member Katie Donnell, "simulates the rowing experience."
Donnell said that 10,000 meters is the distance between all the bridges in the Bay Area divided by the number of members of the crew team.
Junior crew team member Zoe Tollefson, who said the crew team rows 2,000-meter sprints in the Spring and 6,000-meter runs in the Fall, said, "That's just a huge workout. That's definitely a challenge in comparison."
The event was started by Mills crew head coach Wendy Franklin three years ago as a way of raising money to send the crew team to the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Invitational Regatta held in Vancouver, WA.
Donnell said that funds raised will also go towards new crew equipment and a new boathouse. A bucket in which members of the community can make donations will be placed on the lawn next to the rowers.
According to Franklin, the crew team raised about $2,300 from the event last year. "We're always shooting for three thousand," she said.
Tollefson said the event is, "nothing but fun…We're a team that's really pumped about rowing."
The erg-a-thon will take place in Adams Plaza at 12:15p.m. on Wed, March 15.
