Boundless waters

Rowing skeptics transformed by team sport that ‘feels like family’

Story and photos by David Pierini, Staff Reporter

 When a friend first suggested she try the sport of rowing, Araya Pettiford stood firmly on dry land.

“I said, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to do that,’” she recalled saying. “It sounded so boring.”

More than a year after what seemed like an unequivocal no, Pettiford occupies the No. 2 bow seat in a sleek racing shell with other former skeptics propelling across the Mississippi River every Tuesday and Thursday morning. 

Austin Harris, left, and Araya Pettiford are pleased with a recent training on the Mississippi River. The two are part of a North Star Community Rowing that introduces the sport to youth. Photo by David Pierini

The North Minneapolis teenager is part of North Star Community Rowing, a Twin Cities non-profit organization that promotes diversity and inclusion.  The group was formed by longtime rowers who understand how the sport can empower individuals and build lifelong friendships.

An old shipping container in the parking lots of the North Mississippi Regional Park boat launch serves as a kind of boat house. Recently, North Star broke ground on a proper boat house at the Upper Harbor Terminal site. 

North Star offers programs for people with physical disabilities and youth from under-resourced communities. Participants pay little or nothing to learn a sport that works every part of the body, from feet to finger tips. 

North Star rowers Abigail Severson, right, Lanya Warfiled Johnson, Austen Harris, Arraya Pettiford and coach Anna Greene lean back in the finish phase of their stroke during a recent training. Photo by David Pierini

Do not be fooled by the picture of serenity a crew creates skimming across the water. Inside the boat, each rower is working hard. 

Strength alone does not guarantee a successful crew. Each rower needs to be cognizant of stroke mechanics so that blades of each oar enter the water simultaneously. Timing is essential during the drive phase of the stroke, the point where each rower “drives” back with their legs and pulls the oars through the water. 

North Star rowing is currently working with six girls, four of whom have been rowing together over the past two seasons: Pettiford and Lanya Warfield-Johnson, 16 and both of North Minneapolis, Abigail Severenson, 15, of Hopkins, and Austen Harris, 18, of St. Paul.

Pettiford said they finished last at a number of competitive regattas before they finally earned a medal at one in Iowa. 

“It was such an amazing feeling,” she said. 

“With this group of four girls we have right now, they are an amazing example of a hardworking small team,” said their coach, Hannah Ricard, who motors around in a launch boat shouting instructions through a megaphone. “They’ve grown so much and help each other out.”

“Family” is spoken more than the word team when the four senior-most rowers describe their relationship.

“I get a family out of rowing,” Pettiford said. “I also get exercise. It’s a really good sport.” 

“You should just try it,” Warfield-Johnson said as if she were trying to recruit a friend.

 “Yeah,” said Pettiford. “Everybody does volleyball or basketball, football. Just be a little different.”