Eva Munday, May 16

Editor's Note: Gig Harbor Patch's "Diary of a Paddler" column allows athletes from the Gig Harbor Canoe & Kayak  Racing Team to share their stories. Eva Munday is a flat water sprint kayaker on the team. 

On the shoreline of Lake Whonnock, watching the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Race Team paddlers scrambling back and forth, looking for the right lane numbers and paddles, it feels odd not to be one of the athletes decked out in the teams black and yellow insignia.

A little more than four years ago, after racing sprint kayak for the first time at the 2008 Bantam Championships, I had stood at the side of this same lake with Alan Anderson and Graham Ulmer, two of the Gig Harbor coaches, while they told me that I was invited to join the racing team as a result of my racing that weekend.

Now I sit under the team tent surrounded by my former teammates, and it is strange not to be constantly glancing at my watch, counting down the minutes to my next race. A few weeks ago, my life changed completely after the ; I have traded in my kayak for a scull, and my paddle for an oar.

As any canoeist or kayaker would say, I’ve crossed over to the “dark side”. I am a rower.

The fall and winter leading up to trials were definitely the most difficult things I have ever been through. We would wake up at 4 in the morning to practice before school, then return to the water after school until around 5:30.  Most often, my brother, who's also on the team, and I would not get home until around 6 p.m.

I felt drained everyday, no matter how much sleep I got (though, due to homework, I only got five or six hours a night.) The heavy training combined with the lack of sleep made everything harder than it should have been, but I pushed through it because I know that every time I worked out, I was making a deposit in the bank, which I would withdraw at trials.

When trials weekend finally came, racing went relatively well, but I could feel the exhaustion still left from training. Every race I went all out. Some paddlers can pace themselves so that they use just enough energy to make the final, but I have never had that luxury.  After making the B final in the 1000 meters, I knew that I would have to make the A final in both the 500 and the 200 meters if I was to qualify for the training camp this summer. 

Although I made it in the 200 meters, I was in the B final once again for the 500. After only making one A final, I had my suspicions about whether I would make the camp or not. 

Nonetheless, the awards ceremony was a bit uncomfortable, because I had been one of the athletes who was expected to make the camp, though I was genuinely happy for my other teammates.

Not making the camp left me with a decision to make; do I continue kayaking? Do I continue athletics at all, or do I pursue my ? It has been a dream of mine to go to art school in New York City. (...To Be Continued. Check back later this week for Part II of Eva's diary.)