On a recent afternoon along the Little Arkansas River, as the sunlight faded, Coach Kaylin Kottman was putting her juniors team from the Wichita Rowing Association through a workout.
The smooth water was like a mirror that day, reflecting the images of the trees that hang over the river. The shell glided down the river, like a giant dragonfly silently skimming along its surface.
Kottman shadowed the crew in a small motor boat, using a bullhorn to guide and teach.
“You have beautiful water, so I don't want to see any blades touching the water. Much better conditions than Tuesday. All right, Catherine, I want you to call them into a power 10 and two, OK?
“So, power on those legs, following Savanna, quick catches. Good.”
Kottman joined the rowing association as coach in July. She was a standout rower at Kansas State University, earning Academic All-Big 12 honors all four years.
And like most of the girls on the team in Manhattan, she was new to the sport.
“I'd say probably over 95% of the team were girls from Kansas who had zero rowing experience,” Kottman said. “My class was 60 girls, and I think one, maybe two of them, had ever rowed before.”
That’s one of the goals of the Rowing Association, to help grow the sport locally. And in doing so, perhaps serve as a conduit to high school students who want to row in college.
Students like Savanna Torres, a senior at Kapaun Mount Carmel High School. She would like to row next fall, maybe at the University of Minnesota or Gonzaga University.
“I just love being on the water and just going fast and pushing myself to my mental limit, and it's so much fun,” Torres said. “Something about that is so exhilarating.”
The Rowing Association is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. It attracts people of all ages and skill levels to the Riverside Rowing Center, tucked along the river in Central Riverside Park. Its Learn How to Row courses help introduce adult newcomers to the sport.
The nonprofit also is helping Friends University launch a team this year, as it did decades ago with Wichita State University.
“Friends is just looking for another way that they can grow their athletic program and draw people there,” Kottman said. “And rowing is gaining popularity in the Midwest as people are becoming more aware of it and realize … it can be a Midwest sport.”
Kottman was a basketball player and track athlete at Derby High. For her, it’s the mental part of rowing that appeals to her.
“I think a lot of sports, there's always a mental aspect of it,” she said. “But with rowing, it's one of the most challenging things I've ever done in my life.
“You're doing the exact same thing over and over and over. So, it's very much just you and your brain.
“And I just get satisfaction from being able to challenge myself and to come out successful on the other side.”
Torres, who is a pole vaulter and power lifter at Kapaun, agrees.
“Because your body can do a lot more than your mind can do, and you just have to push past the physical pain and know that you can do it,” she said. “You just have to do it, you know?”
Kottman was out of rowing for a few years after graduating from K-State. She did some work as a fitness instructor, and she runs Anything But Nuts Bakery out of her home.
But she missed the sport.
“I've loved rowing ever since I stopped rowing,” said Kottman, 28, who is married with a young son.
“And I've always wanted to get back into rowing, but because it is so limited here in the Midwest, it's hard to find a spot. So when (the Rowing Association) reached out, I was all on board just to get back in that world.”
Kottman’s coaching philosophy reflects the mental challenges that rowing presents.
“I just expect you to give me your all,” she said. “Maybe you're having an off day, and that's OK. But I want you to give me everything you can.
“So, maybe it's only 50% of your normal effort, but that's 100% today. That's what I want because that's how you're going to get better.”
There’s about a dozen rowers in the juniors program, most of them in high school, as Kottman was reminded of during the practice.
“Everybody pay attention. … Are you taking a photo? Take it very quickly,” she said.
“No, put it back in your pocket. We're going. You can check it later.”
This year’s rowing season was supposed to end earlier this month with the Frostbite Regatta, but the event was canceled for the first time since it began in 1992 because of bad weather. Kottman said she hopes to grow the size of the juniors team this winter before crews return to the water next spring.
Hopefully on afternoons as lovely as this, she said.
“Good job, guys, good job. Go ahead. Take a deep breath. Everybody takes a nice big, deep breath. Grab a drink. Good work by everyone.”
