Success at Silver Spires by Ann Bryant Page B

rushed ahead of me to the boathouse, and by the time I got there Ben had come out and was heading off towards the lake.
    â€œHi, Sasha,” he called. “Holly needs a hand with taking the boat down to the landing stage. Ryan’s waiting for you.”
    When I saw the boat that Holly was standing beside, the thrill I got was just as great as when I’d seen it in the lake at the end of the last session. At least I thought this was the same boat. It was difficult to tell, because there were quite a few in the boathouse that looked the same.
    Holly and I didn’t speak to each other at all as we carried the boat down to the lakeside, where Ryan was helping some boys who looked like beginners.
    â€œWell done,” said Ryan, scarcely looking at us. He broke off what he was doing with the boys for just a few seconds to ease our boat into the water, then called out to Ben to take over with the boys so he could work with me and Holly.
    â€œNo shoes this time, girls,” he began, “because there are fixed shoes attached to the bottom of the boat.” As we bent down to take our trainers off, Ryan carried on talking. “There are just the two positions, bow and stroke. And there’s no rudder, so it’ll be up to the person at bow to be responsible for steering and telling the one at stroke where to go.”
    â€œWhich position needs the stronger sculler?” asked Holly.
    â€œThey’re pretty much the same,” said Ryan, “but the person at bow has a bit more responsibility.”
    We did up the gates on the landing-stage side, then Ryan told me to get into the boat while Holly held on to it. “That’s right, Sasha, you’re at bow. Now do up your other gate.”
    Next I held on to the landing stage while Holly got in at stroke, and did up her gate.
    It felt funny pushing my feet into the shoes that were attached to a metal plate, when we were used to just having a Velcro strap to stick over our own shoes in the stable sculls. I was wondering if I’d be able to get my feet out if we lost our balance and fell in, but then I’d managed all right during the capsize drill, so…
    Ryan must have seen me looking anxious. “The heels have a thin stringy strap keeping them attached to the boat, so don’t worry, you’ll be able to whip your feet out quickly if you do happen to capsize.” He gave us both a big grin. “But there’s no way that’s going to happen, two old hands like you two.”
    â€œNow, Sasha,” he went on, “I want you just to rest your hands on the blades but don’t paddle at all, then you’ll be acting as a stabilizer for the scull. Holly, you start to paddle gently to get the feel of how light the scull is… That’s right, gently does it. Don’t paddle at all with the left blade…good… Now ease round so you’re lined up ready to go straight back. Sasha, turn round from time to time to check the direction, and tell Holly if she needs to pull harder on one side to steer.”
    I was so relieved that Ryan was staying with us, because it felt really scary to be in charge of such a fine scull. But the other reason it was good to have him close by was because I was so nervous about being on my own with Holly.
    Once she’d been practising for a little time it was my turn to paddle, while she stayed perfectly still. As soon as I began, it was the best feeling I’d had since I’d first realized I could scull. This scull was altogether different from the stable ones and after this I knew I’d never want to go back to a stable one again. It’s hard to explain, but I almost felt I was a part of this boat, and trying not to wobble was the best challenge in the world.
    I had a good long go and then we each had one more shorter turn before Ryan said we were ready to start working as a team. We had to use just our arms at first and then gradually increase the stroke