Brynn Munday, Jan. 3

Editor's Note: Gig Harbor Patch's "Diary of a Paddler" column allows athletes from the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team to share their stories. Brynn Munday recently switched from flatwater sprint kayaking to rowing. .

Itʼs amazing how much you can fit in over the course of a year.

2011 was one of the most action-packed adventures Iʼve embarked on over the course of my life. I rose from a freshman in high school to a sophomore, received my driving permit, was a member of the USA Olympic Development Team, trained in Lake Placid New York, beat the Canadians in the mens K4 2000 meters at the Lake Placid International Regatta, medaled several times in the USA Flatwater Sprint Canoe/Kayak National Championships, and was chosen to represent the USA at the Olympic Hope International Regatta in Poland. But somehow, the most memorable event that changed my outlook on life was stepping out of the spotlight of kayaking and learning to row.

As I walked into The Pocock Rowing Center, I was awestruck, gawking at everything from the long line of rowing machines (ergometers, called “ergs” in rowing slang) to the professional grade weight room (this was before I was taken to the boat bay which houses over two million dollars worth of boats).

Needless to say, the Rowing Center wasnʼt what I was used to. I came from a small kayak team that only has a 5-by-15 foot shack, with the teamʼs boats carefully placed on shaky old racks outside, falling victim to UV damage and surrounded by chain link fence. Although despite the teamʼs humble location, my former coach Alan Anderson has managed to produce some of the fastest junior sprint kayakers in the Nation. But we had to train on our own once we got to the junior level in sprint kayak.

The team experience became more of an individual endeavor. The aspect of rowing that really caught me off guard was the sense of a tightly knit team, a brothership of sorts I guess; you are a part of something much bigger than ourself every time you walk through the front door at Pocock.

Rowing is a sport with a long, prestigious history and a very large following in this country. That feeling is galvanizing and has given me a new sense of self.

Since joining the Center, Iʼve made a few friends, pushed myself past old mental and physical limits, and have started taking my academics very seriously. I am experiencing a new level of athletic intensity at the Center. My colleagues often work themselves so hard they vomit, and this is almost a weekly occurrence.

Recently during a test piece on the ergs, three of the junior athletes were sick after finishing, and they didn't even set personal records. Although I have never puked during a workout, test pieces on the ergs usually take me to a distant, oxygen deprived place that isn't pleasant. During these pieces, it is common to doubt your ability to finish them. That to me is the value of racing sports.

It is like going to war with yourself. And through those battles, you begin to understand yourself better, and life becomes more manageable. I donʼt mean to get philosophical, but itʼs true. I am thankful for the opportunity to switch to the sport of rowing, and even more exited about where it can take me in the future, because my journey is far from over yet.