Mary Ellen Cuneo (Haddon Township, N.J.) of Cooper Rowing Club started off as a die-hard rowing mom but never did she think that she would one day be the one in the boat.
"My son got involved in rowing his freshman year of high school at Haddon Township High School," said Cuneo. "They would need volunteers so I kind of started off as the tent mom then I started registering kids for the races and then I was in charge of fundraising…He went to college and continued to row and of course I went to them. I started to think 'hey I should really think about trying this out'."
After taking a learn-to-row course on the Cooper River, Cuneo took some lessons and decided to get serious about her new love for the sport. This year's regatta will be Cuneo's first Masters National Championships.
"It has been really exciting because I get really nervous when we race," said Cuneo. "I think since it is on our home river I have been slightly more confident."
Even though Cooper River's women's club c quadruple sculls didn't advance out of the heats, Cuneo and her crew were proud of their performance.
"I felt like we had a good race for us, and I am really proud of that."
Day one of the 2015 USRowing National Championships kicked off full of sunshine and exciting racing as over 2,000 athletes from across the country poured into Camden, N.J. for the largest USRowing event ever.
The women's c quad would later showcase the first photo finish final of the event as Upper Valley Rowing Foundation held off Baltimore Rowing Club by 0.229 seconds.
While racing may have been wrapping up for a few, the weekend was only just beginning for most athletes as masters rowers have the opportunity to compete in six events over the course of the weekend.
Greater Dayton Rowing Association's Ben Boehm (Dayton, Ohio) knows a thing or two about pacing himself for a long weekend of racing. Boehm, signed up for the max-six events for the regatta, started his weekend off with a finals-only race in the men's lightweight b single sculls.
Boehm, the 2014 Air Force Male Athlete of the Year, has been training all year to take home the hardware in Camden. Using the 2015 Club National Championships as a practice trial, the former college athlete follows a rigorous six-day training plan in preparation for the Masters event.
"Rowing is one of those sports that you can keep doing after you graduate," said Boehm. "It has been nice getting to continue this after college. When you think about the things that you learned in college and which of those things you really use everyday, an hour a day, those things are probably pretty few and far between."
Boehm would go on to just miss the top of the podium in his first race, as Cambridge Boat Club's Eric Lev was able to nudge his bow ball in front for a narrow 0.119 second victory margin.
In total, 61 finals were raced on Thursday afternoon. The 2015 USRowing Masters National Championships will continue on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. with heats in the mixed E four with coxswain.