Every photo has a story, of course, and a photo of a winning eight has at least nine, but at this year's Youth Nationals, the hug between the Marin JV coxswain and stroke had a lot more than a good race, a good season, or even the fact that the pair had just won their second Youth Nats title in a row behind it.

Instead, that moment between Murphy Stearns and Will McMahon was literally decades in the making, going all the way back to a freshmen dorm at Northwestern University. That's when the future mom of the coxswain, Shannon Morgan Stearns, first met her new roommate: the future mom of the stroke, Kristin Konz McMahon. The two became life-long friends, introducing their sons to each other when they came along.

The first time Murphy met Will (photo thanks to Kristin McMahon)

Add in, eventually, a dad who rowed at Yale--Steve McMahon--and two older brothers each, who started rowing ahead of them at North Bay and Marin, respectively, plus Murphy's decision, once he had a driver's license, to start commuting to Marin to row with Will, and the two have been inseparable in the stern essentially ever since--and winning.

"Pretty much every boat we've been in together, we've won," says Murphy, laughing, "and the times that coaches have separated us in boats, both boats have lost."

Murphy and Will, all grown up (photo thanks to Kristin McMahon)

Growing up, the two only saw each other about once a year, but once Will's family relocated to California from North Carolina seven years ago, they wound up living only about thirty minutes apart.

They did get started in rowing on their own, with Will following his brother into the sport at Marin and Murphy starting out as a coxswain closer to home in Petaluma, with the North Bay Rowing Club where his brother rowed. The families talked a little about having them row together at Marin, but it was not until after COVID, when the North Bay team was too small to need a coxswain, that Murphy made the switch--and having gotten old enough to drive himself by them was a big help. Then came two years of Murphy staying overnight at Will's on Fridays and for race weekends.

Their first race together was a scrimmage against Oakland Strokes, and that was a win. Turns out that is pretty easy to pin down, thanks to the detailed spreadsheet Murphy keeps of all his races---times and splits included--and uses to help make race plans.

After winning YNats the first time, in 2022

Paired in the stern, Murphy and Will have won the JV 8 at Youth Nationals and the San Diego Crew Classic twice, in 2022 and 2023, as well as the Southwest Youth Regional in 2022. Oakland Strokes just edged them out at the SWYR this year, but a few adjustments later, the two won their final race together at Youth Nationals.

Up until Southwests this year, according to Will, their crew could win a lot of races of the start.

"We could get out and stay out," says Will, "but this year we had to change up our race plan a little, partially because of how fast a lot of JVs are this year.

San Diego Crew Classic, 2022

"At Natoma, the Oakland JV was the same time as the Marin 1V was last year, in the same conditions. So we decided we had to be a bit slower in the first 500 meters, and then start to move on other crews."

"I just like looking at HereNow for as long as I can, trying to compare our times," says Murphy, who mentioned that both he and Will study the split times, and his spreadsheet, "because I have to be able to know where the other crews are going to be off the start."

Feeling the boat nail that controlled start and strong move through the field at base in the semi at Youth Nationals turns out to be their favorite race together.

Racing that Semi at the 2023 Youth Nationals

"The racing feels a lot more real," says Will about staying in the pack during the first 500: "When you're way up ahead, you just feel disconnected."

"I think we executed in the semi and [then] the final some of the best race pieces we've ever done. In the final we were down in length and we just kind of stayed really internal and moved through."

Of course, it may have also just been the lucky potato:

"As a good luck charm Murphy always brings a 'lucky potato' into the boat for every race," Will tells row2k.

"We have a tradition in the warmup where we all kiss the potato after it has been 'baptized' in the race water. Funny enough, we have never lost when Murphy was able to select the lucky potato at the store."

In fact, Lucky Potato Coxing has its own YouTube channel, which you can visit if you want to hear how Murphy coxed Will, a mere 17 years or so after they first met, to that final win in Sarasota.

Both were seniors this year, and Will is headed to Purdue to study aeronautical engineering while Murphy will stay closer to home at a junior college and do a year of masters coxing and a bit of coaching before heading to college himself--and he already has spots on the spreadsheet for how those masters crews might do this fall.

With the trophy, again: Will second from left, Murphy in the middle, with trophy, and the whole Marin JV eight.