Read Online Success at Silver Spires by Ann Bryant - Free Book Online Page B

her now, though, because all my friends had convinced me that I shouldn’t let myself be forced into anything I didn’t want to do.
    â€œJust tell Ryan you’re happier on your own,” Emily had reminded me firmly before she’d gone off to the stables. “Don’t even think about going in with Holly if you don’t want to, okay!”
    So, as the minibus drew up in the car park at Pollington Water I was all ready to tell Ryan that I’d prefer to stick with a single scull if that was all right.
    â€œAnyway, you never know, he might have completely forgotten about wanting you to go in a quad!” said Izzy, as we went to the boathouse to help carry the boats down to the water.
    But there was no chance of that.
    â€œDon’t worry, girls!” was the first thing Ryan said. “Ben and I have already got the quad scull down there, so you’ve managed to escape the hardest work!”
    â€œEr…excuse me, Ryan,” I began quietly, once we were outside the boathouse and no one else but Izzy could hear what I was saying, “would it be okay for me to stay in a single scull instead of going in the quad?”
    â€œWhat?” he said, pretending to be horrified. “No way! I want my students making progress not standing still! Keeping in time with other rowers is the next step, and you’re someone with big potential, Sasha! You’ll enjoy it, you know! It’s a great feeling when you’re part of a team all managing to keep together!”
    So I just had to accept it. Izzy gave me a sympathetic smile as she stepped into a single with Celia’s help. I so envied Izzy at that moment but I was trying to hang on to what Ryan had said. Maybe I would enjoy it more than I thought. Maybe Holly would forget about being competitive with me once there were three other girls in the boat, but that seemed a little unlikely.
    To start with we had to go to a room in the clubhouse where there was a rowing machine.
    â€œOkay, girls,” Ryan began, when the five of us were gathered around him. “Now, as I started to explain at the end of the last session, the cox is the person who gives instructions to the rowers. She sits in the stern of the boat. And because she can see ahead and the scullers can’t, it’s the cox’s job to keep the crew rowing in time with each other, to steer them, and generally to encourage them. So let’s get used to that before we go down and try it for real.”
    While we each took turns on the rowing machine, Ryan called out instructions as though he was the cox, then we all had a go at giving the commands. Because there was so much to remember, and I was concentrating as hard as I could, I didn’t have time to think about Holly. The only slightly awkward moment was when it was her turn on the machine and I had to shout commands to her. I couldn’t bring myself to shout, and Ryan said I had to be more assertive. I noticed as she got off the machine she exchanged a look with Mikki, which made me feel a bit hurt, because it was obvious the others saw it too.
    After we got the hang of the basics Ryan explained that, if we were in a race, we’d have to start off with shorter strokes to get the boat moving. The technical names for them are “half” and “three quarters”, and they tell us how long a stroke to take. Then we’d change to longer strokes, which is called “striding”, otherwise we’d get exhausted.
    Ryan led us down to the landing stage, where the quad was waiting for us.
    â€œThis is where the cox sits. You’ll notice it’s much lower down than the rowers’ seats. Now, in a quad scull, the cox steers by moving these toggles.” Ryan held one in each hand and showed us how the wires attached to them made the rudder turn, which turned the boat. This seat here –” Ryan pointed to the seat nearest to the cox’s seat – “is the number