Junior Leah Miller, sophomore Maddy Doyle participate on the Kansas City Rowing Club | by CASSIE REDLINGSHAFER

For two STA students rowing practice is more than an intense workout, it is a date night.  Junior Leah Miller and sophomore Maddie Doyle have boyfriends on the Kansas City Rowing Club team and find that rowing has helped strengthen their relationships.

KCRC is a competitive rowing club in the Kansas City Metropolitan. According to Miller, the club travels as a team and has either practice at Wyandotte County Lake or has conditioning training every day after school. The club was very successful last season. Rockhurst High School juniors and KCRC rowers Kevin McNamara and Nick Massey recieved sixth place at nationals last year. McNamara is the team captain and Miller’s boyfriend and Massey is Doyle’s boyfriend.

‘[Our relationship has become stronger],” McNamara said. ‘Spending that much time together would strengthen any kind of relationship.’

According to McNamara, he and Miller have dated since April, after he convinced her to start rowing.

‘At first, I really blew [rowing] off,’ Miller said. ‘Then one day I said, ‘ËœHey, I’m going to do rowing today.”

Although Miller originally thought of rowing as cross training for swimming, she and McNamara grew closer after she began rowing and they soon started dating.

Doyle and Massey, met in the fall of last year at an end-of-the-season rowing party. Rowers and their families attended the party, so Doyle went because her sister, alumna Haley Doyle, participated on the same team as Massey. The two did not start dating until after Maddie started rowing in early June.

Maddie believes that rowing helped her and Massey become closer because through rowing they came to hang out in the same friend group, which was composed of rowers. However, Massey disagrees.

‘Rowing hasn’t really made [Maddie and I] closer,’ Massey said. ‘[Maddie and I] were already good friends before she started rowing so I don’t think anything has really changed.’

According to Maddie, nothing changed at practice once she and Massey began dating.

‘[Once we started dating] we definitely didn’t act like boyfriend/girlfriend during practice,’ Doyle said. ‘We just didn’t act any differently.’

McNamara and Miller say they also do not act like a couple during practice.

‘Our coaches actually commented that half the time they think Leah and I have broken up because we don’t act like we are dating [during practice],’ McNamara said. ‘We try to [act like we are not dating] during practice because it’s easier that way, we can just focus on rowing.’