Emily Cleveland coxed the Yale women to gold in the varsity eight final at the 2007 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn. She was named to the 2007 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association first-team all-region and the NCAA Division I Pocock All-America team . Cleveland recently graduated from Yale with French and art history degrees and currently lives in Monrovia, Liberia.

Describe your past season. What was it like finishing out your senior year with a national championship?

This past year truly was a magical season. Even at the beginning of the year, there was something special about the team--an almost tangible sense of purpose. I think that started to a large extent with the junior and senior classes, both of which were small (six and four people respectively). We stated very early in the season three explicit goals: an undefeated dual racing season, winning the Eastern Sprints and winning the National Championship. Putting everything on the table like that, and keeping it in the front of our minds throughout the eight months leading up to the NCAAs, made those goals more real and gave everything we did a clear sense of purpose.

Crossing the line, and the 10 or so minutes afterwards, was one of the absolute happiest moments of my life. My teammates and I had worked so hard for four years towards that common goal - winning a national championship - that it was almost unbelievable actually to have done it. The nine of us in that boat worked together incredibly well all season. We spent so much time together on the water, at the boathouse, and just hanging out on campus, that we already had created lifelong friendships. Winning the championship, though, created a bond between us that is so special and really unique. It's something that will tie us together forever.

What were some of the feelings of your crew leading up to the weekend?

The team mindset going into NCAA’s this year was very positive. My boat was really excited to have the opportunity to race at the championships, and we felt that we'd picked up some speed since the Sprints. We were also excited to face off against USC, who had been ranked ahead of us all season. We felt confident if we performed up to our capabilities we would win it all, but we also welcomed the challenge we knew would come from crews we had yet to see during the regular season. 

After winning the heat and semifinal, what was your racing strategy going into the final? How did your crew maintain focus?

When we got to Oak Ridge and started practicing, we kept to the routine we had established throughout the year. Rowers' heads stayed in the boat and focused all the time, unless I asked them to look at their blades or to glance around at landmarks. We made a clear effort to stay true to what we'd done up to that point. We did the same drills, the same speed work, etc., and basically focused on just doing what we do.

The same was true for racing - to the greatest extent possible, all heads stayed in the boat the entire way down the course. Except for Rachel (our stroke) and me, we decided that no one should be looking out of the boat or thinking about other crews. That strategy worked really well for us in that it kept us focused on making our boat go as fast as we could go, rather than allowing us to focus on beating other crews. There's no defense in rowing, you can't slow anyone else down. We focused almost exclusively on our own hull speed.

By the time we got to the line for the final, we'd already sat at the starting gate twice, and people were focused but really pretty relaxed. Our "strategy," if you can call it that, was always to be very fast off the line, have a blazing middle thousand, and close with a serious punch at the end of our piece. That didn't work out quite the way we'd planned and practiced. We had a bobble in the fifth stroke off the line that almost turned into a crab, but everyone immediately ratcheted up the focus for the next stroke and recommitted to getting our bow out front.

From there it was game on, and we attacked the piece like every other 2k we rowed all season. Each time a crew began to move on us, we'd focus in on what we were doing and press back out front. I think the best word I've come up with for the feeling in the boat, from bow to stern, is unrelenting. Everyone was keyed-in on the person in front of them; everyone understood and followed the race plan and listened to my voice. We had talked about winning for so long, and we'd had so much success throughout the season, that I'm not sure we ever considered not winning. At each point in the race I felt like we were right where we needed to be, right within striking distance. When Ohio State started to push hard in the third 500 meters and early in the last 500 meters, I called our last five at base, everyone focused in. The boat surged underneath me on the first stroke of our sprint. Right there, I knew we had it.

You have experienced a lot of success in the sport throughout your college career. Does rowing have a place in your future?

I learned so much over the course of four years from my teammates and coaches. The lessons learned from rowing about communication, leadership, and motivation have already proven useful outside the athletic sphere, and I am sure I will continue to see the positive effects of being a scholar-athlete throughout my life.

What are your post-graduation career plans?

Right now I'm working for the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative in Monrovia, Liberia. I'll be here through August 2008, when I'll come back to the States to start medical school.