You know the feeling. I know you do.

That rush of water and wind and adrenaline as your boat finds the run in lane three. Or lane four. Or lane one. It doesn’t matter which lane you’re in. You’re the cox, and you’re here to race. You’re here to win.

If you’re reading this, you know the feeling. And my hunch is that you love that feeling. That rush, the micro-movements your hands make on the rudder cable as the race speeds by. Those quick glances across the lanes that let you say, “We’re up two seats.”

I get chills just writing about it.

Maybe that’s why being a part of Coxing Magazine gives me those same chills, that same rush. Being a part of this community is what brings this magazine to life. It’s you, really, that has created this idea, these pages.

A group of writers, designers, photographers and artists are behind the magazine, but what’s more important is what’s in it. This issue is centered around two women who have led their teams to the finish lines of international and world-renowned races.

Jenny Sichel is a two-time World Champion silver medalist as the cox of the Paralympic mixed four (officially, the “LTAMix4+”). She focuses her coxing on the group of elite rowers that qualify as adaptive athletes. Her choice has taken her to international competitions and back. Now, she’s preparing for the try-outs for the Paralympic boat that will represent the United States in Rio de’Janeiro.

Rosemary Ostfeld is the coxswain of the Cambridge women’s crew that competed in The Boat Race on the Thames River this spring. Yes, that’s the one: the boat that was swamped while racing in the fastest–and most turbulent–part of the river, the Tideway. Her boat was trailing the Oxford boat; she chose to use the Tideway to help her crew gain an advantage. Risky? Maybe, but most choices we make to try to change something usually are.

Every choice we make paints the picture of who we are. I like the choices that represent change, in a practice, in a race, or in life. I like the choices we get to make as coxswains, including the ones that are risky.

Jen Whiting
Editor