May 5, 2008

Monika Mangsen remembers all those fun days she spent as a kid at her grandparents' house on Lake Quinsigamond, swimming, water skiing or just dangling her feet from the dock.

"I was always in the water as a kid," the personable Holy Cross sophomore said.

She also recalls being out on her grandfather's motor boat and stopping for rowing shells as they went by. The sight of the crews, pushing their oar blades against the water in harmony, fascinated the little girl.

"I'd watch the boats and be like, `What are they doing?' " Mangsen said, "and I'd always talk about it."

At the encouragement of her parents and her boyfriend, Mangsen decided to try it when she got to Holy Cross.

"And I absolutely love it," she said. "I'm so glad I went into it."

For Jen Toland's complete article from the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette click here.