For senior rower Grant Veurink and freshman Stephen Kaelin, this year of disappointments and challenges paid off this weekend on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia at the Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta. In 2019, Veurink and partner Emanuel Mouganis pulled off a silver medal at Dad Vail, putting them in position to claim the second fastest collegiate double in the US prior to lockdown. 

Saturday's version of Dad Vail was about half the size of previous years, but all the big contenders remained, as well as a few newcomers. The original field of 9 (at the time of entry closure) was whittled down to 5 remaining crews by Saturday morning. Thanks to the 2019 performance, Gordon was issued a middle lane, shared with URI, who faced off against the Scots in an earlier season scrimmage down on the Narrow River. 

Veurink and Kaelin didn't lead off the start, but worked their way to a first place position through the middle thousand. Coming under the flags at 500, they held a lead against Rhode Island, while Franklin and Marshall, Wichita and Merchant Marines battled for the bronze behind them. Rhode Island began their signature sprint early, and it looked briefly like it might just get the job done, until Kaelin raised the rate to a 40 and brought the pair across the line with a 2.6 second lead over Rhode Island. 

This marks the first Dad Vail gold for Gordon, and earns Kaelin and Veurink the title of National Champions in the collegiate 2x by default. There is no other national opportunity for varsity rowing programs to challenge that event, as the IRA doesn't run a men's 2x and the ACRA championships exclude all varsity programs and only contest club championships (and will not be running in 2021 due to the pandemic). Dad Vail has long been recognized as a national championship for categories in Men's rowing that don't get challenged at IRA, and the significance of this feat is not lost on either of these athletes. 

Veurink looked back on a year of blind faith and training in uncertainty with gratitude—"I think this win really sums up the resilience this team has shown over this year snd our refusal to be complacent in a time of great uncertainty." For Kaelin, being a freshman in a year without racing added to the uncertainty of wondering just how strong an athlete he actually was, but he says Vail changed all that. "There's been a lot of days where I questioned myself and wanted to give up, but being able to cross the finish line in front silenced all those doubts."

The mantra in training at the boathouse from April 2020 to this spring has been one of faith in a future of racing, one that athletes were unable to see until April of 2021. Despite that, the team has rallied remarkably and driven home a culture of dedication and consistency, and has learned to lean more and more on the promises of a God who loves us and has created us for His glory. Veurink leaned hard into that sentiment on Saturday, encouraging teammates and coaches to see God's provision in these medals and this victory: "[Dad Vail gold] is a humbling and glaring reminder of how faithful God has been to our team throughout this past year in ways we are just now realizing."

Veurink will walk in Commencement on Saturday, graduating with a degree in Finance, and will complete his Masters in Financial Analysis at Gordon by the end of the summer. Both Kaelin and Veurink join the other members of the lightweight men's team at Gordon's IRA camp starting Wednesday, where they will continue their season and spend 2 weeks preparing a men's straight four to contest the national title at the IRA in Mercer, NJ. 

Soli Deo Gloria—to God Alone be the Glory. 

The video of the win and Gordon's sprint against URI is available on the Dad Vail website.