When Barbara Cheng watched Sarah Zelenka and Sara Hendershot row their way into the 2012 Olympics the other day, she couldn't help but think of her daughter Katherine.
Zelenka and Hendershot had fallen a full boat length behind in the women's pair event, but then overtook five-time national team members Jamie Redman and Amanda Polk in the final 300 meters.
As a member of the Atlanta Junior Rowing Association, Katherine had been there. More than once.
"Being a lightweight, she often rows against the odds," Cheng said.
When Zelenka and Hendershot crossed the finish line, Cheng, a Marietta mother of three, nearly shouted.
"I loved how they pull ahead in the end," she said. "I'll definitely be cheering them on July 28 -- probably jumping up and down in my living room just like I usually do."
July 28 is the day the pair will compete in the first heat in London. It is also the day the Atlanta Junior Rowing Association will mark its 25th anniversary.
Although rowing is still little known in the South, Cheng and other AJRA members say it's popularity in metro Atlanta rivals that in northeastern states where rowers have been racing for nearly 150 years. The club is one of at least three in metro Atlanta, including the St. Andrews and Atlanta Rowing clubs.
Since the AJRA was founded in 1988, its membership has grown from 35 to nearly 200 middle and high school students. An additional 200 kids participate each summer in its Learn-To- Row camp.
The sport is also popular at Georgia Tech, Emory, and Georgia State.
"Between spring and fall, it's pretty hard not to see an eight, a four, or a two boat somewhere on the Chattahoochee," Cheng said.
John Pearson, who grew up in Marietta, remembers seeing the boats and having no idea what was happening. "I went through high school without ever hearing about rowing," Pearson said recently as he talked about the sport with Cheng and fellow AJRA board member Jean Veeneman of Johns Creek.
That changed, he said, the day he stepped off a bus at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., in 1998.
A coach stationed there to greet incoming freshman spotted Pearson. At over 6 feet, Pearson had the long arms that serve rowers well. He walked on the team that fall as a novice, and within three years he was competing in the U.S. and England against some of the best programs in the world.
When he returned to Atlanta after college, he was named AJRA's coach, a position he held nearly 10 years. He stopped coaching and became a member of the board of directors.
"After seeing the difference rowing made in my life, I wanted to help give kids the opportunity to have the same experience," Pearson said. "I get to see firsthand the confidence and determination that this sports teaches kids."
Jean Veeneman agrees.
The 58-year-old mother of two happened upon a newspaper article about AJRA one day while looking for an extra-curricular activity for her daughter, who'd grown tired of soccer, softball and swimming.
"I didn't like that I had a 14-year-old sitting around doing nothing," Veeneman said. "I gave her an ultimatum: Find something else to do or we're going rowing." Soon after, they attended a meeting and signed up.
Like many other AJRA rowers, Veeneman's daughter, Jessica, went on to row in college, earning a full scholarship at the University of Central Florida, where she graduated in 2009.
Jean Veeneman, who participates each year in a parents class the club offers, said AJRA made such a difference in her children's lives she wanted to give back.
"It helped them set goals, gave them discipline and camaraderie," she said.
Katherine Cheng, 17, said the first two days were "really bad" as she tried to learn a sport that was totally new and physically demanding.
On day three, however, she was singing its praises. "This is the best," she told her parents.
The rising Pope High School senior said rowing is mostly about being responsible, working as a team and learning to face challenges without fear.
"The most important thing is that everyone in your boat has worked just as hard as you have to be in that race, and they all want it just as much as you do," she said. "There is nothing better than feeling on top of the world after winning a race with your boat ... or accomplishing a team goal."
According to Pearson, well over 50 percent of the students who stick with the sport through their senior year are recruited to some of the nation's top colleges, including Yale, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania.
It's not inconceivable, he said, to think they will compete one day in the Olympics, but for now, they're happy to cheer on team USA.
"Our kids love watching rowing, " he said. "It's one of the rare instances when their friends get to watch what they do. Plus our rowers feel connected to the Olympics because they have met some of the people who have either tried out for or competed in the games."
Watching the Olympics, Katherine Cheng said, is inspiring and encouraging."I can't even imagine what it would feel like to race in the Olympics." But she can hope.
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