Phil Bresnahan at the L.U. Crew Banquet, 3/3/07  

   
            For those of you who have ever sat in front of or behind me during a race, you have probably heard me say, “NO REGRETS” just before pulling up to the starting line.  Those two words probably mean more to me than anything else in this sport.  I’ve always wondered how and when I would have the opportunity to say them to the rest of my teammates and talk about what they mean to me, so I thought tonight would be a good opportunity. 

            Everyone who has raced at least once has tried to give every ounce of energy to the water, to push his or her body to the absolute limits.  I think that’s the easy part.  When you see another boat in the corner of your eye trying to push past you with 750 meters left and you hear your coxswain yelling at the top of his or her lungs, you don’t even have a choice.  You know that you have to donate your body to the last eighty strokes of that race.  But that’s easy. 

            To me, “NO REGRETS” means something more, something more than finishing a race knowing that you have no energy left in your body.  That’s certainly part of it, but it’s much deeper than that.  It means crossing the finish line without any doubt in your mind that you did everything possible since the day that you were born in order to win that race.  Looking back, there is not one single thing that you would have done differently over the course of your life in order to change the outcome of that race.  Of course, the successes – every time that you finished the first thousand meters of your 2k erg test and began to wonder if your body was going to survive the second half of the piece, reminded yourself that this pain was exactly what you were supposed to be feeling, then just pushed harder – those trials were designed to prepare you for your next battle.  Even the failures, the mistakes, the hurdles – they were placed there specifically so that you would learn something about yourself and the next time you would know that you were ready to race. 

            “NO REGRETS” means this week... When the other fourteen people who typically live on your hall are partying in Cancún, or even just at home relaxing.  Everyone who is here tonight has given a tremendous amount to this team, and for that, I thank you.  But in this spring season that began this morning, I would like to ask for a little bit more from each of you.  I would like for you to tweak your attitude about this team, this family.  Tonight isn’t about looking back, it’s about looking forward.

            It is time for us to stop chasing the fastest teams that we race and realize that we are the fastest team that we race.  I’m tired of hearing people tell me to stay with Marietta for as long as I can, then just try to hold on to second place.  From this day forward, last year’s gold medal crews are going to have to start working a little harder if they want to keep up with us.  If we CHALLENGE ourselves to take every single stroke of every single piece remembering that there is another boat on the water in a different part of the country trying to catch up to us, I guarantee you that they won’t be able to.  I am not speaking only to the rowers; I’m speaking to all those who built this team, from the founders of ’88, to our coaches and our parents.  It is time for us to start leading the chase.  I want to see who thinks that they can beat Lehigh University this year.  It is time to start having NO REGRETS.