For ten intense weeks this spring, dozens of Norwich teenagers and their parents will wake up on weekday mornings in the pitch dark. They will drive down a deserted Main Street and cross the Connecticut River, making a sharp left turn after the Ledyard Bridge into a parking lot. By 4:45 a.m., at its far end, in front of Dartmouth College’s Fuller Boathouse, preparations for a Hanover High School rowing team practice will already be in full swing.

On a typical morning, the program’s six coaches will confer with assistant coaches, myself included, about the day’s planned workout. All of us, bundled in heavy one-piece suits against the cold, will be looking out for the nine students assigned to each boat—eight who row and one, the coxswain, who steers and motivates the rest of the crew.