SEATTLE — In 2016, Seattle Prep started up a rowing program. Less than a decade later, they're now one of the best high school crew teams in the nation.
"You wake up, it's still dark outside, go out to the dock at first it's still dark outside, you start that warm-up and then like you get in your boat and you start to see the sunrise," said Claire Rulyak.
"I just like how you can come to the boat house and be on the water and not worry about anything else. You can just focus on being here and going further with every stroke," said Natalia Peng.
"There's nothing quite like the feeling that you get within a boat. There's a glide to the hull, which is kind of an infectious feeling that everyone is searching for," Seattle Prep crew coach Tom Kellett added.
The sport of rowing takes strength, discipline, endurance, and balance.
"It's really important because balance it like cuts down the resistance on the water. So, it makes the boat go faster," said Peng.
A successful rowing team pulls in perfect balance with perfect timing.
"The more we row together, the more we get a sense of how the other one rows. "We row so much better together, and that balance really allows you to row much cleaner through the water," Rulyak said.
Seattle Prep juniors Claire Rulyak and Natalia Peng have formed a bond through balance.
They compete in the women's doubles skull.
"The double really comes down to partnership, you can have two really strong athletes in the double together, but if they're not connecting on a deeper level, the boat is not really going to go anywhere," says Kellett.
"When we have that mental connection, it makes it so much easier to match up our strokes, which is obviously very important, especially in a double. We really put the work in to get faster and stronger so we can move a boat," Rulyak said.
In two short years, they've become one of the top under-17 women's double skull teams in the country. Last season, Natalia and Claire won a regional title and then took 3rd at the national championships. It was the first women's medal ever won at nationals for Seattle Prep.
"There's like that moment of release, that kind of like we did its moment, so once we like crossed the finish line, were kind of like in shock for a while," says Peng.
Their hard work paid off. At Prep, they practice twice a day, but Natalia and Claire are not only balanced in the boat, they're also balanced in life.
Natalia has a 3.94 GPA, while Claire a 4.0 GPA. Claire is managing editor of the school newspaper and works with the Global Justice Coalition.
"We really work to educate our school and make our school more climate-friendly and also do things like beach cleanups and other things in our community," said Rulyak.
Natalia also loves to give back.
"I've been volunteering with Special Olympics for about five years now, which it's definitely my favorite organization to volunteer with," Peng said.
They're only 16, but they've already learned that balance will keep them afloat as they row after their dreams.
As a team, Seattle Prep won the regional championship last season.