Andrea Mueller’s dreams end and reality hits her with the pains she feels in her neck, back, arms and legs.

It’s 5:15 a.m., and her alarm clock just shot her out of bed. The routine has become just that – a routine. Back during freshman year, Mueller struggled popping out of bed so early.

But now she’s a junior. And if Mueller oversleeps, Coach Kris Sanford forces her to watch as 33 of her rowing teammates do 100 squats in front of her, and for each one, Mueller shouts how many they’ve done. You don’t win friends that way. So, Mueller has never been late in her two-plus years at Syracuse University, despite the aches her routine constantly awards her.

Mueller is one of 60 competitors on the SU varsity rowing team. Her days revolve around it. And that’s how it’s been for the past seven years of her life.

In the Head of the Charles race in Boston on Oct. 24, Mueller sat in the seventh seat as SU finished 13th out of 42 teams, which included Ivy League schools (the elite of the rowing community) and a U.S. and Canadian National Team.

‘It was unbelievable for us to finish that well,’ Mueller said.

But today, Mueller isn’t worried about her past. Now she is just worried about arriving at practice on time. She lined her rowing clothes out last night, so they are ready for her.

It’s a Monday, so Mueller drives to Lake Onondaga’s James A. Ten Eyck Memorial Boathouse. Her coaches and teammates are waiting for her. So are those aches and pains.

Her only hope is to stretch them out. Because in 20 minutes, she’ll be right back on the boat, tightening them back up.

Mueller started rowing as a freshman in high school. Her two older siblings rowed, so she did, too. Her seven-years-elder brother, Brent, and two-years-elder sister, Brenda, rowed at the University of California-Santa Barbara and the University of Washington, respectively. Neither of her parents rowed. Brent’s friend on the soccer team rowed, so he tried it. His two younger siblings followed suit.

Mueller was a member of the 2001 West Development Camp team, which finished first at the U.S. Rowing Championship. Her boat finished second at the Girl’s Junior Rowing National Championship in Cincinnati.

It landed her three offers — Washington, UCSB and Syracuse. SU offered her partial academic scholarship and partial athletic scholarship — a full ride. She chose SU.

At 6:45 a.m., she’s on a boat doing pieces, a rowing exercise in which athletes push as hard as they can for a limited period of time, usually about 10 minutes. Mueller struggles to gain balance in her legs and remembers why.

Nine years ago, Brent invited all his rowing buddies over for a party. Mueller and Brent jumped up and down in their backyard trampoline. Suddenly, Brenda heard a scream. Brent carried Mueller to the car. One of his rowing buddies drove her to the hospital.

Brent landed on Mueller’s right ankle and broke it in two. He shattered her growth plate. The surgeon inserted screws into Mueller’s ankle. Her black-belt karate and all-star soccer careers screeched to a halt.

The last three months of seventh grade, Mueller was home-schooled. With other sports on hold, her transition to rowing became easier.

Now, her left leg is about one inch longer than her right leg.

She wears a brace to even it out and rows on. As a freshman, she nearly fell asleep rowing. Now she enjoys it, and the time flies by. By 8 she’s back at her car and driving to her 8:30 public relations class. No shower. She’s the self-proclaimed smelly kid.

Then she has another class before heading to Manley Field House for weight training. Mueller is 5 feet 10 inches, no more than 140 pounds, an Olive Oyl-type body. She bench presses 130 pounds. That’s among the weakest on the team.

Mueller enjoys a three-mile fun run by 2:30 p.m. and finally showers by 3. Two more classes fill her schedule. By 7 p.m., she returns home.

‘She has a great balance of doing rowing and all the other things,’ said Erin McLaughlin, Mueller’s friend. ‘It’s tough when you’re a PR major. You need to network and go to seminars. But she does it very well.’

Mueller is too wiped to feel the aches and pains echo in her body.

But she’s not worried. In six-and-a-half hours, the aches will return. And she won’t mind a bit.

Published on November 10, 2004 at 12:00 pm