Row, row, row your boat

Until she hops in a boat for the first time, there's no way to be certain whether Ciera Ginyard will succeed at rowing.

But given her athleticism and competitive drive, Clemson was willing to take a chance on her.

The recent North Gaston graduate plans to leave Sunday and join the Tigers, whose rowing coaches took a gamble that she'll quickly pick up a sport she's never tried. They offered her a partial scholarship that she can increase in value if all goes well.

"A lot of the girls that turn out to be great rowers were something else before they got here," said Sarah Donaldson, Clemson's novice assistant coach and the one who recruited Ginyard.

That's certainly the case for Ginyard.

She played basketball and ran track in high school, and always thought the latter would be her ticket to college. Although she'll play neither of those sports collegiately, her experience in them should help as she attempts her new activity.

"The way they explained it to me, rowing is kind of like running," Ginyard said. "You've got to use your whole body to row. It's the same thing. You're just sitting down."

A typical rower stands anywhere from 6-foot-1 to 6-foot-3 and weighs in the 170-180-pound range. Ginyard, at 5-foot-6, 135 pounds, is much smaller, but she's as strong as an ox. Her strength-to-weight ratio is likely what appealed to the Clemson coaches the most.

One of the first things she'll learn is how to properly carry a boat, which typically measures 60 feet long and weighs 200 pounds.

Ginyard is confident she'll enjoy rowing because she likes all kinds of sports. From darts to kick ball to bowling to fishing, if it involves competition, she's into it.

"Me and my brother have competitions to see who can get to the refrigerator faster," she said.

Ginyard's opportunity arose in November when North Gaston basketball coach Jamie Anderson received a letter from Clemson coaches in search of superior athletes. Ginyard was the first person that came to mind.

"She's just gifted," Anderson said. "I've been around some good athletes in my 30 years of coaching and physically speaking, Ciera is a pure athlete."

Anderson called the Clemson coaches within a few days and the ball started rolling from there. Until then, Ginyard had never even heard of rowing.

Ginyard's path to an athletic scholarship isn't as unusual as it would appear. Of the 60 to 70 athletes on the Clemson roster, about 60 percent never rowed before joining the team, Donaldson estimated. One of Clemson's most successful rowers last year had a dancing background. Another was a former volleyball player. She says it's easier to teach a rookie than to undo the bad habits of an experienced rower.

Before Clemson came calling, Ginyard had been drawing recruiting interest from college track coaches. Western Carolina, Maryland Eastern Shore, South Carolina and East Carolina spoke with her AAU track coach. Gardner-Webb, the U.S. Naval Academy, Liberty and Louisville also pursued her, she said.

Freddie Crawford, Ginyard's AAU track coach, was surprised when he first learned Clemson recruited her as a rower.

"But once I heard from the rowing coach, (I knew) she has what he needs," Crawford said. "She's a tough athlete that can learn, and that's what he's looking for."

Ginyard can't remember not being a good athlete. Even when she played in the powder puff football game as a high school freshman, she scored her team's only touchdown.

"I came out of the womb playing sports," she said. "When I was a baby, they gave me a baby basketball and I was throwing it in a basket."

She eventually established herself as one of Gaston County's top high school athletes, particularly in track.

She holds the Gaston County Championship meet record in the 400 meters with a time of 59.37 seconds. She also holds Big South Conference Meet records in the discus (127 feet, 8 inches) and 400 meters (58.78 seconds), and her 800-meter relay team set the conference meet record this past season with a time of 1:46.16.

Now, it's time for a new challenge.