Erin Robertson may be the only First Team All-American who's taking an independent study this summer in a molecular genetics laboratory. But it's not something she'll just mention. Just hours after finding out she'd received the All-American nod, Robertson, 22, didn't even bring it up during a phone conversation. It was her father, Jay, who shared the information. And in the background, she yelled, "Daaaaaaad!"
    "My dad, he loves to brag," she said when asked about the All-American designation. "I was pretty surprised. It's a big honor. I had no idea it was coming. I don't really know how it works. I guess the coaches nominate you, and I don't really know who votes on it. But it's pretty, I don't know, pretty cool."
    It's not the first accolade she's received for her rowing prowess at Michigan State University, only the most recent. In early May, she was named Big Ten Women's Rowing Athlete of the Year to go along with being named First Team All-Conference and First Team All-Region. "I'm pretty happy about all that, but rowing is such a team sport. It's so hard to recognize one individual. If we're not all working together, we don't win."
    Robertson and her MSU teammates won the Big Ten Championship for the first time in school history in what "was and wasn't a surprise. We wanted it bad. So it wasn't a surprise to us. It was more of a surprise to the other teams."
    Becoming an accomplished rower was a surprise to Erin Robertson. As a volleyball and basketball player at Middleville High School, her coaches got letters from MSU seeking good athletes for their rowing program. "Their coach (at the time, Stacey Rippetoe) came to one of my track meets and encouraged me. So I figured I might as well try it."
    As a freshman, she started out on the novice team. "At first it was really crazy. It was the most awkward thing I've ever done," she said. "You've got your feet strapped in Velcro on the bottom of the boat, and it's tipping side to side and you can't really move. It's kind of scary." But she learned quickly and soon was on the varsity.
    For the last two years, she sat in the seven-seat, helping to keep the rhythm of the team. The coxswain is the only one who can see where the team is going. The eight-seat, also known as the stroke seat, is on the port side and is closest to the coxswain. Robertson sat on the starboard side right behind the stroke seat, "and I just followed everything she does." The middle four seats are "the power seats, and their main job is to pull." And the bow seats generally employ rowers "with good technique and good hands. But honestly, everybody does everything. You really have to work together or nothing works."
    Each year she rowed - and now for eight straight years - the Spartans have been in the National Championships. "My first two years it was held in Indianapolis, which is a really great facility. This year and last year the championships were in Sacramento." In late May, they finished tenth in the nation. "As a team we did well," she said. "It was a good way to finish up my last year."
    Then came the awards. One of her teammates walked up to her and said congratulations. "I asked her, 'For what'? And she said for being named (Big Ten) Rowing Athlete of the Year. I was a little bit surprised, I was like 'Whoa!' I didn't even know they had that award, really."
    That, plus awards to Anne Cowan (Freshman of the Year) and Matt Wiese (Coach of the Year) made Michigan State the first school in Big Ten History to sweep those postseason awards. On top of that were her selections to the first team for both the Conference and the Region.
    Despite the recognition, Robertson's competitive rowing career is over. "My body needs some rest," she said. "I like the practices in the fall that start at 5:30am. It gets you up and gets you ready for the day. The water's the best then. It's calm, dark and relaxing." But it does take its toll. "I'm just going to row for fun. I'll probably join the boat club in Lansing. And I'll help coach the novice team. One of the girls is going to try out for the national team for the national championship, which would lead to the Olympics. But I don't know. I think I'm just going to rest."
    But not on her laurels. Her athletic eligibility is over, but she has one more year to go before she finishes up her double major in Animal Science and Zoology. She's always been interested in animals. "My grandparents still have a beef farm in Middleville," she said. "I was in 4-H in high school, and I was planning on going to veterinarian school. But that wasn't for me." Instead, she's focusing on researching better breeding strategies through molecular genetics to make "a more quality meat, more tender and better." She likes doing the research but jokes that "humans have a lot more funding."
    That won't stop her from accomplishing what she wants. Rowing, she said, "made me be motivated. I like being busy." After years of looking backward in the boat, Erin Robertson is looking forward to her future.