Elizabeth Ulbrickson is the daughter of Al Ulbrickson, the rowing coach of the University of Washington. That's all you need to know.
"The Boys in the Boat" (2023)
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"Elizabeth." My father called out my name. I wasn't paying attention to whatever he was saying. I was too drawn in, irrevocably mesmerized by what was seen within the window of his office: the calm water of the West Side river that blessed my hometown. It was like a siren song pulling me away from reality. "Did you hear anything I just said?"
"What?" I turned to him, reluctantly. My eyes lingered at the view as my body moved around the invisible axis.
"The fliers." Al Ulbrickson, the man I was first introduced as dad, pointed at the stack of papers on his exceptionally organized desk.
"Right." I stepped away from the tempting window. "What about them?"
He sighed and handed me the fliers. They were surprisingly heavy and that wave of shock sent me into a lost of balance for a split second.
"Can you hand those out?"
I looked down at the fliers, my blue eyes scanning them. The design was miserable. I could do something much better than that. It said, in all uppercase letters, with a tacky font:
"THE ROWING CREW OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON IS LOOKING FOR THE BEST 8 YOUNG MEN FOR THE JV BOAT! COME FOR TRYOUTS ON JANUARY 6TH AT 8AM."
"At 8am? Do you not want anyone to show up?" I commented.
"Can you just do it?" My father had no patience in his voice. The sadistic side of every daughter knows how pleasant sometimes that sound is.
"I'll do it. Don't worry."
"Thank you." The muscles on his body relaxed a bit.
"I just think it's a little hypocritical of you to use me as bait to 'entice' all these young men into your team, when you don't let me date any of them." I made sure to smile at the end.
It was true. He had this rule of forbidding me of dating any of the guys he coaches. However, what he didn't understand was that it only made it more tempting, to break the rule, to jump over the fence and waltz around, bare feet, ripped dress, on unregulated territory.
