The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Rower Felice Mueller Overcame Personal Challenges To Earn Michigan's Female Athlete Of The Year Honor Full Circle front her past. Felice Mueller had been there before, in 2009 as a fresh- man rowing for the first var- sity eight boat. Overcome S YEAR IN REVIEW Female Athlete Of The Year with a feeling of panic in the petite finals at the NCAA Championships, Mueller buckled under the weight of the moment, her oar catching a crab — "an error in which the rower is unable to timely remove or release the oar blade from the water, and the oar blade acts as a brake on the boat," according to Wikipedia — costing the Wolverines a chance at first place; U-M settled for second and took ninth as a team. the time since, the four-time first var- sity eight crew member was forced to face her anxiety or risk a career in which she never realized her potential. Mueller, who garnered first-team That was three years prior, and in All-America honors this spring after guiding Michigan to a second-place team finish at nationals, refused to let her angst derail her ambition, suc- ceeding when both mind and body attempted to shut her down. The best of the best find a way, and Mueller was the Maize and Blue's best this year, earning distinction as the 26 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2012 lice is she's probably the best rower we've ever had in 16 years as a pro- gram, and she was probably the best rower on our team each of her four years — even when she was a fresh- man — and yet she's the most humble person you'll meet," head coach Mark Rothstein said. "It's almost like you have to convince her that she's good at this." Mueller has always been talented. first rower to be named Michigan's Female Athlete of the Year in the 30 years of the award. "The thing that is unique about Fe- BY MICHAEL SPATH tepping off the plane with her teammates and onto the New Jersey soil for this year's NCAA Champi- onships May 25-27, she had no choice but to con- She was a standout at Pomfret School in Conn., winning a gold medal at the 2007 USRowing Club National Cham- pionships and a bronze at the World Junior Championships that same year. She was her school's captain in 2008, and, showing off her incredible athleti- cism, she also played ice hockey. At Michigan, she immediately earned a seat in the first varsity eight and helped champion the Wolverines to a runner-up finish at Big Tens in 2009. But under the surface, Mueller was struggling. She doesn't know where her anxiety emanates from, but it can be so overpowering she is prone to pass out at the end of races. "The best way I can describe it is it's like your brain and body are at odds — your brain is telling you to keep going, but your body can't respond and sort of shuts down," Mueller said. "After a race, when we win, the boat is celebrating but I'm just trying to catch my breath. "Even later in the night, when I try going to sleep, my whole body is still burning, and I can't settle down." Fellow senior Emily Eiffert occupied a seat in the first varsity eight along- side Mueller all four years, and she experienced her best friend's stress up close. At nationals their rookie year, when Mueller lost control, Eiffert saw a pained look in her teammate's eyes. "Felice pushes herself over the edge, but she will dig her fingernails into the Mueller earned first-team all-conference and All-America honors after leading the U-M rowing squad to its first Big Ten title since 2004 and its first runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships since 2001. PHOTO COURTESY U-M MEDIA RELATIONS