Keeping a legacy alive: Michigan State rowing dedicates new boat to fallen teammate Olivia Long
On a perfect morning Saturday in Lansing, friends and family gathered around the boat just above the Grand River. The new, yellow boat glimmered in the sunlight. Speakers offered remarks. Then, it was time for the christening. Instead of champagne, Truly, the hard seltzer, was the drink of choice.
Finally, the boat was ready for its maiden voyage.
All that was missing was the person whose name adorned the vessel: Olivia Long.
She was 20 years old.
On this day, those closest to her gathered to commemorate her legacy, symbolized by the boat. They also looked back to celebrate the times they had together.
'Feels like it happened yesterday'
Emily Petrosky roomed with Long when they were freshmen. Petrosky, also a member of the rowing program, picked up on Long's caring, thoughtful nature immediately. On move-in day, Petrosky noticed Long had brought pool noodles to attach to the side of the bed to avoid hurting her feet.
"I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that's such a good idea. I'm gonna have to do that,' " Petrosky said.
Shortly after, Long and her family left for lunch. They returned with pool noodles.
For Petrosky.
"I think it just speaks a lot to who she was," Petrosky said. "She wanted the best for everyone."
Another rower, Erica McIntee, also instantly gravitated toward Long.
"She was one of my first friends on campus," McIntee said. "We would do everything together, like supporting other teams (at MSU), going out, getting our nails done or grabbing a bite to eat. She was just the easiest person get along with."
Eventually, McIntee and Long became roommates. Days before the 2021-22 school year was set to begin, they wanted to celebrate.
Aug. 27, 2021, was a Thursday — Long's "favorite day of the week," McIntee said. That's because it was "mug night" at one of her favorite spots in East Lansing, Lou and Harry's Bar and Grill.
Long never made it.
"When I think about it, it literally feels like it happened yesterday," McIntee said "We were waiting for her."
Long's friends monitored her location as she traveled. At one point, McIntee noticed Long was only 30 minutes away from East Lansing. Checking again a short time later, McIntee saw Long's location hadn't changed.
"We just knew something was wrong," McIntee said.
McIntee finally learned Long had been in an accident on Interstate 96, running into the back of a box truck as traffic slowed because of another wreck. At least initially, McIntee wasn't aware of the severity of Long's wreck. So she kept herself occupied. Along with her other roommates, McIntee cleaned Long's room. They baked chocolate chip cookies — which "probably didn't turn out well," McIntee admitted, given their hearts and minds were elsewhere — they planned to give to Long.
Petrosky was nannying, but receiving constant updates on Long's condition. Members of the team huddled up, awaiting updates.
"We just continued to be (together)," Petrosky said. "I don't think we were separated for more than maybe 10 minutes."
McIntee was devastated when she learned Long hadn't survived.
"I never got to see her walk through the door, which is the hardest thing, because the (school) year didn't even start," she said. "So I think that the hardest thing is thinking that she was supposed to come home and she just never did."
Keeping a memory alive
While working through the shock of losing a beloved friend and teammate, they refused to let Long fade to the background. Sitting around one day, McIntee came to a realization: there, right in Long's first and last name, was a two-word phrase.
LIV ON.
McIntee pulled up a bracelet-making company online and started producing bracelets featuring the words. Petrosky went a step further. She wanted to find a way to honor Long once bracelets ran out. Petrosky's parents suggested fundraising for a boat the rowing program could use. Empacher, a German boat manufacturer, builds racing shells for rowing. All of their boats are yellow — Long's favorite color.
The problem: Empacher boats aren't cheap.
They needed $60,000 to get the racing shell produced.
But in no time, the fundraiser met its $30,000 goal, with an anonymous donor — a Spartan alum and supporter of the rowing community — matching that total.
"To raise $60,000 — like, we know it's a lot, but it happened extremely fast," McIntee said. "And we couldn't be more grateful."
Nor could MSU rowing coach Kim Chavers be prouder.
"It was really nice to see all the effort that her teammates put into honoring Olivia's life and memory and celebrating it," Chavers said. "To see it finally come to fruition today, with the boat being dedicated and rowed for the first time, they've been working toward this for months."
The program kept Long's parents, Mike and Arana, informed through every step of the process.
"For me, knowing what her teammates had to do, the drive and the dedication that they had to put in to get that approved — not just raise the money, but work with the MSU team and staff and get all of the approvals? It just showed me how much they love her and miss her and how much she meant to them," Arana said. "That really meant a lot to me."
Her rowing exploits, while central to Long's legacy, isn't the only way she'll be immortalized at MSU. She also was a founding member of the Spartan Pride Alliance, a community for LGBTQ+ student athletes, staff, and allies at the university.
"That group is thriving," Chavers said. "I think that's a tremendous legacy she's left here, not only for her team, but for other student-athletes and beyond."
Arana learned that just before her daughter died, Long had made a point of ensuring that allies were a key piece of the alliance.
"That made me proud as a parent," Arana said. "To see her take that and speak up really was something that meant a lot to me. I knew it meant a lot to her, to be herself and to be comfortable. But I didn't realize how important it was to her to help other people feel that way."
'True appreciation'
There's no telling how many years the new boat will be in service. Much like cars, Chavers said, boats "can last a really long time" provided they receive tender, loving care.
"And they can be graduated down into different boat classes, too," she said. "So it's remembering Olivia. We'll have that forever, wherever the boat races."
It's not a responsibility to be taken lightly.
"Erica and Emily said, 'When you step on that boat, you're not just stepping in the boat because it's a great boat,' " Arana said. "Everyone wants to go fast, right? But they made sure to say it's about Olivia's legacy and how she supported people — and doing that same thing."
Long's parents had seat time in the boat Saturday, trying their hand at the sport their daughter loved so dearly.
"It gave me a true appreciation for what those rowers have to do, day in day out, pretty much throughout the year," Arana said. "The training, the concentration, working together all the time when you're in that boat. I figured that's what it was like, but it became very clear when I got in the boat that when one person's off, the whole boat is off."
Mike had more experience, in a manner of speaking. He worked out with rowing machines at the gym before his daughter ever picked up the sport. But he noted that was far different, as the machines are more about pulling; there's no oar, or water, to worry about.
"So being in the boat today," he said, "it was neat taking the full step."
Gaining new family members
A year on since her death, it hasn't gotten easier for those who were central characters in Long's life.
Chavers said it was the most difficult situation she's had to face in her coaching career. McIntee tries to find meaning in the small things; whenever she sees a ladybug (Long's parents called her that), McIntee thinks of her former teammate. Petrosky has learned to live with the gut-wrenching emotions that arise whenever she thinks of Long.
"How I can portray her in my life and the traits she had that I want to possess?" Petrosky said. "I've been trying to work toward those."
Then there are Long's parents. Mike noted that any time one is grieving the loss of a loved one, "time is your best friend." While it doesn't change the circumstances, it provides room to cope.
Arana has tried to do that, too.
"It's not something that will ever go away. It's going to be there every day," she said. "But what makes it — at least for me — easier, and harder, are events like (the boat dedication), because it shows me that people do remember her and love her and she meant a lot to them. It helps me remember her in a good way, because I know she made them smile and she supported them."
That unyielding backing of others was the greatest discovery her parents made in the days after their daughter's death. Teammates at MSU and Lake Orion High contacted Mike and Arana and regaled them with stories of Long's welcoming nature. People they'd never even met reached out, too.
"I'm thinking, 'I don't know who you are,'" Arana said. "But they're like, 'Well, I want to tell you about your daughter and what she did for me.' It makes me proud to know that she was able to help so many people, even in small, small ways, throughout her life."
While the void left by their daughter never will be filled, Mike and Arana are humbled she is LIV-ing ON in those she left an indelible impression upon.
It's grown their family in a way they never could have imagined.
"We've been a little more immersed in the team, the environment, the people. So we might have lost a daughter," Mike said, "but we gained a lot more adopted daughters."
Contact Ryan Black at rblack@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU rowing: Spartans dedicate new boat to fallen teammate Olivia Long
