I thought the pain was normal.
 
I thought everyone experienced heart pain when they'd work out. I thought everyone felt like they had a dumbbell sitting on their chest during high-intensity exercises.
 
It's supposed to hurt, right?
 
That's what I thought whenever I was working out on the erg or on the water practicing with the rest of the UC San Diego men's rowing team, but all of that changed during January of my sophomore year.
     
We were on the erg pad, getting back in shape after winter break. Our workout that day was a 2 x 5K. If you've never done one before, it's rough.
 
I began to feel chest pain while on the erg, which didn't surprise me, but this time it got really bad. Everything was getting blurry and I started to tip off the erg. It suddenly felt like my heart was about to explode. I knew I needed to stop, so I quickly got off and sat down.
 
Our coach told me to go to the athletic training room, so I did, and I told the trainers what I was feeling. They referred me to a doctor, and the doctor referred me to a cardiologist here at UC San Diego. The cardiologist told me that I had Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) Syndrome.
 
What?
 
I learned that WPW was something that I was born with. It's a heart abnormality. My heart wasn't able to pump as efficiently as other people's. It's actually pretty unnoticeable in some people if they're not doing high-intensity exercises, but rowing is practically the definition of high-intensity exercise.
 
Since WPW is pretty uncommon, the UC San Diego cardiologist ran more tests on me. He wanted me to have multiple opinions, so first I went to Stanford, which is near my hometown, San Carlos. The Stanford cardiologist performed tests on me and told me that he didn't think that surgery was necessary.
 
Then I went to UC San Francisco, and the cardiologist there said that if I wanted to continue participating in sports, surgery would be necessary. If I wasn't going to row, I wouldn't need it.
 
If I wasn't going to row?
 
That was never an option for me. I was already frustrated because I had been doing so well on the ergs and now I was missing racing season. All I wanted was to row.
 
I decided to undergo surgery.
   
My surgery was scheduled for mid-June at UC San Francisco. I got to the hospital around 6 a.m. with my mom, dad, and brother, Nathan. We went to the prep room, where I put on a gown and talked with the nurses and doctor.
 
Eventually, it was time for my family to leave. They told me they loved me, and then I was escorted into a bright room with around 15 doctors. They'd come from all over the world to observe the surgeon, who is the world's leading expert on WPW.
 
I had never had surgery before, so I was feeling anxious. It's pretty nerve-racking to have heart surgery when you're just 20 years old.
 
As nervous thoughts ran through my head, they gave me a shot and put a mask on me.
 
That's the last thing I remember, because then I passed out.
   
Next thing I knew, a nurse was waking me up and my mom was smiling over me. They wheeled me to the room where my dad and Nathan were waiting, and I spent the night there.
 
After that, I was bedridden for a week. It wasn't fun just sitting in bed. I like being active, so it was hard not doing anything for a whole week. The doctors told me that I couldn't even sit up too quickly, or my gauze packs would open.
 
Once that was finally over, there were still more restrictions. I wasn't allowed to do any exercise for a month. Then, I was able to start walking on the treadmill, but my heart rate couldn't go above 120.
 
It was really hard not being able to push myself as hard as the other guys on the team. We'd usually put in three hours of work a day, and I wasn't allowed to do more than an hour. I spent my extra time focusing on schoolwork and I'd watch practices even when I couldn't participate. I wanted the guys to know that I supported them and that I wasn't going to give up.
   
After a successful checkup in August, the doctors said I could let my heart rate reach 150 while exercising. The first time I did was…. weird. I kept waiting for that feeling of a dumbbell on my chest and it just never happened.
 
When racing season was approaching, everyone was already far ahead of me. I essentially had eight months' worth of work to do in two months. I didn't hit my stride and get back into good enough shape to be in a boat until February. By then, everyone was already in race shape and I was barely there.
 
I didn't get to race until March at the UC Challenge Cup, and at that point, I hadn't raced in almost two years. I'll always remember my first race back. I was nervous heading into it, but it was so satisfying to be back on the water. The conditions that day were horrible, with a strong head wind and choppy waters, but I didn't even care because it was so fun racing again.
 
I almost expected the dumbbell-on-my-chest feeling again, but it never came. I realized as I was racing that I have more to give now.
 
I was able to help the Third Varsity 8 boat to a first-place finish that day, and our whole team had a great showing. There was much more of that to come.
     
Although it was hard not competing during my sophomore year, my junior season was worth the wait. We swept the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships, which hadn't been done in at least a decade. On top of that, we qualified for our third-straight Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship.
 
Now, I'm in my senior year. I've had some time to reflect on my experience coming back after my heart surgery and I think the biggest thing it taught me was resilience. I always knew I really wanted to come back. I love the guys on the team, and I didn't want to let them down. It required a lot of hard work and focus, but it was all worth it.
 
From the time I spent watching the team, it's clear to me that we keep getting better and better. Now, I'm ready for my senior racing season to begin.
 
This is going to be our best year yet.

-Nick Gennaro