A Rowing Journey

I started rowing by accident. It was 2013 when I picked up an oar for the first time, and when I realized rowing was not kayaking or canoeing.

Very quickly, I fell in love with the calm water and the thrill of racing. The sport’s blend of technicality and tenacity. I rowed a double scull at the Head of the Charles that first fall and opened my eyes to an entire world of rowing, rendezvousing on Boston’s river bank.

It was a high tide to ride into my first offseason. Unknowingly, it was also soon to be my last season. The head coach, filing the serial numbers off the rowing shells, skipped town with the boats and club bank account.

Despite all of the lakes, there were only six rowing clubs in Minnesota at the time, and none of them close. So, rallying together, a core group of teammates, parents, community supporters, and I founded Long Lake Rowing Crew in the old club’s place. We established a 501(c)(3) board and raised funds for a new fleet by the spring thaw. For land training, we leased a warehouse for $1, occupied only by bloody rats in the toilet that sat in the corner. Every wall was stripped to the studs. To launch for water practice, we parked in a cemetery neighboring an abandoned lakeside restaurant, where we kept our boats on wooden stands in the parking lot, also leased for $1. By 2015, we partnered with local business leaders to convert the warehouse into a CrossFit gym, and the boarded-up restaurant into a supper club, brewery, and vibrant rowing club that continues to operate at a 100-youth-rower capacity.

At Williams College, on a mountain lake in the Berkshires, I had the joy of rowing stroke seat in the first freshman boat and then in the first varsity boat for three years, finishing out my time as captain.

In 2019 I was invited to try out for the U23 National Team Selection Camp, where 36 of the fastest collegiate rowers skinny down to 160 lbs. to fight for four slots in the United States lightweight men’s quad. What followed was six weeks of the most aggressive competition in my life. I made the boat, won a second bid to the World Championships by winning the heavyweight category at U.S. Trials, and placed fourth at the U23 World Championships.

Through the pandemic, and up to today, I am still getting out on the water in my own single rowing shell, SOL. Gliding through glass on sunny mornings, I still love the calming effect of the water before a busy day.