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Our alumni was asked to write about how they
feel about rowing in general and how being involved in the sport has helped them in
their college life and beyond.
This is what they had to say... |
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To Whom It May Concern:
Going into my junior year at St. Ignatius
College Prep in Chicago, my parents wanted
me to pick up some sport. I heard of crew
from my fellow classmates, but never really
had any interest in it. After my parents’
constant pestering I decided to join crew,
not knowing what it was or ever even seeing
someone rowing. I was lucky enough to fall
in love with the sport right away, and was
able to pick it up quick. The next thing I
know, junior year spring, I was rowing at
Youth Nationals. My love for the sport
continued through my senior year, and still
continues to this day. I am currently part
of the freshman team at The George
Washington University in Washington, DC. A
permanent site/boathouse in Chicago for
youth would be very beneficial. Currently
there are only two boathouses in Chicago,
Lincoln Park Juniors, and Lincoln Park Boat
Club. The LPJ one being exclusively for that
program, while LPBC being open to all, but
very limited to junior rowers. A boathouse
that would be exclusively for juniors would
open many opportunities. Instead of having
to go to some camp out of state, it would
allow for juniors to stay in the city for
the summer, and enhance and develop their
rowing abilities. Rowing has many benefits
including one that I did not discover till
my senior year. Besides being fun, rowing is
one of the most recruited for sport. Coaches
usually recruit 8-10 guys for freshman year.
This puts a recruited athlete way ahead of
other college applicants. Personally, I got
recruited at several top universities
including Cornell University, Georgetown
University, and The George Washington
University. Besides college, rowing has also
helped me better organize my time, given me
a stronger work ethic, and helped me make
friends that I will probably have for life.
I strongly support developing a permanent
location for at-risk youth in Chicago.
Thank You, Karel Bryukhanov, Class of
2006 |
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Rowing is a sport that demands everything
you can give. It produces the most
competitive and driven people that you may
ever meet. Rowers never give up because they
live for the race and they go out on the
water every day in rain, wind, or snow
simply for the thrill. Rowing teaches great
qualities like perseverance, determination,
ambition, and mental strength. The sport
lights a fire under you that helps each
person strive to be the best they can, both
on and off the water. Friends that are made
in the sport are people that you will know
and love forever.
The sport has given me more then I could
ever ask for. Apart from friends,
motivation, and strength, it opened up doors
that I never deemed possible. I had the
opportunity to race with the Junior National
Team in Connecticut for two summers, and I
went to Nationals with my high school eight.
Coming into my junior year of high school, I
was bombarded with interest from schools
from coast to coast; schools like Yale
University, Stanford, Harvard, Duke, and
many other schools with rowing programs that
are equally as prestigious as the schools
themselves. Women’s rowing is one of the
most recruited sports and helped me get a
scholarship to one of the best colleges in
the country. I chose to sign with the
University of Notre Dame and could not be
happier with my decision. Last year, my team
was invited to the NCAA National Women’s
Rowing Championships and went up against the
best collegiate rowers in the country. It is
an experience I hope to relive every year
until I graduate and also is one that I will
never forget. I thank God everyday that I
was able to be part of the tradition,
charisma, and education of Notre Dame simply
for doing something that I love…rowing.
I couldn’t stress enough the benefits of
having a rowing program for all in Chicago.
Not only would it provide a place for kids
in the city to go, have fun, make friends,
and learn a few things, but the sport itself
builds character in all who participate in
it and helps develop a passion and purpose.
The feeling of racing down the river,
cutting through the early morning mist,
watching the sun rise out ahead of you, and
knowing that there at 7 other rowers behind
you feeling the same sense of magic is a
sensation that every person should be able
to experience.
Sincerely, Elli Greybar, Class of 2005 |
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To whom it may concern:
My name is Cory Miller and I am now
attending the University of San Diego.
Although I no longer row, I accredit much
success and personal enjoyment to rowing.
Rowing positively affected me throughout my
entire four years of high school and the
habits that it taught me have led to
academic success in college. Rowing taught
me how to balance my school work, practice
and seeing friends and family. It forced me
to be focused when I was doing work because
I knew I had limited time to complete
assignments. I also had to learn to manage
my time very well because of my time
commitment to practice. In addition, rowing
taught me how to work with others. In rowing
it is critical to work as a team; your boat
literally will not move if you do not.
Learning how to work and interact with peers
has helped me on other teams in college, in
the classroom and at the work place. I also
simply enjoyed rowing. My best friends in
high school were on the rowing team with me,
and I generally enjoyed going to practice
and striving for a common goal with them. I
believe that a permanent rowing site in
Chicago would benefit those who used it
because of the skills they would learn and
the people they would meet. Thank you for
your time.
Sincerely, Cory Miller, Class of 2005 |
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To whom it may concern:
I cannot overstate the positive aspects that
the sport of rowing has had on my daughter
and myself. Speaking as a physician and
scholar athlete of the Chicago Public School
system, the physical and psychological
aspects that I have personally witnessed as
I attended four years of regattas while my
daughter progressed from a complete novice
(myself included) to a nationally
competitive high school senior have left me
with a most high regard for this sport. As a
lineman at Senn High School, I learned the
value of team work and its farther reaching
psychological benefits. I would be
challenged to convince you that crew does
not do this in a superior fashion with
greater safety. The growth of the sport in
the Midwest as evidenced by the number and
quality of excellent programs in Michigan
and Wisconsin certainly belies the
misconception that crew is an east coast
sport of only the elite. (I believe
Wisconsin, Michigan and Notre Dame would
have strong opinions as well.) As I viewed
the four years of progress of my daughter
and all the athletes, both elite and
non-elite, at St. Ignatius College Prep,
from young boys and girls to young men and
women, I could only wish the opportunity
were available to all students of the
Chicagoland area. The academic scholarship
that my daughter received at an out of state
private college I believe was in no small
part due to the discipline, drive and focus
that is part of the sport of rowing. The
physician in me is most grateful for the
excellent health that my daughter enjoys
that is the result of rigorous training
required by crew. The world class status of
Chicago would be enhanced by a permanent
facility supporting this endeavor with the
most important benefactors being our
children. They deserve our best and crew can
be a part of that.
Most sincerely, Russell M. Miller M.D.
FAAFP |
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To Whom it May Concern:
It is an understatement to simply say that
rowing has had a profound impact on my life.
It has taught me the importance of
discipline, teamwork, goal setting, and has
basically given me tremendous focus and
drive that I know I will be able to carry
with me in whatever I choose to do in the
future. One of the reasons the sport of
rowing is so rewarding and unique is the
fact that its secret to success is very much
directly proportional to an athlete's
personal drive and motivation to be the
best. I fell in love with the sport almost
immediately because, unlike many other
sports I previously played such as
basketball and volleyball, all that was
needed to ensure my success was a
willingness to go out to every practice and
be prepared to push myself harder and
farther than I previously thought possible.
However, I did this not for my own personal
glory but for the greater good of a single
goal shared by 8 other athletes with whom I
shared a bond unparalleled in any other
aspect of my life. I was fortunate enough to
be a part of this experience both at my high
school, St. Ignatius, and now at Trinity
College in Dublin. Even though I stumbled
upon the sport as a sophomore, I could not
imagine my life without it today, and I hope
very much that it can become increasingly
more accessible to young athletes in the
Chicago area.
Sincerely, Maggie O’Donoghue, Class of
2005 |
To Whom it May Concern:
My decision to begin rowing was among the
best choices that I have ever made. At St.
Ignatius, rowing added a unique dimension to
my high school experience and helped me to
develop skills and life traits that cannot
be taught in a classroom. For rowers, a
strong sense of discipline is essential. At
times, the sport requires both grueling,
early morning workouts and cold, late
evenings on the water. The time commitment
demanded by the sport quickly taught me how
to manage my time in order to survive both
academically and on the team. Additionally,
crew instills a strong work ethic in the
members of the team. Effort counts, and the
team that works hardest usually wins.
I have been rowing for just over four years,
and the sport has had a much greater
influence on me than I ever could have
imagined. My hard work both in the classroom
and on the water helped me to gain admission
to a number of the nation’s top
universities, including Georgetown, MIT, and
Yale. I attribute a great deal of my success
in the college admissions process to rowing,
and the discipline, work ethic, and sense of
confidence that I gained from the sport.
Today, I am a freshman at Yale and a member
of the Yale Lightweight Crew team.
Thus far, rowing has been an absolutely
great experience, but I still consider this
to be only the beginning. One of my favorite
coaches is sixty-five years old, and still
rows many miles each day. I hope that I will
still be able to row at his age and later.
Each day that I row, I appreciate it more,
and the benefits of rowing seem almost
boundless. I am always looking forward to my
time on the water and the unique pleasure
that rowing provides.
Sincerely,
Bob Casey, Class of 2006 |
To whom it may concern:
For me, crew has had a major impact on my
life. It has helped me excel at school, set
goals for myself, and taught me what true
teamwork is about. Crew by its very nature
is a very time consuming sport, requiring
many hours on the water to perfect technique
as well as involving a great deal of
traveling. As a former student of St.
Ignatius College Prep, I also had a lot of
homework, averaging about three to four
hours per night, and combining that with the
average three hour after school practices
forced me to become more efficient with the
use of my time. This skill helped me to stay
on top of all the homework and studying I
needed to do to do well at school, and often
found myself doing better academically
during the season. Crew also taught me about
setting goals for myself and helped me push
for them. During the off season, rowers more
then likely train on indoor rowing machines
called ergometers and training for a season
on one of these machines is an experience in
itself. This experience is often the most
frustrating in a rowers career for to do
well on these machines requires the ability
to set goals and to push ones self to
achieve these goals. By the end of this
experience a rower has learned that the key
to achieving goals is dedication and
persistence, which is a crucial lesson to
have in life. However, the most important
thing rowing teaches a person is about
teamwork. As many people say, “Rowing is the
ultimate team sport.” In order to race a
boat effectively all the oarsmen in the boat
must do their part, whether they are in the
bow are stern. This teaches a rower that
teamwork requires dedication, camaraderie,
and working as one. When good teamwork in a
boat is present regardless of the ability of
the rowers they will be successful in a
race. In life many employers look for an
employee that possess the ability to
function as a team player. No matter how you
look at it any company or large firm is a
team, all having various parts like a boat
that must work together in order for them to
do well. Most importantly, rowing is a sport
that teaches kids the skills they need to be
successful. I know for I have experienced it
and continue to see the skills it has taught
me in my daily life. For me, Rowing is not
just a sport, it’s a way of life.
Owen Maguire
Former ICC Rower (2002-2006)
Current Rower Davidson College Crew Team |
Rowing has been one of the most influential
aspects of my educational and athletic
career. I was first introduced to the sport
during my sophomore year at Ignatius and I
knew from the moment I took my first stroke
that it was the sport for me. Though I was
not the fastest high school rower, my
opportunities at Ignatius had sparked my
desire to row competitively at the highest
level I could achieve. There is no doubt in
my mind that rowing was a major factor in
why I was accepted at Yale University.
Rowing throughout my four years at Yale was
an outstanding experience and in my final
year we came second at the NCAA
Championships (the highest finish in recent
history). After graduation, I moved to New
York City where I had a job as a legal
assistant in one on the top law firms in the
country. Rowing played a major part in why I
was offered the job and I discussed its
impact on my life during my job interview.
The strong work ethic and dedication and
teamwork that I had been developing since my
days at Ignatius were some of the most
valuable skills I had in the workplace.
Though I did enjoy my time in Manhattan in
March of this year I quit my job and moved
back to Canada (where I was born) to try out
for the Canadian National Team. This summer
I rowed at the World Championships in Eton,
England where my boat came in fifth. Now I
back in Canada getting ready for a long
winter of training to prepare for the 2007
Olympic-qualifying Worlds in Munich,
Germany.
All the best,
Ashley Brzozowicz, Class of 2000 |
Rowing instills the same values as many
other sports—discipline, unity, trust,
responsibility—more intensely than any other
sport around. Nowhere will you find these
values put into practice more than in
rowing. Like runners, rowers push themselves
to their limits, working extremely hard and
disciplining themselves in order to win. But
unlike in runners, rowers are literally in
the same boat as their teammates. Slacking
off hurts everyone, and knowing this
strengthens each rower's discipline and
builds in each an enormous sense of
responsibility, unity and trust. Why is
rowing great? Because every erg of energy
rowers squeeze from themselves goes towards
the betterment of the entire crew. There is
no room for selfishness: when rowers work
through their pain, either the whole boat
picks up or it doesn't. It is because of
this sacrifice for each other that crews
build such strong relationships, each based
on immense mutual respect.
I started rowing in high-school and gleaned
so much from the experience that I've
started a team at the University of Illinois
(something I would have had trouble doing
without the discipline and
stick-to-itiveness I learned at from the
Ignatius crew team). Thanks to some generous
coaches from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana,
I've been able to get three boats together
and a site to row out of near campus all for
free. The team is already 50 strong and
we'll be competing in our first race next
spring. By March, every Big-Ten school will
be represented in the sport of rowing.
Dan Walsh, Class of 2005 |
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