Austin's Row-2-Penn AC U-23 Camp

My name is Austin and I am rower. Well, more like I have become a rower. In fact I hadn’t even heard of rowing until my freshman year at University of California, Davis (UCD). At 6’8’’ and about 200 pounds with only a few years of high school basketball experience, I was asked to join the school’s rowing team. Like many others, I had no idea what I was truly getting myself into. Rowing had me waking up before 5:00a.m. six days a week for the entire 9-month school year. Who would possibly want to do that for their first year as a college student?! Even after being told countless times that I was crazy, for some odd reason I truly began to fall in love with the sport.

Rowing is a pain game. In fact it is not an incredibly popular sport in the United States because frankly, it is really, really hard. Rowing is truly the ultimate test of mental and physiological endurance. As a guy who is always seeking challenge to test my abilities in life, rowing became the ultimate challenge. I began to rise in the ranks amongst my team as one of the top athletes and remain there to this day. For the 2014-2015 school year, I was elected as President and Team Captain. This position has allowed me to not only be an athletic leader on the team, but also be a leader through all of my actions and be someone to look up to. As a club program, UC Davis Men’s Crew is completely student funded and operated. This means that the team is responsible for collecting monetary dues, hiring coaching staff, keeping the boathouse operational, and managing an incredibly large budget. The realities of being a club program as well as the sport of rowing itself have taught me the means to be responsible, accountable, and push my limits on a daily basis.

I have found much personal success in rowing thus far. This summer, I have been presented the opportunity to take my rowing to compete at the national and international level. I have been invited to attend the Penn AC Under-23 National Team Development Camp in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this summer. I will have the opportunity to compete at U-23 trials, USRowing Club Nationals, the Canadian Henley (one of the largest rowing races in the world), and possibly World Championships. I am so thankful to be presented with this once-in-a-lifetime experience and have decided that I would not be doing myself justice as a rower if I did not give myself a chance to experience this opportunity. Not only do I hope to personally benefit from this camp, but more importantly I would like to bring back my experience to UC Davis Men’s Crew to conclude my final year of collegiate rowing in 2016. I want this opportunity to help me leave a positive mark on the program even after my collegiate rowing experience is over.





It took a lot of personal convincing to decide to attend this camp. As someone who funds my own living and rowing expenses, summer is my only chance to work and save money for the following school year. This camp will take away the summer job opportunities that I am usually committed to as the camp runs from the start of June until August 10th. With over half a summer without stable work to pay for the following school year, making this decision was very difficult from a financial standpoint. I know, however, that a summer without work is worth the unforgettable and life-enriching experience that this camp can provide. 

This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to take an incredible experience and share that experience with the rowing program that has brought me to this point in the first place and has truly helped me realize my love for the sport of rowing! With camp fees, travel expenses, and summer housing costs, I need all the support I can get to help make this opportunity a reality!