Knee surgery was supposed to keep Olympia Area Rowing member Sean Swett away from the sport for six months.
He returned in two.
If that wasn’t enough, once he got back into the boat it wasn’t long before he was dealing with a bulging disc in his back, which sidelined him for another couple of weeks over the winter.
Yes, there has been no shortage of obstacles facing the Capital High School sophomore during his second year of rowing, his first on varsity.
“We also sank our boat earlier this year,” added Olympia sophomore Winston Wilhere, a teammate of Swett’s on the men’s quad.
And there’s that.
Prior to this year’s regionals, Swett and Wilhere, along with Keenan Thompson and Stephen Vogan, were out practicing when the waves started to white cap, eventually becoming far too much for the foursome.
“It was terrible,” Swett said. “Water kept pouring over the side of the boat, filling it up until we were completely submerged. We finally got out of the boat and climbed into our coach’s launch, grabbed the oars of the boat and dragged it over to the shore. Once we got there we lifted the boat up, dumped the water out and put it back in the water and started rowing again.”
No matter what has been thrown at them the team has endured.
Now they are being rewarded for their perseverance by being one of the select few to compete at the national level.
Olympia Area Rowing will send nine of its members, including the men’s squad team of Swett, Wilhere, Thompson and Vogan, to the 2018 US Rowing Youth National Championships, which will be held June 8-10 on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California.
The three-day event serves as the premier youth rowing championship in the United States, featuring approximately 1,500 athletes, representing 150 teams from across the country, vying for national titles in 18 boat classes
In addition to the men’s quad, OAR will also send its women’s quad team of Emily Jaudon, Madison Wright, Clare Zepeda and Clarie Hart. Amiel Richter, the ninth member, will be competing in the men’s single at the national championships.
“This is a good number to have given the size of the squad we have right now,” said OAR coach Richard Hull, who has approximately 50 members on the team with 25 eligible to qualify for nationals. “We had a lot of kids graduate last year. This year was really interesting to see all the athletes rise to the challenge.”
The men’s squad team received an invite to nationals after finishing less than one-tenth of a second from automatically qualifying at the Northwest Regional Championships.
This will mark the third time Vogan, a senior at Tumwater, and the second time Thompson, an Olympia senior, have competed at nationals, while Swett and Wilhere are making their first appearance.
“The first time you go to nationals it’s an eye opener,” Thompson said, “The world of rowing gets so much bigger, and everyone is really fast here. It’s just a great experience.”
Both of Vogan’s previous trips to nationals have resulted in success. Two years ago he rowed in the OAR squad that came within four seconds of winning their event and last year he rowed in a double at nationals before finishing second at the U-23 US National Team trails.
“There really isn’t a bar (in rowing) and if you do meet it there just becomes another bar to meet,” said Vogan, who along with Thompson have been rowing for five seasons. “Once you go to nationals and see what else is out there you definitely get more competitive.”
Zepeda, who is a junior at Pope John Paul II High School, rowed in the OAR squad at nationals last year, while Jaudon, who is a sophomore at Olympia, won gold at the NW Youth Challenge at last year’s world championships.
This marks the first trip to nationals for Hart and Wright, who are a junior and sophomore, respectively, at Olympia.
The women’s squad qualified automatically by finishing second at the Northwest Regional Championships.
“They have picked up speed all season, getting faster every race,” Hull said. “They uncorked an amazing row in the regionals finals, actually leading the eventual winners, Seattle Rowing Center with several US Junior National Team athletes on board, for the first quarter of the race. Blending two sophomores with two juniors, it will be exciting to see the crew grow as they embrace the challenge of racing at the next level.”
Richter, a sophomore at Olympia, is coming off a strong performance at regionals where he finished less than a second outside of the automatic qualification.
“There’s a lot times I don’t like rowing,” Richter said. “It’s a lot of hard work. It’s exhausting, but when you finish it’s just very satisfying. I don’t think there’s another feeling in the world.”
Olympia Area Rowing Summer Camp
Novice or experienced rowers are invited to join Olympia Area Rowing to learn basic rowing skills and develop an understanding and appreciation of the sport. The Middle School Novice Summer Sculling Camp gives rising 7th and 8th graders the opportunity to try sculling in boats appropriate for their physical development and in a social setting appropriate for their age group. The High School Novice Summer Learn to Row Camp is for all new novice rowers and coxswains entering 9th through 12th grade in fall 2018 and returning athletes who participated in summer programs last year.
