What it's like Being a DI Athlete
- What is it like being a D1 Athlete?
It's a really big time commitment first of all, and it's part of my routine. But I think one thing that's important for me is that I just really, really enjoy it so it doesn't feel like it's a lot of work. The biggest part about being a DI athlete is the time commitment and managing that with other parts of your college life.
- Why did you choose Dartmouth Rowing over other programs?
It was mostly the coaches and the culture. I really liked the coaches and liked what they were trying to build here. I really liked all the guys I met and could see myself spending a lot of time with them. I liked their work ethic and their attitude around everything. School-wise, I really liked that Dartmouth had great academics and was smaller, in more of a rural setting. I like that it had freedom of what you could study because I didn't really know what I wanted to study yet when I came in here. Dartmouth was a mix of everything that ended up being perfect.
- What is it like specifically to be a coxswain on the men's heavyweight team?
Being a coxswain is a pretty unique role. Because you have the same amount of practice time, but when you're actually on the water, you're not doing any of the physical work. It's definitely just a lot more mental work. A lot of what I do is focused around steering the boat; communication and leadership, and the more technical aspects of the sport of trying to get everybody moving together. It's like a really great competitive outlet for me.
- What is the team dynamic like?
It's definitely a really tight-knit group of guys, and we spend a lot of time together. In addition to practice, we eat basically all of our meals together. Whenever I go into Foco, there's always like a group of guys sitting there that I go sit with. I think it's the main social group for most of the guys on the team.
- How many hours a week do you spend during the off-season vs in-season?
We probably spend a little under 20 hours practicing when we are in-season. In the off-season (winter), the workouts are shorter and more on our own so we have less practice time.
- What support does Dartmouth offer for athletes?
I think there's a lot of great support, including Dartmouth Peak Performance (DP2) , which offers great resources for student-athletes. It includes everything from counseling to academic support to nutrition, and really everything. I know I've taken advantage of the academic counseling to help schedule classes around practices.
- Why do you continue to choose Dartmouth?
I've really liked Dartmouth since I've gotten here. I really have loved the team. I think it's been a good balance between athletics and academics, which is what I was looking for when I came here.