Raul Arellano is a third generation rower. His grandfather rowed a six man shell in the first regatta ever held in Cuba. That was in 1910. Arellano's father was the Cuban team coach for the 1948 Olympics held in London. "Rowing's in my blood," he says. "I need to row. I have to row. I row five or six days a week. It's part of my routine." His son, 14, has just started to row, continuing the family tradition into its fourth generation. Arellano expects that his other son, a seven-year-old, will be a rower as soon as he is old enough. Many of his nephews also row.
Arellano was born in Cuba before Fidel Castro took power. But under the Castro regime, the family left Cuba. Arellano and his family came to the United States in 1968, when he was 13 years old. They first moved to Ohio, and then settled in Miami. He ended up going back to Ohio for school. But he didn't row at all at Defiance College in the town of Defiance. Instead, he played football as a linebacker.
It wasn't until 1979 that he started to compete again in rowing. He rowed at the FISA World Masters in 1991 in Miami. Today, he continues to row with the Miami Rowing Club, where he can see manatees and dolphins cavorting in the water during practice. Unusual and beautiful, yes. But he is more impressed by the spectacular weather at Mercer Lake. "You can breathe more easily here. There's so much more humidity in Miami. We have a nice venue but this is a lot nicer, I think, because the rowing conditions are protected."
While his specialty is singles sculling, Arellano is competing in six or seven races this time around, including two singles, quad, double and mixed double. His fervent wish for the future is to return to his homeland, Cuba, to row. "Under a free Cuba we could host the World Masters some day. I would absolutely be there."
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