I'm not a champion, nor do I come from champion stock. I'm the most athletic person in my family, and I have no idea why. I don't have a lot of genetic gifts, unless being hard working and stubborn count. I'm not someone you see on the street and say to yourself, "I bet that's a rower". Nonetheless, I am hooked on the sport, and have been for the past 14 years.

I didn't row in college, and my high school didn't even have a rowing team (it does now). Instead, I played every team sport available, threw heavy objects, and ran cross country. I went to college on a field hockey scholarship, and ended up also playing lacrosse. The closest I got to rowing was in the line at the dining hall one night after practice. We would practice until 15 minutes before the dinning hall closed, run to the dining hall, and get in line for whatever scraps were left. The women's crew team did like wise.

One night a woman behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said "You should row". I turned around and asked what that was, and she told me where the boathouse was. Several years later, I was playing softball in a competitive fast pitch league, and one of our pitchers happened to be a rowing coach. We were talking one day, and she said to me, "You should try rowing." I continued playing numerous team sports, went to the gym, and eventually got very into biking and even did a few triathlons. Through a bicycling friend, I met a woman who was a rower turned cyclist. She wasn't just any rower, she had been on the national team, and was the strongest person I'd ever met. She said she'd let me try rowing. She took me to her boathouse in Boston, put me in a single (not a gig), and shoved me off the dock. I was completely immobilized, everytime I tried to move, I thought I'd flip the boat. She showed me how to row arms and back only, and I did it! Of course, she let me figure out how to turn around and how to get back to the dock to her amusement. That was it, I was hooked.

The next time we went out in a double, and I dared to creep up the slide and even use my legs a little. Those two rows made quite an impression on me, I returned to Philadelphia and began to seriously consider learning how to row. Two years later, I tore my right ACL playing lacrosse (it was a great save), and my days of being a goalie were numbered. Quick lateral movements were no longer in my future, and working as a physical therapist on crutches was kind of an oxymoron. I knew about a novice program that several of my friends had participated in, so I signed up, and soon found a new sport to be addicted to.

Since then I've spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to balance all the things in my life, and still be dedicated to becoming a decent rower. My work as a physcial therapist makes me a professional observer. I watch the way people walk, the way they move, whether they're in pain, and I listen to all of their problems. I think some of these skills have made me a better rower. I know I may be more aware of my body parts than other people, but I'm just like anybody else that rows before work. I'm doing something I love to stay in shape and fight the clock. Time marches on, and I know all too well what happens if you don't take care of yourself. Work will always be there, but today the water is flat. Have a good row.