1. What inspired you to go to your first rowing practice; was there anything memorable about it?
When I first met Craig Amerkhanian and Jon Albin I was immediately sold on rowing. They made me believe it would be worth it to spend 5 hours a day, 6 days a week trying to get a Cal shirt (took 2 years) and trying to get a Washington shirt (took 4 years). Additionally, when I first showed up at Stanford, my college roommate, Josh Nesbit, was a member of the soccer team. He had some awesome Stanford Nike gear, I wanted that too. My first practice was VERY memorable. 9 mile run up Half Dome (4800 vertical feet). I had never run further than 2 miles in my life. On the way back Jon stopped at Burger King, that was the best part.
2. Was there a practice, race or other event when you fell in love with the sport, or when you knew you might not be too bad at rowing? When you thought you could make the national team?
When I watched the 2008 Lucerne World Cup. I got to see David Banks compete in the men's 4- (they got Bronze) and I was truly inspired. I had watched him my freshman year - when he was training by himself every day while pursuing a masters degree. He rowed 2 hours in the single every morning and would always be erging in the afternoon (full pressure rate 20, 3x20'). Watching how this dedication paid off really served as the model of excellence that I wanted to follow.
3. Best race/practice, worst race/practice?
Best race - 2007 Copley Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic. It was my first race in the Varsity and I really didn't know what to expect. We won and I just remember it feeling so easy, like we could have kept going forever.
Worst race - 2007 Head of the Charles. 3 minutes in we mounted the 4+ in front of us and put a giant hole in the boat we had borrowed from Trinity, a beautiful Empacher that was filling with water. We basically travelled 3000 miles to ruin Larry Gluckman's boat. It wasn't a very good weekend.
4. Best/Anything you've done in the sport no one knows about?
I (and all my teammates from 2007) have 2 medals from the same event, in the same year - a silver and bronze from the 2007 varsity 8 at the IRA. We tied with Harvard for 2nd (pretty rare) and the people in charge of medal distribution gave them the silver and gave us the bronze. Lucky for us we got our silver medals in the mail a few months later.
5. Any/Most important advice for young rowers?
Erg on watts.
Club Affiliation: USRowing Training Center - Chula Vista
Began Rowing: Stanford University, 2005
Date of Birth: 5/4/87
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 208
High School: Harvard Westlake
Undergraduate Education: Stanford University, B.A. in Economics, 2009
Occupation: Analyst
Employer: Redpoint Ventures
Current Coaches: Cam Kiosoglous, Tim McLaren
Years on National Team: Five — 2007-08, Under 23; 2009, 2011-12, Senior
International Results: Finished second in the eight at the 2011 E.ON Hanse Canal Cup…Finished eighth in the eight at the 2011 World Rowing Championships…Finished fourth in the eight at the 2011 Rowing World Cup in Lucerne...Reached the semifinals of the Grand Challenge Cup at the 2011 Henley Royal Regatta...Finished sixth in the eight at the 2010 Rowing World Cup in Lucerne…Finished ninth in the eight at the 2009 World Rowing Championships…Finished seventh in the eight at the 2009 Rowing World Cup in Lucerne…Won gold in the eight at the 2008 World Rowing Under 23 Championships…Finished fourth in the eight at the 2007 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
National Results: Finished sixth in the pair at the 2011 National Selection Regatta #2...Won the championship eight at the 2010 USRowing National Championships…Won the championship eight at the 2009 USRowing National Championships…Finished third in the varsity eight at the 2009 IRA Championships…Finished fifth in the varsity eight at the 2008 IRA Championships…Finished second in the varsity eight at the 2007 IRA Championships…Won the freshman four with coxswain at the 2006 IRA Championships.
Personal: Alex’s hobbies include technology, golf, mobile gaming, and sports trivia…His most memorable sporting achievement was the time he and his dad won the Father-Son MVP award at Reggie Smith's Baseball Development Camp when Alex was nine…The trophy was four feet high and Alex thought he was going to be the next Ken Griffey Jr.…Alex was named the 2009 Pac-10 Male Rower of the Year and was an All-Pac-10 Rower in 2008 and 2009…For good luck in races, Alex wears his best friend Andrew Epstein’s lucky socks…The most influential person in his sporting career is Jon Albin, Alex’s freshman coach at Stanford, who introduced him to the sport…His personal heroes are his parents…Alex hopes to win an Olympic gold medal, and then pursue a career in technology and internet startups, focused on mobile gaming.
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