First-time Olympian Alexander Richards will race in Tokyo as a member of the US Mens's Eight.
1. What inspired you to go to your first rowing practice; was there anything memorable about it?
Both of my parents rowed in college and the sport was always present in my house, our walls were hung with everything from paintings of boat houses to old wooden oars. As the son of two rowers, I had spent time sculling in the summers, whether in a double with my dad or trying to not flip in a single. When I started at Belmont Hill, it felt natural to join the middle school rowing team. Our first practices were in the old Harvard tanks and I remember one of the middle school coaches, who knew nothing about rowing, was sitting in bow seat learning about the sport at the same time we were!
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?
Racing is definitely why I love the sport. My first race was a disaster, the other boat had three bad starts (three over the head crabs in a row) and we had to restart after each one. When they finally did get off clean it was a close race which they narrowly won, albeit on a classic middle school slanted starting line slanted finish line course. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy handing my shirt over. The next race was actually against a high school fifth varsity four and winning that was when I fell in love with the sport.
The first time I thought I could make the national team was 2013 summer when the Junior team and Senior team at the time went out in three mixed eights. I think I was rowing with Austin Hack, whom eight years later I am rowing with again, and we did power pieces and starts. It was chaotic but a blast and meeting the senior team athletes made it feel like it was something I might be able to do.
3. Best race/practice, worst race/practice?
Best race was the SH Netz cup in 2018. We had a week between worlds and the race and in that week, one person dropped out because of a family matter, another broke their foot walking down the stairs in a Bulgarian mall. Just days before the race, we flew two rowers from Oakland to Istanbul and then Istanbul to Hamburg where they then took an hour-long bus to the race. We got in two rows before the first event, the erg sprints in which we placed 3rd. The next day we raced the water sprints and finished last. We had low expectations for the 12.7k long race (in our pre-race meeting we talked about rowing conservatively and trying to get second). The race began and we dropped into third behind the British and germans. Rowing in their wake while they took move after move against each other. Al Karwoski, our bow seat, signaled to Julian to move over a few lanes, putting us on the outside of the big turn, but in clean water. We maintained our rhythm and slowly moved back into the tiring boats and took the lead with a few kilometers to go. It was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
Worst races were probably 2013 youth nationals when we were disqualified showing up late to the coxswain weigh in after a fog delay and 2016 Harvard Yale when we sank after half a mile.
4. Best/Anything you've done in the sport no one knows about?
Liam Corrigan and I snuck down to the boathouse one Sunday afternoon in the summer of 2020 and took out a double on the Oakland estuary. We were dressed in shorts with our phones and wallets and loaded up the boat with straps and seat cushions. We rowed to a local German restaurant that advertised available boat slips and tied the shell up to the dock while we went up to the restaurant and enjoyed a nice afternoon german meal. We then rowed back to the boathouse and put the boat away without anyone knowing. Of course we timed it with the tides to have a tail current both ways!
5. Any/Most important advice for young rowers?
Have fun with it and if you are in high school, I would suggest trying other sports. There are tons of ways you can build a base of fitness in non-rowing ways, I ran cross country and cross country skied for example. Different sports teach you how to use your bodies in unique ways and build general athleticism. Plenty of other sports can test your individual toughness through racing or competition and the time away makes rowing in the spring more exciting!
Hometown: Watertown, Mass.
Club Affiliation: Oakland, TC
Date of Birth: August 12, 1995
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 215
Education: Harvard University
Training Location: Oakland, Calif.
Current Coach: Mike Teti
National Teams: Six – Junior, 2013; Under 23, 2017; Senior, 2017-19; Olympic, 2020
International Results: Finished fifth in the eight at the 2019 World Rowing Championships...Finished 11th in the four at the World Rowing Cup II...Won bronze at the 2019 World Rowing Indoor Championships...Finished 13th in the four at the 2018 World Rowing Championships...Placed 10th in the four at the 2017 World Rowing Championships…Placed fourth in the pair at the 2017 World Rowing Under 23 Championships...Finished sixth in the four at the 2013 World Rowing Junior Championships.
National Results: Won silver at the 2019 USRowing Indoor National Championships...Won silver in the varsity eight at 2018 Eastern Sprints...Won bronze in the varsity eight at 2017 IRA Championships..Won silver in the varsity eight at 2017 Eastern Sprints...Won gold in the freshman eight at 2015 Eastern Sprints...Won silver in the four with coxswain at the 2014 USRowing Youth National Championships...Won silver in the four with coxswain at 2012 USRowing Youth National Championships.
Personal: Alexander was born on 8/12/1995 and attended Belmont Hill School and Harvard University. He is thankful for his coaches, family, friends and dogs for supporting him in the sport. He lists his dad as his most influential person in his sports career. He runs Third String Clothing, a clothing embroidery business, and is aspiring to become a physician. Alexander is an avid cinephile, bookworm, and anime appreciator. In his free time, he loves hiking in the redwood forests and cooking.
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