DETROIT – The Detroit Boat Club crew has rowed their way to a national title.
Carly Brown is committed to Stanford. Ava Sjogren is going to row at Northeastern University in Boston. Olivia Bachert will row at Syracuse University, and Ryleigh O’Donoghue will row at the University of Wisconsin.
That is the future for the ladies of the Detroit Boat Club crew, and for most of them, they’ve only just begun in the sport.
“I started rowing my sophomore year, so just two or three years ago,” said O’Donoghue.
Local 4 met the team last year, which was the first time they qualified a boat for Nationals. They finished fourth, and that became motivation for them.
“It was really disappointing to almost make podium, but then we didn’t make podium,” said Sjogren. “This year coming in, we said to ourselves, ‘We’re winning it all, no exceptions.’”
Fast forward to this past June at the 2023 US Rowing Youth National Championships in Florida. The team won by five seconds, beating a field of 32 boats.
“This is incredible,” said Coach Mike Gentile. “We went down there and were competing against programs with 150 kids that draw from large areas. But the girls had the right attitude going in. They didn’t let anything rattle them.”
The ladies proved all you really need is determination.
“Girls should definitely get into rowing,” Sjogren said. “It’s so awesome, and you learn so much more than just rowing, and it gets you fit too.”
The Detroit Boat Club Crew is always looking for new rowers, aged middle school through adult. No experience is necessary.