Crew team has high hopes for spring season
In the words of senior captain Nick Zuppas ’19, “Row, row, row your boat doesn’t begin to cover it.” Zuppas, along with fellow captains Alex Dematatis ’19, Zoe Zuppas ’19, and Caroline Dollymore ’20, will lead the crew team through yet another challenging spring season as they vie for a WCAC championship.
Zuppas said that “the crew team has a highly competitive season coming up, backed by [the] core seniors and the rising underclassmen.” He said one difficulty the team faces is their size. “We aren’t a big team, primarily because the majority of us are vertically challenged, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t fast.” The crew team is living proof that size does not, in fact, matter; it is the hard work and dedication of the rower.
Zuppas also told The Sabre that last year the crew team at St. John’s was the highest-ranked in Washington, DC, for four-person boats, as well as being among the top 10 lightweight crews on the East Coast. The two biggest races to look forward to this season are the Stotesbury Cup, the oldest and one of the largest high school rowing competitions, and the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Rowing Association (WMIRA) championships. Last season, the team won the total points category of the men’s four rower category in the WMIRA, as well as many top three finishes throughout all categories. St. John’s has high hopes for their performance at these competitive venues this season.
Through their hard work, the SJC team has cemented itself as a dominant crew program, emphasizing the values of family, perseverance, and dedication in order to put their competitors to shame. One member of this close-knit family, Rosalia Inglima ’20, told The Sabre that “the team has been working hard all winter and is ready to bring SJC home some gold medals this year; it’s ‘gains o’clock.’” This is the exact spirit that defines the sport of crew and the people who partake in it.
Some of the most dedicated and positive athletes can be found in this intense sport of strength and endurance. The team looks to compete in yet another amazing season where they can meet new people, form friendships, get faster, and row, row, row their boats.
