By George Koglmeier ’13, Contributor

In the fall of 2010, Seniors Jimmy Stafford, Nicholas Bender and Olivia Eichenseer will matriculate to George Washington University, Wesleyan University and Loyola Marymount University, respectively, and join a long list of CCDS rowers who have competed at the next level.

Stafford (pictured with Bender and coach Pedro Palacios) will be joining the George Washington Colonials rowing squad and will compete at the Division I level in the Atlantic-10 Conference. Stafford chose George Washington because “when [he] took [his] official visit to George Washington, [he] knew that it was the school [he] wanted to go to right away” What stood out most was the people on the team. Stafford immediately felt comfortable with the coaching staff and saw potential for friendships among his new teammates. Stafford competes in both singles and doubles events, and in order to stay in shape, he follows a strict training program. His training regiment includes erging for 45 minutes in the morning and then doing 15 minutes of core workout including leg lifts, push ups, and chin ups. In the afternoons, he has practice from 3:30 to 6:30. According to Stafford, “the key to getting better is putting the extra effort in,” he added. “Everyone says rowing is a joke and not a real sport. But people don’t know the amount of time every day you have to put in to get better.” Stafford has many goals for college, but he says that his main goal is to make the finals of his championship regatta. Although the academic load in college is going to be much larger than high school, Stafford said that “managing schoolwork and rowing has never been a problem for me, and as an athlete at most schools you get free tutoring, and 1-on-1 help from the professors.”

Stafford’s doubles partner Nick Bender will compete for Wesleyan, a Division III school in the NESCAC conference. While Stafford’s reasons for attending his university may be primarily focused on rowing, Bender’s reasons for heading to Wesleyan are quite different. According to Bender, “I chose to attend Wesleyan University because of the academic merits surrounding a liberal arts education at Wesleyan.” He was also swayed by “the strength of the school’s science program, which has a larger endowment for its science program than any other college or university.” Furthermore, Bender explained that rowing was not a major factor in his decision to attend Wesleyan. “After all, I am going to college to study and learn, not to just row,” he explained. While Bender’s visions of college may not be completely focused on rowing, his current reality is very much focused on rowing. Like Stafford, Bender follows a very strict training program. Typically, he trains twice a day. In the morning around 5 A.M., he either ergs or lifts weights, and later on in the day he has a second practice out on the water. When asked about the challenge of balancing academics with rowing, Bender responded, “I do not believe I will have any trouble balancing rowing with academics. One of the benefits of rowing at Wesleyan is that I will be competing at the Division III level. Therefore I am able to have a life outside of rowing. Furthermore, I managed to make it through my junior year taking more AP classes than should be allowed, while training twice a day.”

Olivia Eichenseer is a coxswain, or the person who steers the boat. Coxswains are the unsung heroes of the boats, because the coxswain not only steers the boat and keeps it on course, but he or she also motivates the rowers to move faster and push themselves to new limits. Eichenseer chose Loyola because of “the environment, the competition, and the fact that [she] knew [she’d] be happy there.” Eichenseer, who grew up in Los Angeles, is “familiar with the area and [is] excited to go back to “So. Cal”.” In order to train for being a coxswain, Eichenseer spends time in front of her computer, recording herself, and seeing which motivational phrases work, and which ones sound better in her head. As for balancing school with rowing, Eichenseer expressed that “rowing is certainly a huge time commitment, so I do anticipate a few conflicts when it comes to juggling schoolwork and rowing, but it would be the same with any other sport as well. The main factor is going to be time management!”