AJR (Annapolis Junior Rowing) brings in students from all over Maryland. What Draws them to this sport? The head coach of the program, Lee Rumph. He started rowing 19 years ago in 2004. about rowing and his professional knowledge on the sport. He explained how Rowing, in his own words, is the ultimate team sport. Everyone must be working in complete sync only making the most minor adjustments to keep the balance of the boat, calmly pulling up to the catch in perfect time with everyone else, everything happening has to be completely perfect to row correctly. Furthermore he went on to say,
“There’s no individual star, you’re only as fast as your slowest guy and there’s 8 guys.”
Coach Rumph has a question he asks his players after practice if any of them felt like they got better at rowing today. Even if it’s only one person that says they got better, the team celebrates because if one person got better, the whole team just got faster.
He explained how becoming an expert isn’t what the goal is or what rowing is about but to be dedicated to the constant pursuit of perfection. To anyone thinking of joining AJR or a crew team, Rumph suggests:
“Jump in, one of the best things about rowing is that most people start it when they’re 14, 15 ,16 and we have Olympians every quadrennial who start rowing in college. It’s one of the only Olympic sports that you can jump into later in life. Everyone’s trying to improve”. Rumph said.
A rower or what’s called an Oresman, a senior at Severna Park High School, Thomas Kosloski who has been rowing for three years. “It’s a community, it’s more than a sport, there’s a lot of comradery,” Kosloski said.
He also explained how rowing presents a lot of opportunities for the future such as being recruited for college teams and scholarships. Overall, rowing is a community full of people dedicated to the practice of their sport.
