TAMPA, Fla. — The length of a rowing race in the Olympics is 2,000 meters. But the journey to race on the world’s biggest stage is a lot further than that.
A group of Team USA Olympic hopefuls from Saratoga, New York, have set up camp in Tampa to train for the race of their life.
“We came down here to find water,” Karina Feitner said. “It’s all frozen up in New York right now.”
“All of the elite rowing programs, whether you’re in Vermont, New York, or Boston, you have to go south,” Megan Goodman added. “We’re snowbirds in our mid-20s.”
These rowers are part of the ARION program — also known as the Advanced Rowing Initiative of the Northeast. They train at Seminole Heights CrossFit several days a week, and they are on the water every morning.
“We have a course by the Tampa by-pass canal next to the airport,” Goodman said. “We’re the only ones there. It’s a dream. We see gators in the morning, which doesn’t happen in New York.”
There are only 21 spots for women’s rowers on Team USA, so the daily grind is intense.
“We are all training as a team, but we are all competing against each other as well,” Feitner said. “We all line up in a single start line. We are competitors as well as teammates.”
“We’re in here boosting each other up, being good teammates; we have a tremendous team culture supporting each other,” Goodman said. “It’s fun to see your teammates win, it’s also fun to beat your teammates sometimes.”
The months-long qualifying process will wrap up in April with Olympic rowing trials in Sarasota. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games begin on July 26.
