A passion for rowing.
I joined the rowing team as a freshman at the University of Buffalo and quickly fell in love with the sport. I was particularly drawn to the physical and mental challenge of it. I rowed competitively throughout college and continued rowing for the next 20 years. I also coached rowers of all ages for the last 15 years.
Troubled water
While training for the 2017 Head of the Charles, a competitive race that takes place in Boston, MA, something felt different. My rowing technique, which I spent years perfecting, felt wrong. I also felt unusually tired and weak, but shrugged it off as getting old or overtraining. Unfortunately, the fatigue got worse and the following spring I developed a tremor in my left hand, and my left arm no longer swung when I walked. After several months of tests, I was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease just before my 44th birthday. I didn’t know what to think about the diagnosis or how it would impact me. I definitely thought my days as a competitive rower were over, but were they?
Competitive rowing with Parkinson’s Disease?
I thought about how I could continue to row competitively and wondered if I could be designated as an adaptive athlete. I reached out to USRowing, the governing body of the sport, to understand the possibilities. This led to a Paralympic training camp invitation and representing the USA at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria.
Racing Results to Date
7th place in the PR3 Mixed Gender Double Sculls (PR3 Mix 2x) event at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, France
4th place in the PR3 Mixed Gender Double Sculls (PR3 Mix 2x) event at the 2024 World Rowing Cup 3 in Poznan, Poland
2nd Place in the PR3 Mixed Gender Double Sculls (PR3 Mix 2x) event at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia
5th place in the PR3 Mixed Double Sculls (PR3 Mix 2x) event at the 2022 World Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic
1st place in PR3 Mix 2x event at the 2022 USRowing Summer National Championships in Princeton, New Jersey
1st place in the PR3 Mixed 4+ event a the 2021 Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston Massachusetts
1st place PR3 Mixes 2x - at the 2021 USRowing Summer National Championships in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
6th place PR3 Men’s 2 - at the 2019 World Rowing Championships
1st place PR3 Mixed 4+ at the 2019 World Rowing Cup 2
3rd place Men’s Club 4+ at the 2004 Head of the Charles
2nd place Men’s Senior 4- at the 1999 USRowing Club National Championships
2nd place Men’s Senior 4+ at the 1999 USRowing Club National Championships
4th place Men’s 4- at the 1999 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
1st place Men’s 4+ at the 1996 New York State Collegiate Rowing Championships
4th place Men’s 4+ at the 1996 Dad Vail Regatta
