Prep Crew Commits to College Rowing

Last month, seven Prep Crew seniors gathered in the Quinn Library among family, teammates, Prep colleagues, and friends to announce their commitment to row at some of the best colleges and universities in the world: Brown, Fordham, Harvard, Loyola, Princeton, Santa Clara, and Stanford. The event opened with a prayer from Rev. Steve Surovick, SJ, Senior Director of Mission and Ministry followed by a welcome from school President Mr. John Marinacci and Athletic Director Dan DiBerardinis before Head Coach John Fife ’98 introduced each student-athlete who announced their decision. 

Fife mentioned that each rower took their first stroke at a Learn to Row camp in 2019 and said that he knows that this achievement is a culmination of many hours since then. Rowing at a high level in college is “a testament to the hard work that they put in, the support that they get from the families, the support that they great from their teammates and really the support that they get from this institution St. Joseph’s Prep,” he said.

The group consisted of Stotesbury Cup Champions, City Champions, and four members of the World Championship US Team 2022. A three-year Varsity rower for the Prep who was recruited to row at the University of Pennsylvania, Coach Fife knows that the balance of academics and athletics is one of the keys to a successful team. “It’s no secret how hard the members of the rowing team work,” he said. “These young men are not only outstanding oarsmen but they’re outstanding students in the classroom. They’re putting in the work on the water, they’re putting in the work on the erg, and they’re putting in the work in the classroom by hitting the books.”