Row, row, row your boat

These seven local rowing standouts will compete at collegiate level



BRING AN OAR—From left, Camden Park-Coburn, Madelynn Long, Alexandria Nemecek, Jason Vozovoy and Hudson Forster will continue rowing in college. Sophia Schalk and Fiona Sewell are not pictured. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

BRING AN OAR—From left, Camden Park-Coburn, Madelynn Long, Alexandria Nemecek, Jason Vozovoy and Hudson Forster will continue rowing in college. Sophia Schalk and Fiona Sewell are not pictured. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

Seven rowers walk into a boat. . . .

Is that how it starts?

Seven athletes from Acorn country, who train with Channel Islands Rowing Club, will continue participating in the sport in college.

“We all come from different backgrounds and schools,” said Hudson Forster, an Oaks Christian High senior. “We all want our teammates to succeed.”

Forster, a coxswain, is bound for Loyola Marymount University.

Teammates Camden Park-Coburn (Oaks Christian/UC San Diego), Madelynn Long (Camarillo/ Southern Methodist University), Alexandria Nemecek (Westlake/ Washington State), Sophia Schalk (Westlake/University of Texas), Fiona Sewell (Oaks Christian/ Georgetown) and Jason Vozovoy (Westlake/Orange Coast College) will also row in college.

Nobody grew up spooning an oar in the crib. These teens aren’t Vikings from Mel Brooks’ “History of the World, Part I.”

Forster spent his first two years of high school golfing.

Schalk was a cheerleader and grew up competing in track and field, softball, and basketball.

Nemecek, who was born and raised in Bothell, Washington, played basketball as a youngster.

Vozovoy grew up with basketball, soccer and swimming, and he played water polo as a freshman.

Sewell spent 13 years in the horseback riding circuit.

Forster said the coxswain is like the assistant coach to the assistant coach, directing and motivating teammates safely. He’s well suited for the job.

The Lion honors student picked up the sport at the end of his sophomore year when he was asked to fill in for a coxswain who couldn’t attend a tournament in Sacramento.

He’s 5-foot-7 and 115 pounds (he started the sport at 5-foot-5 and 96 pounds), but he’s not a lightweight. Forster is the ultimate motivator.

“I’m here to be a good person and influence my teammates and encourage them. They are so powerful,” he said. “I remind them how great they are and that they have much more power and strength than they think.”

Forster, who played the alto saxophone from sixth to 10th grades, enjoys golfing, listening to music and watching “The Sandlot”— he can relate with the Smalls character from the movie.

Schalk followed her older sister, Sammie, into rowing. She’ll now join her sister with the Longhorns.

“She’s my best friend,” Sophia Schalk said of Sammie. “If I’m in the middle of a race, I think about her pushing me. And I think about how she’s killing it at Texas—she’s doing great. Her being my mentor in the sport pushes me a ton.”

Schalk, an honors student with a 3.94 GPA, expressed her giddiness about setting sail for Austin.

“Texas has everything I’m looking for. I’ve always wanted to go to a big school. There’s great school spirit, great athletics and a great rowing team—and great academics, too,” Schalk said. “My sister is there, which is a big plus.”

Nemecek started rowing as a sophomore in Bothell, which is 20 miles outside of Seattle.

“I fell in love with it,” she said.

The Warrior, who sports a 4.2 GPA, moved to California in 2019. She spent nine years in 4-H showing her pet chow. She’s passionate about photography; she’s taken senior portraits of her friends.

Nemecek wants to study criminology and eventually work for the FBI. She’s also looking forward to becoming a college athlete.

“Practices were rough, but I really fell in love with it when you race,” she said. “There’s no better feeling of crossing the finish line first.”

Vozovoy will use rowing to further his education and open up doors in the workforce. He said he wants to improve on Orange Coast College’s squad and earn a spot on the UC San Diego roster.

The honors student wants to pursue a career in the medical field. Before the pandemic, he volunteered at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills. He also has a part-time job in advertising.

He’s learned how to work well with others in rowing.

“Other people are pushing for you, and you’re pushing for them. Everyone has a part in the way the boat moves,” Vozovoy said.

Sewell spent 13 years as a horseback rider, but she suffered a bad fall her sophomore year. Her horse stepped on her back.

“That was pretty brutal,” she said.

It was too painful to use the rowing machine while she was healing. She turned to yoga and dabbled in cheerleading, but rowing remained on her mind.

“I had so much trauma from horseback riding. I didn’t know if I wanted to continue doing it, but I knew I wanted to do a sport,” Sewell said. “I knew I wanted to do something to stay active and be a part of something, not only a team but also part of a community.”

She said she’s excited about rowing at the next level, just like her club teammates.

“The kids are really great,” Sewell said. “They’re all going to go on and do great things.”

She will reunite with friend and Oaks Christian classmate Chloe Bendetti, a women’s tennis player at Georgetown.

Nemecek said the Channel Islands rowers have grown closer during the pandemic.

“We all started to come together. It felt more like a team due to COVID,” Nemecek said. “We learned how to work better as a team, and I think has made our boats better, honestly.”

Follow sports editor Eliav Appelbaum on Twitter @EliavAppelbaum.