Hello! I hope all of you have had a great weekend and enjoyed the MLK holiday. This weekend was a good one for us here at NBCR. We have winter training going on right now and the first of 3 indoor races was on Saturday, hosted by CRI up in Brighton. Unfortunately, we didn't have a large turnout to go up there, but there are 2 more races still to come.
We did have one of the youth rowers make the trip along with his mom, sister, coach and myself in tow. Andrew Pereira started rowing with us this summer and he's currently a junior at New Bedford High School. He's been working very hard and coming to practice regularly, even while recovering from an injury. He has committed himself and it's begun to pay off.
Last monday he pulled his very first 2,000 meter test piece and did a fantastic job. He pulled a 6:46 which is great for a high school boy, particularly a novice. Andrew is 6'5", 220 lbs, so he's definitely got the rowers build, which helps! Less than a week later, CRI hosted the AIR-C indoor rowing race and he took 11 seconds off of his time! He pulled a 6:35 this weekend!! Of all the boys entered in the race (26), I believe Andrew was the only novice boy. He placed THIRD among them all, 1.9 seconds off of first place, 1.6 seconds off of second.
In addition to an exceptional job, Andrew didn't stop there. The head coach of the Boston University Men's Crew Team was in attendance so I went and spoke with him about Andrew. Due to NCAA restrictions, the coach couldn't talk to Andrew there at CRI so we set up a tour of the BU boathouse for later in the day. After breakfast his mom Maria, sister Kristen, coach Briana Blood, and myself all went with him to tour the beautiful boathouse (sadly, Andrew's Dad, John had to work on Saturday otherwise he surly would've been there).
With all of the snow, it may seem like it would be hard to appreciate in full what the boathouse has to offer. That wasn't the case, however - the facility is gorgeous and the equipment filling it is also top notch. It was clear that Andrew would enjoy the time he'd spend there. The coach was very informative about what the grades and testing scores would need to be and what level of commitment Andrew would have to give. So far, none of it is outside the realm of what Andrew has already done, so I see absolutely no reason why he wouldn't be a wonderful addition to the BU team.
There are more schools and more opportunities out there, but this first one was a fantastic look into the bright future Andrew has. He has a great work ethic, positive attitude, and raw talent as an athlete. Keep an ear and eye out for this kid - you'll see him again and he'll continue to impress us all.
Truly a job well done, Andrew - we are all so proud of you. Keep up the good work!
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