UT Austin is currently polled as the number one rowing school in the nation. This is a program that has three national championships under their belt and are working hard for another. Throughout the history of athletics, rowing is one of the oldest collegiate sports.
Quinn Valentine, a junior here at Cathedral, has been recruited for rowing since the summer before her sophomore year. She rows out of Indianapolis Rowing center at Eagle Creek and is a two-time team captain, Men’s First Varsity Eight and First Varsity Four Coxswain.
Coxswains are an essential part of the rowing team, they steer the boat and provide information to their crew. This is a highly competitive and selective position with only 1-3 coxswain per recruiting class at collegiate programs.
Quinn has been a part of IRC for 5 years and before that was an Irish dancer. This was a family sport with her mother competing at the same club when she was a teenager. Quinn has immense dedication to her craft. While outside of going to school, she practices 6 days a week from 4:30-7:00 PM on weekdays and 6:00-8:30 AM on Saturday.
During the fall and spring months, she can be seen racing almost every weekend. This has increasingly become a core part of her life. Valentine said, “IRC has been a huge part of my life ever since I joined in 2021. Rowing is definitely a big time commitment but being able to spend it with people that constantly support you and perform with intentionality makes it all worth it. Especially as a coxswain, I am able to have a front row seat to watch my teammates succeed and assist them in reaching their goals. I like to say that I am last to cross the finish line, and my rowers are first.”
Following her sophomore year, she had many D1 programs reach out to her. While researching, she quickly determined that Texas would be her dream school. While in the deciding process, she knew she wanted to prioritize a program that would benefit and help improve her career.
“I think what stuck out to me about the Texas women’s rowing program was their consistency and passion for the sport. As a coxswain, it is very important to be consistent with your calls and apply what you are doing at practice to the race,” Valentine said. “It’s really about the process and work done behind performing. The passion from the program is absolutely contagious. The girls on that team have so much love for the sport but also intensity like no other. I was also drawn to the idea of pressure from the team being a privilege. ”
As a school, The University of Texas is competitive and high performing within the academic environment but also a complete powerhouse in athletics. The women’s rowing team preaches the value of being a “Texas Teammate.” The program holds three national titles and is consistently ranked.
“Another reason I chose Texas was because of the opportunities that I could pursue after attending and getting training from some of the best coaches in the world,” Valentine said.
Learning more about the Texas coaching staff, Quinn found herself drawn to visiting the campus and spending more time with members of the coaching staff. She had the opportunity to visit the program over the summer at a camp.
Valentine said, “I saw myself growing the most at Texas and developing myself into the best I can possibly be. I really want to go into coaching when I get out of college and I know a lot of successful and knowledgeable coaches have come out of the program.”
