From June 12 to 15, the USRowing Youth National Championships (USYNC) will be held in Sarasota, Florida, and one of Tenafly High School’s very own will test her mettle in this prestigious event. For those who may not know her, Sarah Newman is a Junior at Tenafly High School and a member of the Nereid Boat Club. She has been rowing since the 7th grade, and is eager to end the championship with her team. As we await Nationals, let’s review her enduring history as a rower, which has gotten her to where she is today.
The USYNC consists of three main rounds. The competition begins with the time trials, where the qualifying boats race to secure a spot in the next stage. The top 16 boats from this round then advance to the A/B semifinals. From there, the top four boats from the A/B Semifinals compete against each other in the grand finals, where they compete for a chance to take home the gold.
In preparation for the competition, Newman follows a rigorous training regimen during her racing season. She heads to practice every day at 3:45 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she and her team row 15,000 meters on the Passaic River, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, practice is dedicated to race-day simulations of the USYNC. Furthermore, preparing their bodies for peak performance is of utmost importance for their team, as the Nereid Boat Club has also adopted a strict no-added-sugar diet. Sarah, who “normally [has] one cookie a day,” now has “zero cookies a day.”
All of this effort is worth it to Newman, who has a burning passion for the sport.
“I like how competitive and rewarding it is because it’s a team sport, but you have to put in the work to get the results,” Newman said. “It’s not easy. You have to train and dedicate so much time and effort to it to excel.”
Newman’s history with rowing isn’t limited to her practices. In October 2023, Sarah and the Nereid Boat Club placed third in the International Head of the Charles Regatta competition in Boston, Massachusetts, earning international honors and marking one of her impressive accolades, according to ABC News. Her team’s interview after the event aptly highlights their joy of seeing all their days of practice, training, dedication, and skill being put on full display.
“I feel like two weeks before we kind of just clicked, and we’re like this is what we’re going to do, and we’re going to do great,” Newman said. Additionally, despite her rowing team having reached Nationals before, this year’s hopes are higher than ever as her team has about 12 different boats racing (around 51 athletes), which is the largest number of qualifiers they have had for Nationals.
For those who wish to see Sarah and her team compete at Nationals, the championship will be broadcast on Overnght (US Rowing). Best of luck to Sarah and her team as they race towards a victory at Nationals!
