Supporters help PBC’s Rising Stars get closer to National Team reality

Morgan Constantine Wimberley with a poster of herself that appeared all over DC as part of NBC News' "We are Washington" campaign. (Photo by Mike Malone)

Contributed by Maria Bokulich, member, Open Sculling Program

The cherry blossoms have bloomed, the river is rowable and the first annual Rising Stars Banquet, a fundraiser for the PBC Open Sculling Program, has come and gone with great success.

The evening began with the Board room packed full of generous supporters bidding on a variety of silent auction items from a fly fishing trip in Montana to an original painting of the Key Bridge viewed through a PBC boat bay by former Open Sculler Bill Greer.

With the guys in jackets and ties and the gals in dresses and heels, the  auction was followed by a delicious dinner prepared by PBC senior member Chef Bernard Henry.  We named Chef Bernard an honorary member of the Open Sculling Team for his very generous contribution to the event!  During dessert, each athlete spoke briefly about the passion we all share to be the best in this sport and the dream we live each day to make the U.S. National Team.  All of your contributions help us get closer to turning this dream into a reality.

Katie Stainken competes in the 2011 National Selection Regatta for a spot on the team that will represent the U.S. at the World Championship in Bled Slovania.

Thank you to all who volunteered their time and energy to make this event possible.  With the support of PBC and the Washington, DC rowing community, the Open Scullers were able to raise $11,000 from the event.  These funds will go directly to our athletes for help with travel expenses to races, training trips and equipment needs.

In fact, we just returned from our first race of the season, the 2011 National Selection Regatta 1 (NSR 1), which took place from April 21– 23, in Princeton, New Jersey.   Each of the Open Scullers competed in a single through a time trial, heats and a final, all to earn the right to compete at the 2011 World Championships in Bled, Slovenia.

Next, we’ll let you know how the NSR 1 went!

Once again, thanks to everyone for making our first Rising Stars Banquet such a big success!

PBC Athlete Bio – Allix Wilde

Allix Wilde
2012 Olympic Hopeful

Allix Wilde at Yale in 2010

Born: 3/26/1988
Hometown: Potomac, MD
Club Affiliation: Potomac Boat Club
College: Yale University (2010)
Event: Women’s Open Weight Rowing (Sculling)
Experience: 9 years

Allix online

• Allix on Twitter
• Allix on Youtube (Henley Women’s Regatta in 3-seat of the Yale crew in 2009)

About Allix
Allix is the oldest child of Tom and Stephanie Wilde. She has a younger sister, Emily. She grew up playing soccer, ice hockey, and golf. At Yale she earned a B.A. in English. She plans to continue her career in health advocacy, specifically advocating for women’s health and reproductive rights. She eventually hopes to earn a law degree to help best pursue this dream.

Allix started her rowing career during her freshman year of high school. Approached by two girls on the team, they persuaded her to join by saying, “Hey, you’re pretty tall, you should row.”  As an uncoordinated and awkward fourteen year old, who considered the idea of suffering another spring on the softball team a terrifying prospect, she eagerly agreed to join the rowing team.  Four years later, she was recruited to row for Yale, despite modest beginnings at a small program that saw little success.

At Yale, Allix learned what it meant to race to win, to both strive to defeat and support her teammates in the pursuit of team speed, and that how you lived your days is how you live your life. She lost only three regular season races in four years. She became a part of a team of strong, inspiring, and tough women; all a product of a program dedicated to excellence and steeped in tradition. As a recent college graduate, she decided she was unable to abandon that espirit de corps, that unrelenting pursuit of perfection, and decided to continue rowing at the elite level. She is now focusing on successfully transitioning from the barbaric discipline of sweep rowing to the more delicate and intensely difficult art of sculling.

Allix began her elite rowing career at Potomac Boat Club, and now hopes to continue in the footsteps of the national team members that have come before her; she hopes to gain the same high levels of success that the club is well known for.

National and Collegiate Results
1st place – NCAA Champion in the Second Varsity, 2009
6th place – NCAAs, Third Varsity Four, 2008
3rd place – EAWRC Sprints, Second Varsity 2010
2nd place – EAWRC Sprints, Second Varsity 2009
1st place – EAWRC Sprints, Third Varsity Four, 2008
3rd place – EAWRC Sprints, Novice Eight 2007

International Results
4th place – Senior Women’s 4x – 2010 Royal Canadian Henley
4th place – Champ Women’s 8+ – 2007 Royal Canadian Henley

PBC Athlete Bio – William Cowles

William Cowles
2012 Olympic Hopeful

Anderson and Cowles (bow) at the finals of the 2009 National Selection Regatta.

Born: 9/16/1986
Hometown: Hartford, CT
Resides: Washington, DC
Club Affiliation: Potomac Boat Club
College: Hamilton College (2009)
Event: Men’s Heavyweight Rowing (Sculling)
Experience: 5 years

About William
William (a.k.a “Willy”) was born and raised in Farmington, Connecticut, with an older sister, who rowed (and later coxed) and a father, who was a former high-school rower. Willy attended high school at Milton Academy, where he played football and basketball, but where there was no rowing program.

After taking a year off to travel and work, Willy began rowing at Hamilton College in fall of his freshman year. Although he often disparaged the sport when his older sister was involved, he soon fell in love with it. His first year, Willy set new school 2k and 6k records on the erg and was the only novice rower to be placed in the Varsity boat. During his time at Hamilton, Willy was selected twice as a NESCAC all-academic honoree, and earned the Hamilton Coaches’ Award his junior year.

Willy’s first attempt to try rowing at a higher level came in the summer of 2008. That summer, he rowed for Penn AC to try to qualify for a spot in the four that would represent the U.S. at U23 worlds in Germany. Unfortunately, shortly into the summer, he and his bike collided with a truck, which sidelined him for two months of critical training.

After rowing for four years at Hamilton, Willy again decided to pursue rowing at the Elite level. In the fall of 2009, he began sculling at the Pocock Rowing Center in Seattle. Although he had originally intended to continue sweep rowing, fell in love with sculling. After six months of training in Seattle, Willy came east and began rowing for the Open Sculling Program at Potomac Boat Club. After joining Potomac, Willy won a silver medal in the open weight 1x at the 2010 U.S. Nationals, finished in the A final of the third 2010 National Selection Regatta, and won a silver medal in the championship double at the 2010 Head of the Charles.

In addition to rowing, Willy enjoys cycling, cooking, and spending time with his four roommates.

National Results
2nd Place – Men’s Championship 2x, 2010 HOCR
Semi-Finalist – 2010 Senior Team Trials, 1x
2nd Place – Men’s 1x, 2010 US Rowing Elite Nationals
1st Place – Ergomania 2010
6th Place – Men’s 2x, 2010 NSR III

PBC Athlete Bio – Malyka Ianni

Malyka Ianni
2012 Olympic Team Hopeful

Malyka Ianni formerly of Riverside and now a member of our Open Sculling Program

Born: 4/22/1984
Hometown: Lewisburg, West Virginia
Resides: Washington, D.C.
Club Affiliation: Potomac Boat Club
College: Simmons College (2005)
Event: Women’s Open Weight Rowing (Sculling)
Experience: 7 years

About Malyka

Growing up in West Virginia, Malyka played basketball, softball, and tennis and was a member of the show choir and marching band.  At the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore, Malyka played basketball her freshman year, but transferred to Simmons College in Boston and started to row instead.  Her first erg test, she beat almost every member of the women’s varsity team and was instantly hooked on rowing.  To this day, her most memorable race was her first spring rowing in the varsity boat during a narrow victory in the annual race between Simmons and Wellesley.  Her junior year, she was nominated for Simmons’ Athlete of the Year.

In March of 2004, her college coach, Nikolay Kurmakov, asked if she would stay in Boston for the summer to row with the women’s sweep team at Riverside Boat Club.  She immediately called her mother to say she would not be coming home for the summer.  She stayed in Boston the following summer after graduating from Simmons, continued on as a full member at Riverside.  In 2007, she realized hat her dream was to one day earn a spot on the National Team and has been striving for perfection ever since.

Malyka is the oldest of four daughters born to June Mothes and Andrew Ianni.  Her younger sisters are Nora, Caroline, and Haleigh.  Malyka moved to DC this fall to be closer to family and found a home on the Open Sculling Program at Potomac Boat Club.  She continues to work towards her Masters in Library and Information Science through the University of Washington, and is excited to be training with such a competitive and supportive group as she works towards her National Team dreams.

National Results
12th place – (12/174) – Open Women – Crash B’s 2010
3rd place – Senior Women’s 4x – 2009 National Championship Regatta
1st place – Intermediate Women’s 2x – 2008 Club Nationals
1st place – Senior Women’s 4x – 2008 Club Nationals
1st place – Open Women’s 4+ – 2006 Head of the Housatonic
3rd place – Senior Women’s 4+ – 2005 Club Nationals
3rd place – Simmons College Varsity 8+ – 2004 Head of the Textile (Club 8+)
1st place – Senior Women’s 4+ – 2004 Club Nationals
3rd place – Intermediate Women’s 4+ – 2004 Club Nationals
1st place – Intermediate Women’s 4+ – 2004 Independence Day Regatta

International Results
2nd place – Senior Women’s 8+ Dash – 2010 Royal Canadian Henley
3rd place – Senior Women’s 2x – 2010 Royal Canadian Henley
2nd place – Senior Women’s 4x – 2009 Royal Canadian Henley
2nd place – Senior Women’s 4x – 2008 Royal Canadian Henley
2nd place – Senior B Women’s 8+ – 2005 Royal Canadian Henley
2nd place – Senior B Women’s 8+ – 2004 Royal Canadian Henley

PBC Athlete Bio – Taylor Frank

Taylor Frank
2012 Olympic Team Hopeful

Taylor Frank at Georgetown University in 2008

Born: 4/9/1986
Hometown: Pasadena, California
Resides: Washington, D.C.
College: Georgetown University (2008)
Event: Men’s Heavyweight Rowing (Sculling)
Rowing Experience: 5 years

About Taylor
Taylor was a successful high school athlete at Pasadena Poly in southern California.  He played football for four years and was a member of the track team for two years.  He didn’t start rowing until his second year at Georgetown, but he immediately fell in love with the sport.

Taylor accomplished a great deal in his first year of rowing.  He was a Captain of his Novice Team and helped lead his crew to a 12th place finish at the 2006 IRA National Championship Regatta. Taylor continued to develop as an athlete during his Junior and Senior years at Georgetown and rowed in the varsity boat for both of those years.

Taylor took some time off from rowing after graduating in 2008, but he didn’t stay away for long.  He was back at it in early 2009, as a member of the Potomac Boat Club Open Sculling Program and has trained with the program ever since. His rowing development has accelerated at PBC and he hopes to make the U.S National Team in the near future.

In addition to rowing, Taylor enjoys running, lifting, skiing, hiking, kayaking, basketball, biking and spending time with friends and family.

National Results
2nd Place – Champ 2x Head of the Charles 2010
10th Place – 2x National Selection Regatta III 2010
4th Place – 2x USRowing National Championships 2010
7th Place – 2x National Selection Regatta II 2010

International Results
4th Place – Champ 2x Royal Canadian Henley Regatta 2009

PBC Athlete Bio – Stefanie Kozuszek

Stefanie Kozuszek
2012 Olympic Team Hopeful

Stefhanie at Clemson in 2009

Born: 7/22/1986
Hometown: Pinckneyville, Illinois
Resides: Washington, D.C.
College: Murray State University 2008, Clemson University 2009
Event: Women’s Open Weight Rowing (Sculling)
Experience: 5 years

Stefanie online

• Stefanie on Facebook

About Stefanie
Stefanie transferred from a community college to Murray State University her junior year.  The plan was to go back home after graduation and work on the family farm, but Stefanie was introduced to rowing and everything changed.  At first, Stefanie was interested in rowing  for the chance to travel and the scholarship potential, but soon fell in love with the sport and the camaraderie of the team. Rowing has made her test the limits both mentally and physically. Now, after college, she has decided to continue testing these limits with the goal of making the U.S. National Team.

By the spring of first year at Murray, Stefanie made the Varsity Eight, where she would remain the rest of her collegiate career. Her second year at Murray, she set record times for the 2k and 5k on the erg, records that still stand today. Murray decided to cut the rowing program at the end of her second year, so she had to decide whether to stay at Murray and row under club status or transfer to another school and program.  She chose to transfer to Clemson University, where she earned a spot on the Varsity 8+ and helped the team earn its first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, as well as its first appearance at NCAA Championships.

In 2009, Stefanie spent her first summer after college learning to scull at Potomac Boat Club.  In the fall, she returned to Clemson as a volunteer assistant coach and began her training in a single.  She decided to return to Potomac Boat Club in the winter to start training with our dedicated Open Sculling Program.  She continues to work on the technique needed to move a boat efficiently with the goal of making the U.S. National Team as the driving force.

Stefanie is the youngest of four children born to Bernard and Lyla Kozuszek. She grew up playing softball and helped Pinckneyville High School (Pinckneyville, Illinois) make two appearances at state championships, finishing third in the state her sophomore year.   At Murray State University, Stefanie earned a degree in Animal Science, and finished her last year of collegiate rowing at Clemson University.

National Results
3rd Place – Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints (Indoor ergometer race) 2010
1st Place – Women’s 1x – Head of the Hooch 2009
1st Place – Women’s 2x – Head of the Hooch 2009
1st Place – Women’s 4x – Head of the Hooch 2009
1st Place – Clemson Varsity 8+ – ACC Championships 2009
1st Place – PBC Senior 4x – 2009 Club National Championships
1st Place – PBC Intermediate 4x – 2009 Club National Championships
3rd Place – PBC Intermediate 2x – 2009 Club National Championships
1st Place – Clemson Dev. Senior 4+ – 2008 Club National Championships
2nd Place – Clemson Dev. Senior 4- – 2008 Club National Championships
2nd Place – Clemson Dev. Intermediate 8+ – 2008 Club National Championships
2nd Place – Murray 4+ – 2008 Midwest Rowing Championships

PBC Athlete Bio – Katie Stainken

Katie Stainken
2012 Olympic Hopeful

Born: 5/24/1982
Hometown: Hillsborough, NJ
Resides: Washington, DC
Club Affiliation: Potomac Boat Club
College: Boston College 2004
Event: Women’s Openweight Sculling

About Katie
Katie always wanted to be an Olympic gymnast, but realized as soon as she grew to 5’10″ that might be rather difficult.  Turning to other sports, she played field hockey each fall of high school, was on the swim team during the winter, and ran track and field in the spring for three years before switching to her senior year.  She earned the respect of her teammates and coaches and was voted captain of the field hockey and lacrosse teams. Also dedicated to being a straight A student and never missing a day of high school, Katie was the “Class of 2004 Female Scholar-Athlete” for Hillsborough High School.

Hoping to play field hockey when she arrived at Boston College in the fall of 2000, she saw a sign that read, “Do you think you’re tough? Join BC Crew!” Always up for a challenge and any chance to prove she’s tough, Katie signed up for the Boston College novice rowing team. After approximately one practice, Katie knew that rowing was the sport for her.

Despite how unpleasantly cold Boston can be at 5am, Katie was always eager to wake up for practice.  Since the Boston College Women’s Rowing program had just became a Varsity-level sport her freshman year, Katie helped the team become one of the top Women’s Rowing programs in the Big East Conference by her senior year. While Katie was at Boston College, the team earned its first invitation to participate in the prestigious Eastern Sprints Regatta and compete against many long established rowing programs. As co-captain of the team her senior year, Katie also led the Eagles to participate for the first time ever at the Royal Henley Regatta in England. Katie credits her Boston College teammates and coaches for instilling in her the passion to row.

Knowing that she had yet to reach her full rowing potential, Katie continued to row after college. Awarded a Fulbright scholarship, she lived in Germany for two years and began to scull, while teaching her German teammates how to sweep row. She absolutely hated sculling at first.  Still, after flipping her single twice in freezing water, and with some encouragement from her German teammates, she soon knew she could never go back to being a sweep rower.  For Katie, the feeling of quietly propelling the boat forward on your own is a truly unique sensation that cannot be matched.

Katie moved to Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2006, and rowed with the Capitol Rowing Club, continuing to learn how to scull.  She spent September through December 2008, in Zurich, Switzerland, rowing for the Seeclub Zurich on the beautiful Rhein River and the Zuri-see.  She had the chance to participate in some fantastic Swiss races.  In January 2099, she returned to D.C. and joined Potomac Boat Club, where she has been ever since.

Since her return, Katie has experienced the unfortunate consequences of training harder than you ever have before … injuries.  But Katie has overcome both rib and back injuries, and now is stronger, faster and mentally tougher than ever before.  She is excited for the next two years as she continues her rowing journey and follows her dream of making the Olympic team in 2012.

National Results
3rd place – Champ 2x – 2009 Head of the Charles
2nd place – Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints (Indoor ergometer race) 2009
1st place – Women’s 4- – 2008 Club National Championships
2nd place – Senior Women’s 2x – 2008 Club National Championships
2nd place – Intermediate Women’s 1x – 2007 Club National Championships
2nd place – Boston College Women’s Varsity 8+ – 2004 Knecht Cup
1st place – Boston College Women’s Junior Varsity 8+ – 2002 Dad Vails Regatta
1st place – Boston College Women’s Varsity 8+ – 2003 New England Championships

International Results
1st place - Senior Women’s 2x- 2009 Royal Canadian Henley
3rd place – Senior Women’s 1x- 2009 Royal Canadian Henley
2nd place – Senior Women’s 2x – 2008 Royal Canadian Henley
3rd place – Senior Women’s 4x – 2008 Royal Canadian Henley
5th place (5/28) – Senior Women’s 1x – 2008 Swiss Speed Order
13th place (start number 150/289) – Senior Women’s 1x – 2008 Armada Cup, Switzerland
1st place – University of Karlsruhe Women’s 8+ – 2006 German University Rowing Championships
1st place – Boston College Varsity 8+ – 2004 Reading Regatta, England

PBC Athlete Bio – Morgan Constantine Wimberley

Morgan poses in front of a giant poster of herself that appeared all over Washington, DC, as part of NBC News' "We are Washington" Campaign.

Morgan Constantine Wimberley
2012 Olympic Hopeful

Born: 12/25/1984
Hometown: Austin, TX
Resides: Washington, DC
College: Harvard University, 2008
Event: Women’s Open Sculling
Experience: 5 years

About Morgan
Morgan’s path to rowing was, like those of many elite rowers, long and winding. Throughout grade school and high school she was an athletic girl, showing her fitness and strength through sports ranging from tennis to volleyball, but was never really “an athlete.” During her freshman year of college, Morgan, through the cajoling of her high school friends, joined the Harvard Ultimate Frisbee team, and enjoyed two and a half years sprinting up and down grass fields after discs.

While Ultimate provided a fun and vigorous pastime, Morgan found that many of her non-Frisbee-throwing-friends were rowers. She “tried out” rowing for about a month each spring of her freshman and sophomore years on the Cabot House intramural rowing team. When three mornings a week and afternoon runs when she would stop at Weeks Footbridge to watch her crew team friends rowing by were not enough, Morgan decided that it was time to make her rowing career official. She joined Radcliffe Crew her junior year, and made the second varsity eight her senior year.

The summer after graduation, Morgan rowed at a camp in Austin and competed at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. She decided that summer that she wanted to keep rowing, and found the Potomac Rowing Club in Washington D.C. She moved to D.C. and jumped into a single for the first time. From those first rows on the foggy morning waters of the Potomac, with the morning sun lighting up the amber-colored leaves on the Virginia shore, Morgan realized that she didn’t want to just “keep rowing,” she wanted to race with the National Team and train alongside the female athletes she so respected. With her Potomac Boat Club teammates, she continues to train to that end.

Morgan is older sister to Jack, her best buddy and inspiration, and daughter to Doris Constantine and Darryl Wimberley. She grew up in a house that revered creativity, intellect, and focus equally, regardless of whether the medium was school, music, or sports. She played piano for 12 years and bassoon in high school, where she was also captain of the Tennis team. She earned a B.A. in Government, with a focus in PreMed, from Harvard University in 2008, and currently works as an Associate at FairWinds Partners, LLC, in Washington, DC. She (still) enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee and singing in the Capital Hill Chorale.

National Results
4th place – Open Women’s 2x – 2010 National Selection Regatta III
5th place – Open Women’s 2x – 2010 National Selection Regatta II
4th place – Open Women’s 1x – 2010 National Championship Regatta
2nd Place – 2010 Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints (Indoor ergometer race)
3rd Place – 2009 Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints (Indoor ergometer race)

International Results
3rd place – Open Women’s 2x – 2009 Head of the Charles
1st place – Senior Women’s 2x – 2009 Royal Canadian Henley
3rd place – Championship Women’s 1x – 2009 Royal Canadian Henley
4th place – Senior Women’s 1x – 2009 Royal Canadian Henley
2nd place – Championship Women’s 8+ – 2008 Royal Canadian Henley
4th place – Senior Women’s 4- – 2008 Royal Canadian Henley
4th place – Senior Women’s 8+ – 2008 Royal Canadian Henley

PBC Athlete Bio – Maria Bokulich

Maria Bokulich
2012 Olympic Team Hopeful

Maria at Gonzaga University in 2004

Born: 9/1/1982
Hometown: Santa Cruz, California
Resides: Washington, D.C.
College: Gonzaga University (2004)
Event: Women’s Open Weight Sculling
Experience: 7 years

Maria online

• Maria’s Blog – Maria2Olympics
• Maria on Facebook

About Maria
Maria stepped onto the Gonzaga University campus as a freshman in 2000 with the intention of continuing her basketball dream. That dream changed when she was introduced to the sport of rowing. This new sport that involved an immense amount of work with little to no glory captivated her and initiated a challenging yet great focus. Her goal from those first few months was to make the U.S. National team. This is still her driving force today.

Maria works it out in the ballroom at PBC.

Her first year at Gonzaga, Maria made the Varsity Eight and would remain there her entire collegiate career. She set the freshmen record times for the 2k and 6k ergometer race then over the next four years went on to become the fastest female in the history of the team setting the programs overall 2k and 6k records. All four records still stand today.

She was selected as a member of the All American team her junior and senior year. In addition, she was also a member of the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association team all four years as well as a member of the WCC and WIRA All Conference teams her sophomore, junior and senior years. Her final honor was to be selected as the Gonzaga Senior Women’s Athlete of the year.

Maria spent her college summers on the East Coast training out of the prestigious Vesper Boat Club as well as a variety of national team development camps in Princeton, NJ. With the familiarity of the East, she moved to Westport, CT after graduation to begin her sculling career at Saugatuck Rowing Club. In the single person shell, she began to learn the skills of finesse and balance that would take years of experience to perfect. In the Spring of 2005, she was invited to train out of the national team training center, however four months into training suffered a severe back injury. After taking some time off to heal and coach in Sydney AUS, she eventually took a job coaching at The George Washington University in Washington DC. Two and a half years later she resigned to begin training at Potomac Boat Club and to follow her original true passion and dream that was never fulfilled, to become a member of U.S. National sculling team.

Maria is the seventh of eight children to Paul and Pat Bokulich. She grew up playing basketball and helped lead Soquel High School to the Central Coast Championship game her sophomore year. At Gonzaga University, she earned a degree in Exercise Science while rowing all four years. During her break from training Maria spent a year coaching in Sydney, Australia, before she moved to Washington, D.C., to coach at George Washington University. She will eventually coach at the college level again.

National Results
1st Place – Scullers Head of the Potomac – Women’s 1x 2010
1st Place – Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints (Indoor ergometer race) 2010
1st Place – WCC Champion 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04
3rd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2004 WIRA
2nd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2003 WIRA
1st Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2002 WIRA
2nd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2001 WIRA
3rd Place – Vesper Women’s Senior 8+ – 2003 National Championships
1st Place – Vesper Women’s Senior 4+ – 2003 National Championships
1st Place – Vesper Women’s Senior 8+ – 2002 National Championships
1st Place – Vesper Women’s Senior 8+ – 2002 Schuylkill Navy Regatta
1st Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2003 ECAC (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference)
2nd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2002 ECAC (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference)
3rd Place – Gonzaga Varsity 8+ – 2001 ECAC (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference)

International Results
12th Place – Women’s Champ 1x – 2010 Head of the Charles
1st Place – Senior Women’s A 8+ – 2003 Royal Canadian Henley
1st Place – Senior Women’s B 8+ – 2003 Royal Canadian Henley
1st Place – Champ Women’s 8+ – 2003 Royal Canadian Henley
1st Place – Senior Women’s B 8+ – 2004 Royal Canadian Henley

PBC Athlete Bio – Kevin Baum

Kevin Baum
2012 Olympic Team Hopeful

Born: 11/01/1984
Hometown: Potomac, Maryland
Resides: Arlington, Virginia
Club Affiliation: Potomac Boat Club
College: Stanford University 2007
Event: Men’s Heavyweight Rowing
Experience: 10 years

About Kevin
Kevin is the third of three boys born to George and Julie Baum. George is a long-time Potomac Boat Club Senior member.  In addition to training to make the National Team, Kevin works as a technical consultant working primarily with the Department of Energy on a variety of projects related to automotive fuel cells.

Kevin Baum at Stanford.

In high school at St. Albans School, Kevin played basketball, ran cross country, and rowed. Kevin followed the footsteps of his older brother to Stanford University in 2003 with the intention of continuing the rowing career he began in high school.  After a successful year in the freshman eight, finishing 5th at the IRA National Championships, the highest finish for a Stanford Freshman crew in school history, Kevin spent the next three years in the Varsity boat. He was the only member of his class to race every single race all three years in the Varsity boat, and was a member of the first Stanford crew to win the San Diego crew classic over perennial rival Cal, and beat the Washington Varsity boat for the first time in program history. He capped off his rowing career at Stanford with a 2nd place finish in the 2007 IRA championship, again achieving the programs highest finish in the varsity event.  He was selected as a member of the All Pac-10 Team in 2006, and was a member of the Pac-10 All Academic Team from 2004-2007. His senior year he served as team co-captain.

In the summer of 2006, Kevin was selected to stroke the coxed four at the Under-23 World Championships. Although his boat finished a disappointing sixth place, it inspired the dream of continuing rowing after college and hopefully representing the USA again at the senior level. After taking some time off due to the demands of a teaching job in inner-city Philadelphia, Kevin moved back to Washington DC to begin training in hopes of making the National Team and participating in the 2012 Olympics.

National Results
1st Place – San Diego Crew Classic ’06, ‘07
2st Place – San Diego Crew Classic ’05, ‘04
1st Place – Windermere Collegiate Crew Classic – 2006
2nd Place – Stanford Varsity 8+ – 2006 Pac-10
2nd Place -Stanford Freshman 8+ – 2004 Pac-10
2rd Place – Stanford Varsity 8+ – 2007 IRA National Championship
5rd Place – Stanford Freshman 8+ – 2004 IRA National Championship
2st Place – Stanford Champ 4+ – 2006 Head of Charles (1st Collegiately)
1rd Place – Stanford Varsity 4+ – 2006 IRA National Championship (Program did not send 8+)

International Results
6th place – Mens 4+ – 2006 Under 23 World Rowing Championships