Sept. 11, 2007

MUNICH, GERMANY - Saint Joseph's freshman Ryan Pawling was a coxswain for the United States Rowing Team which competed at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships from August 25-September 2 in Munich, Germany. Pawling provides a recap of his experience as a special to SJUHawks.com:

From August 25th to September 2nd 68 nations (1,285 athletes-474 crews) gathered in Munich Germany at the 1972 Olympic rowing venue to vie for 28 gold medals. This was an important year for the World Championships since it was also the qualifier for the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing. For the second year I was selected to represent the United States as one of six coxswains out of an 88-person roster to compete in the World Championships.

This honor is typically reserved for those who have more years in the sport, but I had the advantage of learning rowing on the famed Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, which has afforded me the opportunities to immerse myself in the sport over the last five years at all levels of competition. My successes at the Junior, Master and Elite levels included many medals including National and World titles as a result of the high quality local rowing programs and coaching.

Wearing the USA unisuit, coxing a boat with USA markings and having red-white-blue oars has given me a feeling of national pride along with a humbling respect for the responsibilities that comes with the honor.

The boat that I coxed was the USA Adaptive Mixed Four with Coxswain. Since 2002, the World Championships has included Adaptive Rowing in four boat classes for those rowers with classified handicaps. For the first time, these events will be included next year in the Paralympic events in Beijing.

In rowing, I have found that rowers are among the best-conditioned athletes with a dedication to the physical and time commitments that is second to none in the sporting world. Imagine reaching the top level of such a demanding sport with a handicap. I'm an able-bodied coxswain for the USA LTA mixed 4+. The rowers in my crew consisted of two women and two men rowers- two are blind, one has a prosthetic leg and the other had a form of cerebral palsy. Their handicaps do not define them as they have become true world-class athletes and they are as dedicated to the sport as any crew that I have ever coxed. Their life stories and successes in their personal lives is what defines them. Jamie Dean, being blind most of his life, is amongst the top in his class at Wake Forest Law School. Tracy Lee Tackett was an accomplished college rower and is a successful land planner. Jesse Karmazin is a recent graduate and former rower at Princeton and is delaying the start of med school to train for Beijing (I trust that he will find the cure for cancer someday). Aerial Gilbert lost her sight when a bottle of eyedrops she was using had been tampered with and included an acid mix- she then became an accomplished rower living in California and works at the Guidedogs for the Blind. Outstanding people, outstanding athletes!

Our primary goal in Munich was to advance to the final six, as this was necessary to qualify for Beijing. Our first race was satisfying as we pulled ahead from the start and took a commanding lead. Our strategy was to move onto the semifinals and there was no need to win the race since the first three boats moved onto the semis, so we coasted the second half of the race allowing Canada to finish in front of us while preserving our energy for the semis. In the semifinals, our strategy was to win the race since the competition was very good and we needed to advance to the finals in order to qualify for Beijing. This was our best race as we finished a close second to Germany while finishing ahead of good crews from Italy, Russia, Brazil and Japan. The first three crews advanced from the semis to the finals thus accomplishing our main goal of qualifying for the Paralympics in 2008!

It was said that our final was one of the best races of the Championships as five of the six boats finished within a few seconds of each other. Our fifth place finish did not satisfy our desire to medal. But we know that our competition is virtually equal with us and a medal in Beijing can be achieved with a year of dedication and commitment from a crew that has already proven that anything is possible through hard work and sacrifice.