Kyle West '22 Recruiting Profile

     I’d be a good candidate for your team because I look out for the people I row with and acknowledge that it’s a team sport, so when one fails we all fail.  I bounced around from sport to sport before landing on rowing but once I found out how special this sport is I was quick to immerse myself in the culture, jargon and smaller aspects of this sport. I'm proud to say that I'm a rower and this pride manifests itself into my competitive nature. I will never simply let a boat gain a seat on me without a fight and I will definitely carry my weight in the boat. I love my teammates, my current ones and the ones I've yet to meet, and their drive becomes my drive. The beauty of rowing is that knowing that you're exhausted,  that you have nothing left but you still push for the person doing the same piece next to you, or the people around you in your boat, it forges a special bond which overcomes selfish impediments such as fatigue or pain, because you are working for the others around you. That's the reason why this sport is so special to me, that bond is nonexistent in other sports and it's why I'm honored to devote myself to this sport through college.

     Furthermore I'd be an asset to your team because I value academics as a core virtue, and I pair this virtue with competitive spirit.  My current  district GPA is a 5.298. I pride myself on my course load and can say I've never taken a class below a honors level at my high school. This year my classes range from honors to AP level, of which I have 4 AP classes (psychology, American history, language arts, and chemistry) and my 2 honors classes are simply there to balance my schedule. Last year I took the only 2 AP classes available to sophomores at a time: AP world and AP art history. I plan on taking further AP's next year as well, a sign that I'm ready to face these academic courses head on. My rowing success started my freshman year when I was consistently the fastest in my class (freshman year 2k PR was a 1:48.8), and when I made it to sophomore year, I fought hard to secure my spot in the Plant high 1v8. I've been consistently working that number to get lower and lower and I'm no where near finished either. Ultimately my goals in rowing is to get to the 6:40's by my senior year and I'm working towards this goal by erging regularly, erging a mixture of sprint pieces and tech/ steady-state pieces, and mixing in my own training with the work I currently put in on my rowing team. For academics, I would love a competitive program where I can study chemistry and business, and do so at a school where the education of a high quality.

     Competing at a high level is extremely important to me. The trends I've started now of fierce rowing competition and academic drive will stick with me throughout college, where I will be truly tested of these traits, and be able to rise to the challenge. Like I said earlier, If you're my teammate, I'll look out for you and make sure that you know I'm in your corner. I cant wait to meet my new teammates and I thank whoever is reading this for your expertise and time of day. I look forward to learning more about your program and how I can serve it.