Leilani Ukiteyedi '25 Recruiting Profile

Hi! I’m Leilani, I started rowing in my freshman year of highschool because I was tired of playing sports that involved a ball (basketball, soccer, tennis, Golf). I wasn’t always interested in sports. You could say I was on the artsy side (instruments, music, art, cooking, etc). When I joined crew I quickly became faster, stronger, and a great teammate. I’m good at adapting to new environments including where I row, who I row behind or even being stroke(starboard rig)! After a year of hard work I became the strongest on my novice team and as of now, I am on the varsity team at my school. Very recently I’ve been struggling with a shoulder injury that i’m still working on recovering. I was unable to row for 2 months. In my times in recovery I would attend all of my teams races and as many water practices as I could. After partial recovery I got back into it and was placed in a brand new boat. But within a month of training together, we were able to win 2 ribbons, a medal, and an entry to nationals. These experiences always reminds me of what my dad always says, “Practice makes perfect.” so I will continue to strive to be a great athlete and teammate to reach my full potential and make a difference!