Nola Foote '24 Recruiting Profile

I want to row in college so that I can compete at the highest level. I enjoy competing and working to become the best and I work hard to push myself on the water, on the erg, and in the classroom. 

I started rowing in the spring of my sophomore year in high school after playing soccer my entire life. The first time I was ever on the water was at the end of March 2022 and I immediately fell in love with rowing. I competed at Youth Nationals in the U17 4x my first season of rowing, which was a great learning experience and helped me grow significantly as a rower and person. Prior to rowing, I was on my school's varsity soccer team and on the swim team; this fall, I decided to take a break from my other sports and focus full-time on rowing. 

When I am not rowing, I find time to focus on academics - I keep my GPA high and I take several AP and honors classes as well as participate in extracurriculars like Key Club, National Honor Society, and Student Council. In 2022 I started my school's first-ever Science Olympiad team and have successfully led the team to compete at various invitationals in the area. My Experimental Design team recently finished 5th out of 67 teams in our event at the Solon Science Olympiad Invitational, in addition to 6 of my team's events placing in the top 5 at our regional championship. 

I am hard-working, well-rounded, and I do what is needed to get better even when nobody is watching. Since November of 2022, I have dropped forty seconds on my 2k time and have been erging, cross-training, and lifting to improve my erg times even more in the coming months. 

I am also a great leader; my team has a middle school rowing program and I helped extensively this fall to assist the middle schoolers at regattas, help them with equipment at practice, and provide advice and knowledge to help them become better rowers. Previously, I spent my summer volunteering at my club's Learn to Row camps. In 2022, I also volunteered at the Row, Sail, Dream program at the Foundry, which helps underprivileged students gain access to the sport of rowing. At these camps, I managed equipment, taught children to row, and led group activities. Now, I am captain of my team, which allows me to help the newer rowers even more with learning the ropes as they become acclimated to the sport. 

Each day, I choose one part of my stroke or split to focus on during my workout and aim to improve in that area, which helps me stay focused on my technique while also gaining speed. I am keeping my options open and am looking for a school that allows me to compete at the highest level athletically and academically.