Alisa Bajenova '24 Recruiting Profile

PROFILE NO LONGER ACTIVE

Hi! My name is Alisa Bajenova and I am a 2024 rower from Green Lake Crew, Seattle.

I started out as a runner. I specialized in the 400-meter and 800-meter in track, and outside of track I trained for and ran my first ultramarathon on my own at 12. After my mother dissuaded me from continuing to race due to its risks to my health, I felt that my life was lacking of challenge. I started rowing initially just to fill this void, with my plan being to return to running later, but I quickly fell in love with the sport and decided to stick with it.

Now I have been rowing for 2 years and not once have regretted making the decision to start. I finished my first year with a 2k of 8:02 and in the 4V, and my second in the 1V with a time of 7:26. In this time period I dropped 9 splits from my 2k and 13 splits on my 5k, and I will not stop there.

I am very competitive and I want to spend my time in a school and team where I am surrounded by people stronger, faster, and smarter than me. I not only take criticism well, but I also seek it, as that gives me more chances to improve.

Although I recognize that I am not considered as someone who is “built” for rowing, a hill that I will die on is that in the long term, it is not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. With hard work I will become living proof of this. In an all-out effort, I do not back down for a single stroke no matter the circumstances. I will not let a bad day outside of crew stop me from giving every workout my all, and I am not the person who will only do something if I “feel like” doing it. I believe that these traits have been the things that not only have gotten me to where I am now, but also will contribute to your team.

I will feel very honored if you consider me to be a part of your roster.