Indianapolis Rowing Center earns national spotlight

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Rowing Center is gaining ground on the top youth teams across the country.

Earlier this year, eight members of the women’s varsity prep squad finished second nationally in Sarasota, Florida. 

This summer, five Indianapolis Rowing Center team members, including Brebeuf High School freshman Charles Boldt, will join the best in the United States. “I will be going to a U.S. Rowing national team selection camp out in California, representing the state, but also meeting new people,” Boldt said. “It is kind of like you are with the big dogs and you are racing some of the fastest guys all around the country.”  

Something just as refreshing as the views at practice on Eagle Creek Reservoir is the Indianapolis Rowing Center’s emphasis on team. According to Becca Kimball, the Indianapolis Rowing Center’s women’s varsity coach, the club is open for all. 

“We have kids from 32 different schools around Indianapolis,” Kimball said. “We have Zionsville, Carmel, Indianapolis, Fishers, Noblesville … all over. We have 98 kids on the team.”

“I tried a lot of different sports before and I had a friend doing it,” said Zionsville High School junior Brit Dalberg. “I came to watch, hit the water, and instantly fell in love.”

For Brebeuf High School sophomore Paris Miller, the sport was a perfect fit, as she is already rewriting the record books.

“I started rowing in the fall of 2019 and since then, I have competed in the global challenge virtual race,” Miller said. “The U-19 virtual, I got first place, the women’s single, a couple of world records and an American record. Over quarantine, I was able to break the half marathon world record and the 500-meter world record, as well as the 1,000-meter American record.”

Even in Indianapolis, this work on the water is leaving a wake worth rooting for.