Clark Dean (USA)

Rising Star – August 2019 

Clark Dean is certainly on the rise.  He’s moved from winning the single sculls for the past two years at the World Junior Championships to this year racing with the United States senior team.  And while the 19-year-old is obviously an ace in the single, he loves to row in a crew too.

I first got into rowing because… the Sarasota Crew team (Florida) practiced about a mile away from my high school/middle school campus, so naturally a bunch of kids who I went to school with had all tried rowing at some point.

I used to do most of my training in the single at… Nathan Benderson Park and in my high school eight on the inter-coastal waterway. This past year, however, I trained on the Charles with Harvard (University, Boston).

Team boats versus the single… there are definitely pros and cons. I love the independence of a single, but also winning races with a great group of guys in a bigger boat.

My first year rowing at Harvard was… really enjoyable. The rowing was always fun and exciting, and I think I developed a lot as an athlete over the year.

My favourite rowing memory is… winning youth nationals in the eight in my senior year of high school with my best friends. It was a great way to end my high school career. I had raced that event and come up short the previous three years in a row.

The best advice I ever got was… in a backhanded way. After losing a race when I was 13, I was told when to “never compare myself” to anyone else, namely a successful high school rower, because this coach imagined it was unrealistic to aim that high. Now, I only compare myself to anyone else by lining up next to them, knowing no one’s opinions matter.

After this summer in Linz, Austria, I plan on… making the 2020 Olympic Team and I will do it through working as smart and as hard as possible.

My ultimate goal is… to reach my full potential in the sport, and do it until it is no longer fun for me.

For fun I like to… play other sports with my friends and listen to podcasts.