Wrestling to rowing to Olympics for Bermudian sculler Dara Alizadeh

It has been an unusual path for Dara Alizadeh and his rowing career. The 27-year-old from Bermuda began rowing as a teenager and went on to be a two-time Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race winner, an Olympic rower and currently a Henley Royal Regatta competitor.

Alizadeh took up rowing at high school having been approached by a rowing coach while he was a wrestler. He wasn’t too convinced to start and had felt that “rowing was kind of for losers.” But he was soon hooked.

After four years of rowing at high school, Alizadeh rowed for four years at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. His first international representation was in 2015 when he won silver in the United States eight at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

He then took two years out of competing to teach at Winchester College in the UK where he also coached rowing. During that time he got in to Cambridge University. He successfully trialled for the Cambridge Boat Race crew and on 24 March 2018 Alizadeh lined up at the start. His crew won.

He returned for another Boat Race in 2019, serving as President of the Cambridge Rowing Club. Shortly after winning his second boat race, Alizadeh decided that he was going to give the single scull a go and “climb the last step of the rowing ladder and try to make the Olympics.”

He started to learn to scull in May 2019 and three months later was competing at the World Rowing Championships with the aim of securing a place for Tokyo 2020. Alizadeh missed out on an Olympic qualification place. He changed plans. Delaying the final year of his studies, Alizadeh decided to focus on rowing.

Then the pandemic hit and everything changed. Dara chose not to delay his final year of studies again so went back to finish his degree and continue to train in the single.

“It meant I couldn’t do the Boat Race, but I had another goal in mind.” Alizadeh managed to confirm his Olympic place at the Americas Olympic Qualification Regatta in March 2021.

Asked how he would compare his experience of the Boat Race to his experience of the Olympic Games, he says, “The Boat race, gosh, it’s so different. You are the event, whereas at the Olympics there’s so much else going on. You’re surrounded by everyone who is the best at their sport.”

Alizadeh says his experience was different due to being at an Olympic Games with no spectators. “In the Boat Race, on the day, it’s crazy. There are thousands of people everywhere. There are helicopters, there’s the press, there’s so many boats on the river. You row off to Wandsworth before the start and it’s just quiet. Then you come back and get on the stakeboat and then go, and it’s so loud, it’s like the coliseum! Here in Tokyo, there’s no crowds – it’s a bit like everyone has just decided to meet in this place and hold a regatta. Which is kind of cool, because in the purest sense, it’s happening for the love of the sport.”

“At the Boat Race, you have one shot and if you mess up anywhere, that could be it. Here, you’ve got heats and reps and people can come out of nowhere. There’s so many competitors that you have to worry about.”

For Tokyo, Alizadeh carried the Bermudan flag at the Opening Ceremony. “That was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” Alizadeh reflects. “Before this, it was getting to lift the trophy on Boat Race day!”

What’s next for him? He’s racing in the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta this week. After that?

“I think I’m going to take a little bit of a break. The longest time I’ve take off since September of 2019 was two weeks. Unfortunately, I have to get into the real world at some point! This (experience) has been a real eye opener. We’ll see, there’s only two more years until the next Olympic qualification!”