Abdullah pushes interest in regatta
By: Bob Nuse
Aquil Abdullah got his start in rowing relatively late. Now he’s doing his part to see that others get started earlier.
"My high school had rowing. It was the only public or private school in Washington, D.C. with a program," Abdullah said. "Some friends had been bugging me for two years to try it. My senior year I decided to try it and I was hooked right away. I progressed enough to get a scholarship to row at George Washington University."
Beyond that, the 27-year-old Abdullah has now progressed to the point where he is hoping to land a spot on the 2004 Olympic team that will compete in Greece. While he trains in hopes of landing that spot, he has also been involved in the growth of the sport.
Abdullah is part of the group that is organizing the Princeton International Regatta, which will be held May 11-12 at Mercer County Park. He’s also involved with the newly formed Mercer Junior Rowing Club, which is attracting new rowers from throughout Mercer County.
"The thing that is really exciting in getting to have the regatta here is having the people that come out experience what the competition is like at the highest level," said Abdullah, who rowed for George Washington and missed a spot on the 2000 Olympic team by just three-hundredths of a second. At the same time, the proceeds go to the Mercer Junior Rowing Club.
"It’s been fun speaking to the kids and getting them excited about rowing. It’s a sport that teaches a lot of good life lessons in terms of discipline and teamwork. The great thing is that the kids involved are from all over Mercer County. They’re from different high schools and are kids that normally would not interact. But because of the common bond of rowing, they’re working as teammates."
Abdullah has enjoyed seeing the sport he loves grow. He’s been living in Princeton the last three years, training at the Princeton Training Center. He won’t be able to row in the regatta at Mercer Lake because there will be no sculling events. But he’ll probably be busier than if he were rowing.
"I’ve been working in development and fundraising for the Princeton International Regatta Association," said Abdullah, who credits his roommate, Dan Protz, the director of operations for the regatta, with taking care of most of the details. "There are no sculling events, so I won’t be rowing. But I’ll have my hands full working and making sure that everything runs smoothly.
"We’re lucky to have some key people behind it like Finn Casperson and Governor (Jim) McGreevey. Both of them have been very supportive of what we’re trying to do."
Abdullah is trying to help the sport grow, while also making sure he continues his own development. It means some long days, but he’s happy to have the opportunity to train and be involved with the sport in the Princeton area.
"I try to keep busy," said Abdullah, who plays saxophone in a band that plays on occasion in Philadelphia. "I’m also looking for a job that will allow me the flexibility I need to continue to row and prepare for 2004. That’s my goal, to make the quad boat for the Olympics.
"In the beginning I rowed single because that was the only avenue available to me. But as I started to perform well coaches and guys in other boats took notice of me and when there were openings, they recognized I had the skills that were needed."
And having come as close as he did at the last Olympic trials, Abdullah is eager to get back and make another run at a spot in an Olympic boat.
"I lost the last Olympic trials by three-hundredths of a second in single scull," Abdullah recalled. "But the great thing about rowing is it is one of sports where if you continue to work hard you can keep on improving your performance. In some sports you eventually reach a point where you level out. But in rowing you can continue to improve individually and as a team."
Some of the best teams in the world will be competing at Mercer Lake in the Princeton International Regatta. Even if he’s not competing, Abdullah is looking forward to being there.
"This will be real exciting to have teams from all over the world coming in for the regatta," Abdullah said. "We also have the Avaya championships, which is the ECAC college championships. The site is such a great venue for people to enjoy the sport. The growth and interest in rowing has really taken off the last several years.
"I think one of the prime reasons for the growth of the sport has been Title IX. It has created a lot of opportunities, especially in women’s rowing, for students to get rowing scholarships to college. So a lot of younger athletes have become involved in the sport. People are finding out about the sport more and more."
Abdullah is glad he found out about it when he did. And he’s thankful those friends in high school kept bugging him about becoming involved.