PU-bound Hearne rejoins U.S. Junior World crew team
By: Justin Feil
Alex Hearne was excited to be a part of the United States Junior Rowing team two years ago, but it meant even a bit more this year. That’s because in the year in between Hearne wasn’t deemed good enough.
"I came back from rowing over in England at Henleys and I just wasn’t getting it done," the Princeton resident said. "And after three days they sent me home. Things just didn’t work out. I ended up rowing with a club crew and we did pretty well. We rowed at nationals and in the Canadian Henleys."
And though Hearne has second-guessed whether he went into last year’s tryout overconfident, he wasn’t going to let anything get in his way this year.
"After last year, I didn’t take anything for granted," the 18-year-old said. "I ended up going straight to camp. I had gotten stronger. I think I was rowing a lot better."
Hearne returned to the junior national team, and he moved up to the men’s eight boat after rowing in a pair with coxswain two years ago. The eight generally carries the team’s top rowers and was a more comfortable fit for Hearne, who rowed for four years at St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H. Hearne earned the sixth seat in the U.S. boat.
After rowing together for the better part of seven weeks, Hearne’s boat went to Trakai, Lithuania, for the FISA Junior World Championships that were held the first week in August. And after garnering a silver medal in his first trip to the worlds, Hearne returned this year with a bronze medal and a different take on the trip.
"This time around I knew what the scene was going to be like and what to expect," he said. "For instance, if a crew was getting ahead of you, I knew how much time we had to catch up because the course is longer than we’re used to.
"But it’s pretty overwhelming. There are a lot of kids from other countries that look like guys on our senior nationals team. It’s pretty intimidating. But this year I was a lot more ready for what to expect. I wasn’t drawn into the atmosphere. I was drawn into the racing."
Still, the backdrop of the Trakai Castle made for a picturesque setting and for some of the most competitive rowing around. The U.S. team barely lost its heat to Romania.
"We were edged out, but we were excited about that race," Hearne said. "We really came together. We knew what to expect from other teams (before they raced) but we didn’t know what to expect from ourselves. We were walking on clouds after that. We had the second-best time of the day."
Still, the Americans had to make the finals for a rematch. They rebounded the next day in the repacharge to secure a spot in the finals along with Spain. Romania, Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy were also finalists.
"We knew there wouldn’t be a large separation," Hearne said of the finals. "And that’s the kind of race you want to be in.
"We got off the start very poorly. It took us a while. There was a 20 mile per hour headwind kicking up water and we saw it pushing boats around all day. The Czechs got out to a huge lead. The only crew we were up on at the start was Romania, which was a surprise."
Hearne’s boat did not give up despite its desperate start, but rowed at a furious pace to catch the Czech Republic.
"We had to walk through all the crews," Hearne said. "We never could catch the Czechs. We got beat at the last second by the Italians, which just shows that you have to be ready all the time. It was an incredible race.
"Initially, we were a little disappointed. We were expecting a little better results. But in retrospect, it was pretty incredible."
Next up for Hearne is an entirely new experience almost year-round training as he joins the Princeton University team. He’ll also try to make the move up next summer to the U.S. under-23 team, a significant jump.
"It can be done," Hearne said. "It all depends on how much better I can get in the time I have.
"I’m not used to a full year of training so that might serve me well. It should help. Making the team would be great to do."
Hearne got some taste of the next level he’ll see when his junior boat took on the U.S. men’s national team.
"We got crushed," he said. "Their wake was huge. They’re so strong. It was great to race people you idolize. It was fun to get a chance to line up with them."
And judging by his recent success, he’ll have plenty of other chances to line up alongside some of the world’s top rowers as he continues to climb the U.S. rowing ladder.