May Madness Spotlight: Meet Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club

The 2024 Youth Series is heading to Sarasota, Fla. on June 6 through June 9 for the 2024 USRowing Youth National Championships.

This week, we talked to Nathanial Schmid and Dinah Pastoor from Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club Inc. CJRC who qualified their boats for Youth Nationals at the Midwest Junior Rowing Championship.

Tell us a little about yourself/the club you row for. 

Nathanial: I'm a junior at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati and this is my third year rowing with Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club. Our boathouse is based on the Licking River in Newport, Ky., right across from the Reds ballpark. We're usually on the Licking for practice, but sometimes we get out on the Ohio River when the water is calm. 

Dinah: I'm Dinah Pastoor, I've been rowing with CJRC for three years. I am very passionate about rowing and extremely grateful for all of the opportunities and experiences that it has opened up for me. CJRC is a hardworking, competitive, fun club. The mix of people from all around the greater Cincinnati area and Northern Kentucky gives the club a lot of diversity. Everyone at CJRC is there for a reason-to work hard and have fun. 

How did you get started with rowing? 

Nathanial: I've been connected to rowing for my whole life. My dad rowed for CJRC, most notably in 1995 when they took the eight to Henley and were semifinalists in the Temple Challenge Cup. He's currently coaching at CJRC with the novice boys. He coached my novice class when I started freshman year! 

Dinah: I started rowing at the start of my freshmen year when I missed volleyball tryouts and I still wanted to try something new that year. When I started school, so many of my friends were talking about rowing and recommending it to me, so I joined. I thought that I would take it slow at first and only do three days a week, but from the first day that I joined, I went every day. 

What do you love most about rowing? 

Nathanial: The best part about rowing is definitely the people, all of my closest friends are on the rowing team. There's a unique bond created by participating in an activity like this. People often call rowing "the ultimate team sport". That title rings true for everyone who has made brothers like I have battling through the grinding demands of this sport. 

Dinah: I love the fact that it's outside, in the middle of a river or lake with nature all around you. The noises that the water makes against the boat, and the sun shining down on me always makes me happy. A lot of other sports are inside a gym or on a field, but rowing allows you to go to so many places and be in nature while doing something that you love.  

What are your favorite 2k songs? 

Nathanial: The Chain, Fleetwood Mac, Sirens, Travis Scott, Middle Child  J. Cole 

Dinah: Normally I don't listen to music when I do 2,000 meters, I like to hear the noise of the erg and the voices of people coxing and cheering behind me.  

What are your favorite traditions or rituals that are unique to your team? 

Dinah: One of my favorite traditions/rituals at CJRC is the Swan. It is a move we do right before a race where we go throughout the boat and each pair moves their arms like a swan, it helps relax and center everybody before the race. I also love in the fall, after all of our regattas are done and we are transitioning to the winter season, there is one day that we play capture the flag and the whole girls team and coaches participate. 

How do you welcome and embrace new members to your team? 

Nathanial: New members of the team enter as novices. We varsity guys try our best to bond with the novice team and cheer them on at races, so that when they make it up to varsity, we already have positive team chemistry. It's important for the younger guys to have some role models on the team.

Dinah: At CJRC it is important that we are a team that gets along with each other. We do team building activities, whether that is an organized event or if it is just eating some snacks and socializing in the parking lot after practice. We also do shoutouts to recognize and support people at the beginning of some practices.  

How has your preparation been leading up to the 2024 rowing season? 

Nathanial: We're really proud of how this season is going so far. We had a rigorous season of winter training leading up to this spring. We got out on the water earlier than normal this year, so we've had a lot of time to get our boats in order. 

Dinah: Preparation leading up to the 2024 rowing season has been really good. The team was driven over the winter to get better and stronger so everyone came to winter training pretty consistently and supported each other through the runs and hard pieces.  

What are the club/team goals for the 2024 regatta season? 

Nathanial: Our end goal every season is to win the Midwest regional championship. On the way to that race our goals are ambitious. We want to walk away from every regatta we attend (Cincinnati Invitational, Dogwood, and Indy Sprints) with gold medals, having swept the whole thing, all the way down the depth chart. 

Dinah: Our team goals for this 2024 season are to have fun, have a positive mindset, be brave and confident and to have no regrets. We also want to push our limits and give 110%! 

What words of encouragement do you have for Nina Castagna, Cincinnati Jr Rowing Club Inc alum who was named to the U.S Olympic Team and will race in Paris this summer? 

Nathanial: Everyone is really proud to see another CJ alum making it deep into the most competitive level of this sport. She should know that the team commonly considers her the greatest coxswain ever to graduate from our club. She's a legend on our team. We'll all be tuning in to her big race!

Dinah: Have fun, enjoy every moment and know that everyone at CJRC will be cheering you on to get that gold!