By Jason Marsteller<\/p>\n
PHOENIX, Arizona, October 3. COMING off a solid performance at the initial FINA World Youth Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ian Rowe has a solid future ahead of him. Earlier this month, Rowe earned a spot on the USA Swimming 2006-07 National Junior Team along with a pair of teammates (Kirsten Groome and Felicia Lee) from the North Baltimore Aquatic Club.<\/p>\n
\u201c[World Youth] was awesome,\u201d Rowe said. \u201cWe did so well as a team. The best thing about the experience was representing the U.S., and being able to compete against foreign athletes. The whole experience was so awesome, I can\u2019t really put it into words.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his primary race at the World Youth meet, Rowe earned international hardware with a bronze in the 1500 freestyle. He finished the race with a time of 15:33.97. That performance proved to be a confidence booster for the 17-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know now that I have competed against some of the best people around the world,\u201d Rowe said of his opponents at World Youth. \u201cI can use that to propel me in my racing from now on. If I can [compete against the best at World Youth], I can [compete against anyone].\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowe found his way to the sport just like a lot of younger age groupers \u2013 solid parenting. As Rowe describes, his parents, Carla and Peter, wanted to make sure he was safe around the water. This led him into swimming lessons where he immediately developed a love for the sport. After lessons, he never wanted to get out of the water. That parental devotion hasn\u2019t been overlooked by the Maryland native when asked who has made the biggest impact on his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents,\u201d Rowe said. \u201cYou guys must hear that a lot, but they have really helped me through the hard times when I wanted to quit. They always stay positive. They don\u2019t know much about swimming, but they know that I love it. They also help me to study and make sure I am doing well with my schoolwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another distance freestyler caught Rowe\u2019s eye at an early age and has been an inspiration to the budding distance star. Erik Vendt, at 5-10 and 160 pounds, has a similar build as Rowe and gives the Junior Team member hope that greatness can still be found in a smaller package.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always been pretty short my whole life,\u201d Rowe said. \u201cI saw [Erik] when I was younger and thought, \u2018This guy is just awesome.\u2019 He has to work hard, so I try to model myself after him.\u201d<\/p>\n
That same hard work and dedication that has led Vendt back into the competitive arena with Club Wolverine, has been a hallmark for the younger Rowe. When asked what one piece of advice he had for anyone his age looking to improve in the sport, Rowe immediately responded with \u201cHard Work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to work hard every day,\u201d Rowe said. \u201cWhether it is in warm ups, the middle of sets, or at the end of the sets, you have to work hard. You also have to work hard on your technique. If you are training fast with bad technique, you really aren\u2019t going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowe also spoke to SwimmingWorldMagazine.com about his favorite sets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of favorite sets, because I like to work really hard,\u201d Rowe said. \u201cI have success in a lot of them, but my favorite is 30 100s in long course free on 1:30.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Junior Team berth and the World Youth experience have only helped Rowe\u2019s drive to be even more successful on the international scene while representing the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing named to the World Youth Team [has been my biggest accomplishment],\u201d Rowe said. \u201cThat was huge for me, but I am not going to stop there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Jason Marsteller PHOENIX, Arizona, October 3. COMING off a solid performance at the initial FINA World Youth Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ian Rowe has a solid future<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-usa","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n