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04/23/2024 11:23 AMThrough hurdles he has been dealing with since birth, Ben Washburne found great solace and sanctuary from it all through the sport of rowing. And it has been his near lifetime commitment to the crew that landed him great national and international recognition and experiences.
The Madison native was born with a left club foot and had to undergo several surgeries as a child as a result of that. After being drawn to crew via his father, he set out on his maiden voyages within rowing at Roger’s Lake in Old Lyme. He later rowed for The Hopkins School for high school and for Williams College.
Yet right after graduating Williams in 2023, he began training with the U.S. Rowing Team as a para athlete and trained at its camps. He was then selected to be part of the U.S. Para Athlete Team and competed in the 2023 World Championships in Serbia last September. The squad additionally took home a silver medal for the PR3 Division.
“Being part of the World Championships was a crazy experience, and it was awesome to see so many people row at such a high level and be part of it,” says Ben, who now lives in Boston and also made the U.S. Paralympic Team in Florida and will look to be part of the boat in Paris this summer. “To also hold up the American flag was an amazing feeling. It was the highest level of racing I had been a part of. It took a lot of practice and prep going into it. What is great with rowing is that the better team almost always wins the race. We really committed ourselves to the training. We had good results in the heats, so we wanted to see how good we would be in the finals. I was proud of the fact that we cut our margin from the first-place team, Great Britain, from six seconds in the heats to three in the finals.”
In such a physically demanding sport, Ben craves the quest for the perfect movements that can lead to the best run in the best vessel. He adds that one other great concept of the sport is the reliance upon the member next to you, and often the choppiness of the waters can careen towards quintessential camaraderie.
“What always draws me to rowing is the search for that perfect stroke,” says Ben. “There are so many factors towards trying to achieve that. I have spent time in boats that are not too good and some that are good. You are always trying to put together that perfect race. I honestly like the practices more than the races. I love trying to get the boat to be as fast as possible. I also like the team aspect and how everyone must depend upon each other. You have to have trust in your whole team, so the teammate element is nice, and I love that camaraderie.”
Moreso speaking to those connections through the seas, Ben explains that bonds are formed and forged through the fire via some massive physical undertakings in training. It is those friendships, however, that are the real elixir to push beyond the days that truly test the mettle of a man more than others.
“Many of my best friends are the guys that I rowed with while I was at Williams. I also have great friends from the Hopkins team in high school,” says Ben. “There are days in the sport when it is not fun, like when it is rainy and windy and you have to row for an hour straight. The practices for rowing can take a long time, especially when you are going to and from the lake, and so you spend a lot of time with your teammates and become closer with them. At the international level, I loved getting to know my teammates, and I have also had the chance to meet great people on the U.S. Paralympic Team.”
Williams College crew Head Coach Marc Mandel details that Ben was someone who cultivated inspiration among others through his dedication to the craft. He explains that Ben always adhered to the old adage that anything is possible, and so, he felt very little surprise when Ben earned the World Championships nod.
“Ben left an indelible mark on Williams crew. While he was not necessarily the fastest athlete on our team, he was our fiercest competitor and had a genuine way of leading and inspiring his teammates through his dedication and love for the sport,” says Mandel. “His boats always did well in practice and on race day, and he embraced the 'any boat, any seat, any day' mentality that we work to cultivate on our team. When Ben chose to pursue para-rowing and the U.S. National Team, I knew 100% he would earn selection to the boat and that he would have the same impact on his new crew that he had at Williams. I can't wait to follow along to see what they do this summer in Paris."
Additionally holding a job in green energy, Ben balances both career and crew quite swimmingly. For the road ahead, Ben has a one-track mind when it comes to his next focus on the realm of rowing while being quite grateful for the opportunity and abilities to maintain his tandem passions.
“I work full-time for a green energy company on a strategy group and work on some of the largest green energy projects in the country. It is great, because it is something I am super passionate about,” Ben says. “I am all in on 2024 and trying to see how good of an outcome our Paralympic team can have, and I am not looking much further beyond that. I have been very happy to engage with the training while doing this job remotely.”