A Stanwood native rapidly rises through the ranks of rowing

Published 1:30 am Monday, July 2, 2018

When Sofia Sobotta first arrived on the campus of USC as a college freshman in late summer of 2014, she had never set foot in a rowing racing shell.

When she decided on a whim to try out for the Women of Troy’s rowing team, it had everything to do with wanting to be back in a team environment and nothing to do with wanting to reach any kind of competitive level.

So no one is more surprised to find Sobotta — a mere four-and-a-half years after trying rowing for the first time in her life — in contention to make a national rowing team than Sobotta herself.

The Stanwood native is currently attending the USRowing Under-23 National Team women’s selection camp, which is taking place in West Windsor, New Jersey, to choose the team that will compete at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships on July 25-29 in Poznan, Poland. And Sobotta is proving that a late start in a sport doesn’t necessarily have to be an impediment to reaching an elite level.

“It’s been exciting because everything has been brand new,” Sobotta said about her rowing journey. “I didn’t know what to expect. At first I went along with it not knowing how much effort to put into it. But as the years went by and I really got committed, I grew to love it more and invest more effort and energy into it, and it’s paid off.”

Prior to going to USC all of Sobotta’s athletic background was on land. She was a member of the Stanwood High School girls cross country and track and field teams, and she thoroughly enjoyed her time running for Stanwood coach Jordan Sneva. But she had no intention of playing a sport in college.

However, upon entering USC she began to feel the urge.

“(At Stanwood) we had a really good environment where they were really there for you, and it was nice to be around like-minded people working toward the same goal,” Sobotta said. “I got to college and I really missed that. I was never competitive enough at track or cross country to do it in college, so a friend said I should try out rowing. That appealed to me because I missed being a part of an athletic sports team.”

Sobotta was one of about 15 women who decided to try out for the team that year. Many of the others had extensive rowing backgrounds, but hadn’t received scholarship offers to row in college. Meanwhile, Sobotta was starting from scratch, having to learn the most basic of techniques.

But about two weeks into tryouts Sobotta realized she might be well-suited for rowing.

“There was one time we were on the (rowing ergometer, an indoors rowing simulator) and the coach wanted to see how fast we’d be on it,” Sobotta recalled. “My time was much faster than the rest of the group. I was so surprised, I did not expect to be ahead.”

Eventually people began dropping out of tryouts because of the intensity of the workouts. The group eventually reduced to four, and two were selected to make the team. Sobotta was one of them.

Sobotta rowed in a four-person boat as a freshman, then moved to the varsity eight as a sophomore, where she spent three years. This spring she helped the Women of Troy’s varsity eight place eighth at the NCAA Championships in Sarasota, Florida.

Meanwhile, Sobotta’s performances caught the attention of USRowing. Sobotta’s coach at USC, Josh Adam, recommended that Sobotta apply for the Under-23 team. USRowing, on the the basis of Sobotta’s ergometer scores and recommendations, extended the offer to be one of 34 sweep rowers at the selection camp. Sobotta couldn’t believe it.

“I never thought I could row at that level,” Sobotta said. “When I first got the invite I didn’t reply to it because I thought it was a mistake and didn’t think it was for me. But my teammates who row for their national teams, they encouraged me and said, ‘Sofia, you should try this.’”

Sobotta decided to give it a go, and since June 3 she’s been staying with a host family in West Windsor and training harder than she ever has before. Her typical day consists of arriving for practice at 6:45 in the morning, going for a long row, taking a half-hour break before going back out on the water for another row that wraps up at about 11:00. Then she returns to the boathouse at 3:30 p.m. for land training consisting of workouts on the ergometer, running, weightlifting and core exercises. That goes until about 5:00.

“I’m really excited about it, it’s been fun,” Sobotta said about the selection camp. “It’s really competitive. We have a great group of people here because everybody really wants to be here. It’s really good energy all the time and it inspires us to work hard at it.”

USRowing is taking four boats to the Under-23 Championships: an eight, two fours and a pair. That means as many as 18 sweep rowers could make the team, though that number may decrease should they decide to put rowers in more than one boat.

Sobotta already survived the first handful of cuts. She’s currently with the team in Great Britain, as it is competing at the Royal Henley Regatta on the River Thames for a last look at the rowers under competitive conditions — Sobotta will be racing a four at Henley. The final team for the Under-23 Championships is scheduled to be determined next Monday.

“I think it will be tough, especially because of the possibility of rowers doubling up,” Sobotta said about her chances of making the final team. “But I’m still working at it, so we’ll see.”

And if Sobotta’s rowing story says anything, it’s that she’s capable of the unexpected.

If you have an idea for a community sports story, email Nick Patterson at npatterson@heraldnet.com.