Paddling through lakes is where you will find senior Brandon Fenton day in and day out. Six days a week he practices for the St. Louis Rowing Club, where he works on rowing, strength and conditioning.
“Coach Tim Franck came to Central and introduced the sport to me,” Fenton said. “I went to try it out and fell in love with the sport after I saw people going fast.”
After adjusting to the sport in his first year, over the past three years Fenton has over 20 regional completion medals, two medals from Midwest Regionals, including a gold medal in the lightweight division, and two trips to the US Rowing Youth Nationals on his résumé.
“It’s been a privilege to go to championships with people from all over the world,” Fenton said. “I’m one of the fastest in the Midwest region, which has nine states, and we’ve become one of the most feared clubs.”
Like Fenton, a couple of other students joined the St. Louis Rowing Club looking to try something new. Senior Alex Mesnier and junior Andrew Grant decided to join the rowing club during their freshman years of high school.
“I got started when they (St. Louis Rowing Club) visited for their recruiting thing during freshman gym,” Mesnier said. “I then became really close with my teammates, so even after the initial excitement wore off it was still fun.”
While both Fenton and Mesnier tackle the rowing aspect of the boat, Grant helps with the communication of the boat as the coxswain.
“I’m a coxswain, the guy that sits in the front of the boat, controls steering, keeps the crew in line and provides motivation,” Grant said. “I got into coxswaining because of my size because it was one of the only things I could be highly competitive at.”
Whether racing with teams of eight, four or two, Fenton believes that teamwork is one of the most important aspects of the sport.
“Rowing is definitely about the team; you really have to work together to move the boat,” Fenton said.
Although not involved in the sport, Brandon’s brother Eric has seen his work first hand over the past couple of years.
“He’s really dedicated to rowing,” junior Eric Fenton said. “He never gives up and whenever he sets his mind to something, he gets it done.”
The list of achievements for Grant ranges from winning the national championship over the summer to being named to the United States Junior High Performance team. Mesnier recalls winning a rowing event over the summer in Columbus, Ohio.
“My most important achievement so far has been winning the first eight event at the Head of the Haxton,” Mesnier said. “Our team has become much closer and better as a whole over the past four years.”
Along with rowing, Fenton also recently enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He enlisted last year on 9/11 into the Delayed Entry Program and will attend boot camp in July, setting him up for an August graduation. As of now, he plans on attending the University of Missouri in the fall.
“I’m still not sure what I’m going to do yet but it’s possible that I could go into the Marine Corps after Mizzou and work someplace on base as a second lieutenant,” Fenton said.
Although a nationally recognized rower, Fenton is also unsure on plans about rowing in college.
“Mizzou does have a rowing team, but I’m already better than most of their rowers,” Fenton said. “Our club works a lot harder so it depends on the situation, but I would look for a high position on the team.”
According to Fenton there have been ups and downs through his involvement in rowing and the Marines. Fenton believes having the right mentality is often a challenge.
“The mentality is really hard because I was injured for a couple of weeks and since getting back it’s hard to get back into training hard and getting faster and stronger,” Fenton said.
Despite the process of recovering from injury, the success of his rowing club has pushed Fenton and he looks to finish his final year of club season strong.
“The most rewarding part about rowing is winning and standing on the podium,” Fenton said. “I want to be standing on the podium of the Youth Nationals with my team that I’ve worked so hard with for my final season.”
