ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Hunter Leeming

Hunter Leeming has been involved in crew since he was in eighth grade. Leeming, 17, is now a senior in the International Baccalaureate program at Riverview High School and rows for Sarasota Crew. While he keeps himself busy by being involved in student government, his church and his Eagle Scout project, he still manages to row 20-plus hours every week. Recently, he found out that he was accepted by early decision to Brown University, where he will be a member of its rowing team in the fall.

Can you explain a little bit about your sport?
Crew is a highly competitive sport and is one of the biggest-growing sports nowadays. It’s really big in the Northeast, so a lot of people down here don’t know a lot about it. But, essentially, it’s a group of people working together in a boat to try to move as fast as possible.

What is the best part about crew?
The best part about being involved in crew is all the opportunities that crew’s provided me. I’ve met so many people and traveled to so many places that would not have been possible without crew. Crew’s kind of like my second home. I spend as much time here during the week as I do at home, and it’s really taught me a lot of important life skills: leadership, working well with others. I’m around these same people three hours a day, every day of the week, and it’s been like that for about four years now. These people are really close, and it’s really provided me with a place to kind of relax and just talk about things that are going on in my life, and it’s a really supportive environment, which is really good.

What got you into the sport?
What got me into crew is a sort of a little bit of a family influence. My dad and my uncle rowed crew in high school and college. Also, a lot of my friends when I was in middle school were starting to do it, so it really got me interested.

Do you have any future goals involving crew?
My overall goal would be to be on the national team someday and hopefully race in the Olympics. That would be really exciting. Right now, I’m trying to work on that, working toward the junior national team, but we’ll just see where life takes me.
 

Do you know someone who would make a great Athlete of the Week? E-mail Rachel O’Hara at [email protected].