Rowing to Rio

By the Numbers 

2 — The number of times Andy LeRoux has been named to the U.S. Junior National Team. 

13 — The age LeRoux was when he first started rowing. 

10 — The place LeRoux and his U.S. teammates finished in the men’s quadruple sculls at last year’s World Rowing Junior Championships. 

24 — The number of rowers, including LeRoux, who were invited to participate in the 2015 U.S. Junior National Team Men’s Sculling Selection Camp. 

6 minutes, 6.60 seconds — The time it took LeRoux to row 2,000 meters on a rowing machine to win the men’s heavyweight division of the Southern Sprints Indoor Regatta in February. 

Andy LeRoux is always on the move. 

For the past three weeks, the 16-year-old Sarasota Sculler has been at the Seattle Rowing Center, spending anywhere between four and six hours a day on the waters of Lake Union and the Lake Washington Ship Canal. 

The rigorous sculling regimen is unlike anything LeRoux, a rising senior at Pine View School, normally experiences during a typical Scullers practice. The routines leave LeRoux exhausted. He wants more. 

LeRoux was one of 24 rowers from across the country invited to participate in the 2015 U.S. Junior National Team Men’s Sculling Selection Camp. 

LeRoux left for Seattle June 16. June 28 he was named to the U.S. Junior National Team, which will compete at the 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships Aug. 5 through Aug. 9, in Rio de Janeiro. 

This marks the second-consecutive year LeRoux has been invited to the selection camp and subsequently named to the U.S. Junior National Team. 

LeRoux will compete in the men’s quadruple sculls — the same race he competed in at last year’s World Rowing Junior Championships, in Germany, where he and his teammates finished 10th out of 27 boats. 

“Worlds is a whole different level of competition,” LeRoux says. “It’s a higher level, and the intensity and level of focus you need to have is a lot (greater). I’ve been there before, so I know how to race at that level. 

“It’s kind of grueling and it’s a lot more work (in terms of) volume, but it’s pretty fun,” LeRoux says. “I have high expectations this year. We have a lot better shot of placing (higher) because we’re a lot stronger of a team this year.” 

LeRoux will remain in Seattle training with his U.S. national team teammates until July 28 when the team travels to Brazil to begin training on the World Rowing Junior Championship course. 

LeRoux is the only returning member from last year’s men’s quadruple sculls boat, which makes the hours spent on the water together over the next three weeks even more valuable. 

“Matching up in the boat is challenging at first because we haven’t been rowing together,” LeRoux says. “The (most important) thing is getting everyone synched up with both their technique and fitness levels because everyone’s training has been different.

“I want to medal, but we’ll just have to see the level of competition and how hard we push ourselves,” LeRoux says. 

LeRoux will be making his second world championship appearance in only his third year of participating in the sport. LeRoux joined the Scullers the summer before his freshman year of high school after a friend recommended the sport. 

LeRoux participated in a weeklong summer camp and quickly decided rowing was the sport for him. He was named the Scullers’ Rookie of the Year as a freshman. 

In February, LeRoux opened the 2015 season with a gold medal at the Southern Sprints Indoor Regatta, in Melbourne. LeRoux completed 2,000 meters on a rowing machine in 6 minutes, 6.60 seconds to win the men's heavyweight division, which featured 103 competitors. LeRoux also won the event in 2014. 

With the win, LeRoux qualified for the C.R.A.S.H.-B Sprints World Rowing Indoor Championship March 1, in Boston. LeRoux finished third in the competition, which is considered the largest indoor regatta in the world. 

Most recently, LeRoux helped qualify the Scullers Men’s Youth 4x for the USRowing Youth National Championships June 12 through June 14, at Nathan Benderson Park, where the boat finished sixth in the B final. 

“It’s fun being in the boat and the feeling that comes from rowing around,” LeRoux says. “It’s fun because you’re not just stuck in one place.” 

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].