Crew rower competes for national award

OSPREY — Clark Dean is gaining popularity with every click of the mouse. 

For the past week, the Sarasota Crew rower’s face has been plastered across social media, as family and friends aim to give Dean the final push he needs to capture the No. 1 spot. 

Dean, a sophomore at Pine View School, is one of five finalists from across the nation vying for the 2015 USRowing Fan’s Choice Junior Athlete of the Year award. Finalists are chosen based on character, rowing accolades and academic excellence, among other criteria. 

Dean didn’t even know he was in the running for the award, much less a finalist, until his mother, Paige, called him last Monday afternoon while he was getting ready for Crew practice. 

“I was wondering how I got picked,” Dean says. “I was confused. I was like ‘How did they find out about me?’” 

It wasn’t until after he was named a finalist by the USRowing Fan’s Choice Awards Selection Committee that Dean learned a friend’s mom had actually nominated him for the award. 

“I didn’t think I would ever be a finalist,” says Dean, who is one of two boys and three girls up for the award. “It’s definitely exciting.” 

The winner of the 2015 USRowing Fan’s Choice award will be chosen by a combination of fan voting and selection committee input. Voting will take place online through Oct. 19. Fans can cast their vote at usrowingfanschoice.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/1/details/6. The Crew also plans to put a direct link to Dean’s application on its website at sarasotacrew.org. 

Fans are allowed one vote, and votes will be updated every morning. As of Tuesday night, Dean was in second place with 1,648 points — 93 points behind Upper Natoma Rowing Club’s Arianna Lee. 

The overall winner will be announced by Oct. 22. 

“It’s really cool,” Dean says. “I never knew the three girls, but the other guy (Danny Hogan), everyone around here knows him. He was the stroke seat on the varsity 8+ boat that won nationals. So it’s really cool to be put on the same level as him.” 

Dean’s rowing career began four years ago when he attended a Sarasota Crew summer camp. 

The sport was gaining popularity among students at his middle school at the time, so Dean decided to give rowing a try. 

But his initial experience wasn’t quite what he expected. 

“I was confused because I enjoyed putting the boats away with my friends and not the actual rowing,” Dean says. 

Now in his third year rowing competitively, Dean has developed a passion for the sport that’s fueled by the friendships he’s developed along the way. 

Since joining the Crew, Dean has become one of the program’s top rowers. Dean earned a spot on the Crew’s Men’s Varsity 8+, which won the B final at the 2015 USRowing Youth National Championships in June. 

Dean went on to compete at USRowing’s Club Nationals, where he won three gold medals (U17 single, U17 quad and U17 eight) and a silver medal (U19 quad). 

Most recently, Dean, along with 12 additional Crew members, traveled to Canada for the 133rd Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, where he won gold in both the U17 single and U17 quad races. 

“That’s definitely my proudest moment because it’s something that had never been done before,” Dean says. “Canadian rowing is generally more competitive, so I was hopeful but very nervous. It ended up being a close race, and we were all just really happy.” 

Dean, who is an assistant captain for the Crew, is now preparing for the fall season, which begins with the Sarasota-Bradenton Head Race Oct. 10, at Nathan Benderson Park, followed by the 51st Head of the Charles Oct. 17 and Oct. 18, in Boston.  

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].