Aru Venugopalan ‘24
On-water accomplishments as a teammate and ergometer accomplishments individually highlight Arya Venugopalan ‘24 as a dedicated and hardworking rower.
Photo Courtesy of Arya Venugopalan ‘21
“I started rowing after I signed up for a learn-to-row camp in 6th grade with Mary Sarah Konopka, Head Coach of EA Crew Team, and Robert Maier, Assistant Coach of EA Crew Team.” explains Venugopalan, “I enjoyed being on the water so much that I decided to prioritize rowing over football and squash in High School.” Venugopalan has also been a part of the Fairmount Rowing Program every summer for the last four years. While being a part of both the Fairmount Rowing Program and the Episcopal Crew Team, he has received many accolades and achievements for his hard work and dedication to the sport. These range from winning City Championships as a part of the Freshman/Novice 8+, placing in the Canadian Henley as a part of the Fairmont 4+, or Winning the Mainline Slide in 2021.
His coaches and teammates are quick to compliment him on his work ethic and enthusiastic mindset whether at practice or a regatta. Jimmy Bruder ’24 explained “No matter what, he’s always the first to arrive and the last to leave, setting the example for all other athletes. He’s a hard worker and a better athlete. His work ethic and mentality make any team he is on better by leaps and bounds.” Venugopalan has found ways to not only motivate himself, but also the team. Konopka elaborates, “His competitive spirit drives the team and makes everyone work harder to achieve the team goals.”
Arya is always enthusiastic and is there to uplift his teammates win or lose. Konopka remarks, “His enthusiasm is his best quality. He keeps the team spirits high and well-directed.” Will Konopka ‘21 agrees, “it’s easy to look at our shortcomings following a bad race, he is always there with unwavering confidence that our potential is much higher.”
“He makes everyone want to work, because he sets goals for himself that others want to follow. He always takes the lead and makes sure that everyone is in line and performing. He leads by putting everyone else before himself,” Bruder comments on how Venugopalan inspires the team to improve. Konopka shares specifically how Venugopalan encourages him during practices, “He has pushed me on the erg by cheering me on during hard pieces and has helped me by showing what a leader should truly act like. He has shown me the focus and dedication that it takes to find success in this sport.”
Some of Venugopalan’s favorite memories from rowing are Spring Break practices. Venugopalan explains, “My favorite memory is the 10-days of double practices where we all eat, sleep and practice together and really put in the work to make exponential improvements.” On the lighter side, he notes, “My favorite part are the huge meals we eat to fuel ourselves through two 1200-1700 calorie workouts; the amount of food the team can put-down is often surprising!”
Arya is extremely thankful to his coaches and teammates for helping him persevere in his journey to become a competitive athlete at the collegiate level. He credits the creative approaches Coach Konopka used to train the crew team, remotely last year, for his success in attracting attention from multiple Division I Collegiate Crew Programs on both the East and West Coast.
This past August, Venugopalan announced his commitment to row for the University of Pennsylvania Heavyweight Crew Team while pursuing a Bioengineering education. He picked the Penn Heavies, because “Head Coach Bryan Volpenhein is quite similar to Mrs. K in terms of his approach and expectations for the team.” Regarding Venupogalan’s future plans, Coach. Konopka says,- “What a great opportunity! Arya gets to row on his home river and study engineering at one of the best universities in the world. I hope that Arya takes advantage of everything that is available. Also, I hope that he brings to the Penn Heavyweights all the enthusiasm that he has left with his teammates here at EA.”