By Joan Buck
Alyssa Fogel is returning to her native Massachusetts after spending several years at Carnegie Mellon University as an undergraduate and as a coach. She sweeps and sculls, which makes her a versatile addition to the Women’s Sweeps Team. Her favorite rowing moment is sitting on the start line in the final of the W2- at Dad Vail, because it was a boat she put a lot of work into. Welcome to RBC, Alyssa!
RBC welcomes another international member, Avalon Valstarfrom The Netherlands. Avalon is studying medicine in Rotterdam, she is here doing research at Boston’s Children’s Hospital as part of her degree. She started rowing at her university at home and can both sweep and scull. Her preference is for speed, so she likes 8’s and 4x’s. Despite only a few years of rowing experience, Avalon has several great memories. One stand out moment, is racing the GB Women in the 4- at the Royal Henley. Avalon brings a lot of fun and interesting experiences to RBC!
A former coxswain AND rower at Carnegie Mellon University, Josh Harvey is joining RBC. He can fill any seat in any boat as he can sweep and scull…and cox! The triple threat. His most memorable rowing experience is staying out for 3 hours of seat racing in the rain. Outside of RBC, he works as an analyst for Liberty Mutual. Apparently, he is also a classical pianist, maybe The Blades will recruit him for their next show!
Liz England is a new member to the Women’s HPG. Originally from Virginia, Liz learned to row as a novice at Clemson University, before transferring to Washington State University, where she rowed for 3 years. A member on the 2012 U-23 National Team, Liz lists her most memorable rowing moment as winning the OKC Night Sprints in 2011.
Charlotte Cavaille is another international member at RBC, originally from Brest, France. She is currently a PhD candidate at Harvard University. She started rowing last year at Oxford University with sweep rowing, but is currently learning how to scull. Her best rowing memory is her first race, a bumps race at Oxford! If you’re not sure what that entails, track her down and she can explain it!
Jimmy Hughes works upstream at CRI as the equipment coordinator at CRI, but he is happily returning to RBC to row after a couple years break. He learned to row with the Michigan State University Club team and can both sweep and scull, so he will be a great addition to the Sweeps Men. As an MSU Spartan, Jimmy was happy any time his boat beat a University of Michigan boat. With Jimmy around, we can hope for some more delicious treats at the Head of the Kevin breakfasts, as he went to culinary school and aspired to be a pastry chef!
A native of Reading, Massachusetts, Julia Saraidaridis has just joined RBC, while in her surgical residency. She rowed at Andover, continued rowing in college at Dartmouth, where she enjoyed pushing icebergs off the bow on the Connecticut River in March. Most recently she was rowing at Ann Arbor Rowing Club, mostly sweeping, with a little bit of sculling experience. She is attempting to hike all 4000 foot peaks this summer and fall and she’s looking for hiking buddies!
Ragan McNeely is a masters’ rower who first learned to row at University of Oregon. During the 80s and 90s, he rowed with the recreational sweeps team at CRI and now has come to RBC. His favorite rowing memory is racing in his first HOCR in 2009 in the Masters 8, where they placed 10th out of 42 boats. It seems that he’s pretty handy, as when he was younger he rebuilt the engine of his VW bus and was able to drive it cross country!
