Cooperstown Native Makes Good at Rowing Nationals

By WRILEY NELSON
BETHEL, OH

Colin Wilcox didn’t think he would ever return to rowing. The 2016 Cooperstown Central School graduate and Long Island resident competed at the collegiate level at SUNY Geneseo, but he thought his career had ended when the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to his senior season. After more than two years out of practice, he returned to the sport with the New York Athletic Club and put up impressive performances at two national competitions in July.

Wilcox is tall, powerfully built and a natural athlete, traits he shares with his father, Toby. He played football, ran cross-country and swam for the Cooperstown Hawkeyes, but his love of competition extends to many other sports and games.

“I’ve played a lot of sports over the years,” he reflected. “In addition to those main three seasons at Cooperstown, I did fencing at SUNY Oneonta for many years. When I was a kid, I always said I wanted to try out every sport I could. I even did cheerleading for a while, and my sister had to take me to Cobleskill for it.”

Toby Wilcox began rowing in college after a series of injuries put an end to his running career. Colin picked up the sport in high school from his father and Cooperstown rowing dean Chip Northrup.
“When I got to Geneseo, the coach asked if I had rowing experience, and I said yes. That meant I could go to the advanced practice that started two weeks before the regular practice. Unfortunately, I had only sculled up to that point, and my timing was off. But I didn’t want to quit.”

Sculling, unlike standard rowing, uses two oars.

Wilcox spent two years coaching a Syracuse-area adult team using his experience as an assistant coach his final year at Geneseo. He joined the New York Athletic Club last fall and said they were remarkably open to an experienced rower who was out of practice.

“They allow rowers who used to have good times, even if they aren’t at that level anymore. It was great to be able to get back in shape,” he explained.

Starting in November, Wilcox threw himself back into training, spending two-hour sessions on rowing machines and getting out for pre-dawn water practice on a Westchester County lagoon as often as weather allowed. He works a hybrid remote/in-person job and usually gets rowing machine sessions in in the morning, on his lunch break, and after work.

The hours of hard work paid off with success in major national competitions this summer. Wilcox and the Athletic Club team attended the Independence Day Regatta in Philadelphia, a storied competition dating to 1880. He won the men’s doubles final and placed second in the quads final. The 2023 Independence Day Regatta featured 75 teams, predominately from the northeastern U.S. The NY Athletic Club finished 12th in the team rankings.

Wilcox also put up a strong showing at the Summer National Championships in Bethel, Ohio, placing seventh in a tight men’s doubles final. The regatta featured nearly 1,400 athletes from 73 clubs across the country competing in 77 events. He and his team will return to competition for the Head of the Charles Regatta, one of the biggest rowing events in the world, in Boston on October 20-22.

“It would have been nice to place a bit higher [at nationals],” Wilcox reflected, “but I’m proud of what we did, and we’ll have a strong team for Boston… at the end of the day, it’s about living life to be the best you can be.”