When senior Lennie Char began rowing as a sophomore, she never really expected much out of the sport except a new hobby. Now two years and dozens of matches later, Char’s dedication to rowing has given her more than she ever imagined—a spot on the University of Tulsa rowing team.

Unlike most collegiate rowing recruits, Char did not spend her childhood and adolescence rowing. She was initially attracted to the sport when the school showcased a few rowing boats in the quad a couple years ago. Char has a cousin who also rows and had gone to some of his races, so she understood the basics of the sport.

“At first, I didn’t really see myself rowing crew because it seemed like I was too small,” Char said. “But people started telling me that I could be a coxswain and that’s when I first got involved.”

As a coxswain, Char is “kind of like a coach out on the boat.” The coxswain is the person in charge of the point, giving directions in regards to navigation and steering. As a coxswain, Char understands that with her position comes great responsibility.

“If we win or lose, it’s on my shoulders,” Char said. “I have to be [my teammates’] eyes and even though I’m not necessarily doing a physical workout, I’m really doing a mental workout.”

Char, who competes for Los Gatos Rowing Club, has a major impact on her team’s success. According to sophomore Nadia Roohparvar, a teammate, Char does a great job leading the crew during every match.

“Lennie motivates her teammates to work harder in our races and helps us become better mechanically and physically,” Roohparvar said. “She has a pretty big impact in the areas that help us race better.”

Char chose to attend Tulsa to continue her rowing career because of its highly competitive Division 1 program and its small student population of a little over 4,000. Char was offered a scholarship to row from Tulsa, so she was impressed by how much the school took an interest in her as both a student and an athlete. Another positive aspect of Tulsa was its placement in Conference USA, which allows it to compete against teams on the West Coast like Stanford, Cal and UCLA.

“I was mainly looking for a school with a great program and small class sizes, and Tulsa offered both,” Char said. “And since we play teams around here I get to come back to California often.”

Even though Char will soon move on to the collegiate level, she will never forget her time spent rowing during high school, where she first developed her love for rowing.

“I really like my team, I love the feeling of being part of something,” Char said.