Senior Spotlight: Alex Defuso, Rowing
5/13/2020
A four-year member of the Owls, Alex Defuso was part of the Temple team that captured the overall and women's points trophies at the 2019 Dad Vail Regatta. A true utility rower, she raced in nearly every category of boats for the Owls throughout her career. As a freshman, she earned silver with the novice eight at the Kelly Cup, Kerr Cup, and Knecht Cup Regattas, also earning bronze at the Murphy Cup. Her sophomore season, she won bronze in the varsity four at the American Athletic Conference Championships, also taking gold at the Murphy Cup. Defuso raced in fours, eights, and a pair as a junior, including taking fourth in a pair at the Dad Vail Regatta, earning valuable team points. She also won gold with the third varsity eight at the Murphy Cup, Doc Hosea, and Kerr Cup Regattas. Defuso graduated from the College of Liberal Arts in May with a degree in Psychology.
Owlsports.com caught up with Defuso, after her final semester at Temple.
In the book of your life, what’s the title of the Temple chapter? Growing Pains
What’s the best part about being a member of the crew team at Temple/what will you miss the most? I’m sure it’s been said a million times over, but the people. My teammates, my coaches, all of our support staff, and even my fellow student-athletes have made my time at Temple so memorable and fun. I don’t think I went a day without laughter so long as I saw one of my teammates, and every hard situation has been made better with the support and caring that has been so freely offered. Every single person that’s become a part of the family that I’ve formed while I’ve been here will be missed terribly.
What is your favorite memory of being a student-athlete at Temple? My favorite memory as a student-athlete at Temple must be sophomore year Knecht Cup. It’s usually a two-day event with heats and semis on Saturday and finals on Sunday, but due to weather (there was always some ridiculous weather at Mercer) the decision was made by the organizers to condense all racing into Sunday. For more boat classes it’s not really an issue and they just cut down on how many boats they took from heats, but because the V4 is such a massive category, we ended up have to do heats, semis, and the final essentially back to back to back. And I do mean that almost literally- we essentially only had enough time to get off the water, have a short debrief, and reapply sunscreen before launching again. It was absolutely one of the most ridiculous and fun race days I’ve ever had in my entire life and was the epitome of never knowing what can happen. Plus it was probably the only time I have ever actually appreciated the idea of a surprise 2k.
If you could give advice to your freshman year self, what would it be? So, so many things. First and foremost, get out of your own way and stop feeling as though people want to see you fail. Savor every moment of every workout, even the ones that suck. Maybe even especially the ones that suck since you usually come out of it with your most memorable stories. There is a silver lining to every failure if you are willing to look for it. And though it is something that I would spend the first two years of college rolling my eyes to, the raw truth is that these years pass so quickly and there very soon comes a day when you look up and realize your time is almost up. Don’t waste that. Finally, being a part of this team and being a collegiate athlete at all is the privilege of a lifetime and should be treated as such. There is such a beautiful change in this experience that comes from that small shift in perspective. Gratitude will open your eyes to so many of the small wonders of rowing and reconnect you to your roots of love for the sport.
Where do you see yourself in five years? Ideally, in five years’ time I will have completed my master’s program at UMass and begun my forays into life as a “real” adult. I hope to be working in athletic administration in some capacity or to otherwise be working in/near college athletics. Additionally, I want to stay close to rowing, so I’d love to go into coaching juniors once I settle in somewhere and develop some consistency in day to day life. Beyond that, things are a little hard to plan for right now considering the state of the world, so I would say the most important things I could possibly be in five years is happy, healthy, and financially stable. Everything past that is just a bonus.
I could probably fill a book with the amount of people there are to thank for their help along this journey, but first and foremost I owe a massive debt of gratitude to my parents for always supporting me in this admittedly strange sport from day one, even if they didn’t always understand what I was carrying on about. Their support in high school led to my ability to pursue this in college, and I will always be grateful to them for giving me the space to be my own athlete as well as my own person. I would also like to thank all of the coaches and staff that have been a part of my athletic development, with a special thanks to the TUWR staff for taking a bit of a chance on me, someone who only just met the recruiting standards at the time. Sam and the weight room staff for always being awesome and giving me a place to gain/explore new skills. Helen and Cory for keeping me in one piece. All the administrators, facility/equipment workers, support staff, advisors, administrators and professors also deserve more thanks then I could possibly express here for directly and indirectly contributing to my successes both as an athlete and as a student.Alex Defuso, Temple Rowing Class of 2020
