Ride Along: ARION Rowing
Ride Along: ARION Rowing
Saratoga Living After Hours wakes up before hours to watch a practice with Saratoga's own elite force of Olympic hopefuls. PLUS: Foodie news in B Spa, Meet the Saratoga 25 and more.
When elite rower and Saratoga-based Olympian Kristi Wagner invited me to watch an Advanced Rowing Initiative of the Northeast (ARION) practice, she made sure to tell me not once, but twice: “Dress warm.” So, I left my house at 7am this past Thursday wearing two pairs of pants, a long-sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, winter coat, hat and gloves. When I arrived at the Saratoga Rowing Association (SRA) Boathouse, though, ARION coach Eric “Cat” Catalano took one look at me and said, “Do you need more clothes? I’ll get you more clothes.”
Cat produced a giant one-piece suit that I’d rather freeze to death than be caught dead in, but it did turn out to make a good cushion for the hard, wet seat of the launch boat the two of us set off in. (Launch boats are specifically made for use around rowers, as they don’t produce much of a wake.) As Cat put more gas in the motorized boat, 12 ARION athletes boarded three narrow four-person sculls like pros. Well, that’s because they are pros.
That’s right. Saratoga Springs is home to one of the country’s only high performance rowing centers, at which post-collegiate athletes train for the biggest competitions in the sport: the World Rowing Championships and the Olympics. The current ARION squad is made up of 13 women ages 23-30 from all over the country who came to Saratoga with a singular goal: make the US Olympic team in 2024. “We’re definitely in one of our strongest positions right now,” Cat says of the athletes currently training with ARION. “We’re only in our second Olympic cycle [ARION was started in 2016], so it was good to get someone in the Olympics for our first cycle.”
That someone is Kristi Wagner, the athlete I was corresponding with prior to my ride-along. I first learned about Kristi’s fifth place finish at the Tokyo Games last month, when she launched a podcast called The Other 3 Years that chronicles her Olympic journey during the off years. And I wasn’t alone in my ignorance. “I meet people all the time and they’re like ‘I don’t get it,’” Kristi says of telling people she’s a professional rower. “I say, ‘for the World Championships and the Olympics’ and they still don’t get it. They’re like, ‘But what’s your job?’” (Her job is regatta director; many of the ARION athletes work and coach at SRA.)
At 30, Kristi has been with ARION for seven years, making her the longest tenured athlete in the program. In 2020, she landed a coveted spot in the only double scull the US sent to the Tokyo Games, and now hopes to qualify for her second Olympics in 2024.
The US sends six women’s boats of different sizes to the Olympics, three of which are sculls (boats with two oars per person) and three of which are sweep boats (ones with only one oar per person). That means, in Kristi’s discipline, she, her fellow ARION scullers and every other elite rower in the country are vying for only seven spots on the Olympic team. But while the women of ARION are technically competing against one another for spots in boats, they all row together from 7:30-9:30am, six days a week.
“Megan, are you wearing a Gryffindor uni?” Kristi called from one scull to the other as the 12 athletes turned their boats around 2,000 meters down Fish Creek from the boathouse this past Thursday.
“No, Team JL 2023,” she said.
“Yeah, but would you be a Gryffindor?”
Megan didn’t hear the question—Cat had already said “Ready…Row!”—but a point had been made, to me at least: These women are competitors, but first, they’re friends.
—Natalie
Conversation of the Week
“So I’ve been studying.”
“Oh, for your test?”
“No, for the Taylor Swift concert.”
From the Mag
In case you missed it, Saratoga Living’s 25th anniversary issue came out this week! You can read some of the top stories here:
Save the Date
We’re throwing a party to celebrate the 25 Saratogians honored in our new issue! Join Saratoga Living and Sonny and Julie Bonacio at Putnam Place on June 8 for an evening featuring food by West Ave Pizza, signature drinks by DeCrescente Distributing Co. and live music. Get your tickets here.
Add to Cart
Impressions of Saratoga may just have your little one’s next favorite toy. Click on the Instagram post above to see one young shopper testing out the Broadway shop’s new bouncy horses, which cost just $39.99. While you’re in there, say hi to owners Maddy and Mare, two members of The Saratoga 25!
Raise the Roof
If you’ve driven through downtown Ballston Spa recently, you may have noticed construction crews on top of Speckled Pig Brewery. Yup—the popular pizza and beer joint is putting in a rooftop, which will be open starting June 7. If you can’t wait that long to be drinking a beer on top of a building, head to Cantina or Saratoga City Tavern, whose rooftop bars are open now.
Speaking of Ballston Spa…
What do Mexican food and Italian food have in common? They’re both on the menu at Fusion 42, a new restaurant on Front Street in Ballston Spa, which celebrated its soft opening this past Monday. What exactly does Mexican-Italian fusion food entail? Well, there’s Mexican lasagna, and then Italian favorites like gnocchi, Mexican favorites like tacos, plus short ribs, filet mignon and ahi tuna. The restaurant is still awaiting its liquor license, which ownership expects to receive by mid-June. See photos of the new space, which is in the former home of Sunset Cafe, on news10.com.
This Week in Saratoga Living After Hours
Calling all music fans: Check out our Wednesday morning round-up of where to see live music in Saratoga every night of the week.