Adams leads St. Joseph's men at Dad Vail Regatta
While Gavin Adams has done well as a pharmaceutical marketing major at St. Joseph's University, he does not plan to immediately join the work world.
"I plan to do some traveling in Europe," the senior said. "Too many people, I think, go out and right away get locked into a career that might not be the best for them. I want to find myself, explore different opportunities."
For now, Adams is focused on finishing his rowing career in winning fashion. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Adams is a stalwart in the No. 4 seat for St. Joseph's eight-man varsity heavyweight crew.
"He's the biggest, strongest guy on our team," coach Drew Hill said. "He's always worked hard and set the standard for everybody else."
At yesterday's start to the 70th annual Dad Vail Regatta, in rainy and damp conditions on the Schuylkill, Adams and the small-in-stature Hawks posted a winning heat time of 5 minutes, 49.40 seconds. Their closest competitors were Florida Tech (5:50.41) and Bucknell (5:53.81).
The other seniors on the boat, which features four underclassmen, are Kevin Jacobs, Marc Malott and Adam Stoll.
"The seniors showed their experience," Hill said. "They didn't have their best row of the year, but they still managed to win."
Adams, who grew up in the Holmesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia, took up rowing at Father Judge after he broke his left wrist in two places in eighth grade, sidetracking his interest in football and basketball.
At Judge, Adams rowed for three seasons under 35-year coach Phil Roche. Another former Crusader, sophomore Tim Strybuck, is part of St. Joseph's varsity eight.
A highlight for Adams and company was winning last month's Bergen Cup Regatta, representative of the Philadelphia-area championship. It was the program's first varsity heavyweight eight title at the event since 1978.
