MEDFORD, MA (September 29, 2023) – Tufts University sophomore
Alex Flynn was the first Jumbo men's rower to ever win an international medal when he was part of the second-place team in the PR3 mixed four with coxswain event at the 2023 World Rowing Championships on September 9.
The PR 3 rowing category is for people with a verifiable disability who can still use the functionality of their legs, trunk and arms. Flynn has a left clubfoot, which prevents him from bending the foot upward and has resulted in muscle atrophy to the calf on his left leg.
"Because my ankle doesn't bend, I can't apply power the same way as someone without it," Flynn said. "For most people it's a smooth transition from their toes and the forefoot to the heel as they apply power, but for me it's just using the toes and the forefoot."
Despite this challenge, Flynn began rowing as a high school freshman at St. John's Prep in Danvers (Mass.). His passion for the sport grew quickly and he soon aspired to continue rowing in college. Tufts, with a strong rowing program and an engineering school that he was interested in academically, was an obvious choice.
During the recruiting process, former Tufts men's rowing assistant coach Tom Siddall – who now is the head coach of the PR3 4+ World Team - noticed that Flynn's leg looked different when he rowed. With Siddall's help, Flynn was classified to compete in para-rowing by Ellen Minzner, the U.S. Rowing Para High Performance Director.
Flynn quickly became one of the top para-rowers in the country, and earned a position on the US Para Rowing National Team for 2022. He was on the PR3 mixed four+ team that placed fifth at the World Rowing Championships in the Czech Republic a year ago.
After maintaining his spot on the US Team for 2023, Flynn and his teammates in the PR3 mixed four+ showed great improvement. They traveled to the 2023 Para Rowing Regatta to Paris this past July, which was raced on the course where the 2024 Olympic/Paralympic Games will be held next summer in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. The U.S. won gold in the event with a sub-seven minute time, giving the team high hopes leading up to the World Championships in Serbia September 3-10.
At the World's on September 3, the U.S. team was second in their heat with a 7:13.06 mark behind a strong Great Britain team (7:07.29). That automatically qualified the American team for the A Final on September 9, where they powered their way to a silver medal with a 7:25.01 time. They closed the gap significantly from the heats on the Great Britain team, who was less than three seconds ahead to win the gold (7:22.20).
Flynn's PR3 mixed four+ team included Saige Harper (Sacred Heart University) and coxswain Emilie Eldracher (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), who returned from last year's boat. They were joined by national team newcomers Ben Washburne (Williams College) and Skylar Dahl (University of Virginia).
"Winning silver felt unreal," Flynn said. "At the beginning of the summer we set a goal to win a medal and I'm super proud of the work we put in to accomplish it. We knew we had the fitness and skills to do it and being able to execute it at the largest stage shows the focus and determination of the crew. I'm super excited to see what else we can accomplish in the future."
Back at Tufts, Flynn is working towards earning a spot on one of the Jumbos' top two teams this year. Last year as a freshman he was part of Tufts' fourth varsity team that was the fastest in New England.
He is training also with an eye on making the US Para National team that competes at the 2024 Paralympic Games in France next year.
"Alex showed a lot of improvement, maturity, and competitiveness in his return to the PR3 4+ this year," Siddall said. "It's apparent the Tufts program has helped him grow both as a person as well as an oarsman. Alex had a very consistent, level-headed, and aggressive approach to his preparation for World's this Fall, and I'm very excited to see where he can go in the Paralympic year."
