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Nate Phelps '18 Breaks Rowing World Record
A huge congratulations to Nate Phelps ‘18 who broke the U-17 10,000 meter indoor rowing world record at the Maritime Rowing Club on Saturday, March 4.
Phelps beat the previous record, held by Trey Holterman of Hillsborough, CA, by 5.8 seconds setting a new time of 34:10.7. “It’s really cool to have a world record,” he said. “It’s still sinking in, to be honest.”
The fact that the St. Luke’s junior has only been rowing since last fall makes his accomplishment even more stunning. The Ridgefield native puts his success down to the gruelling training schedule he undertakes every week: “We train Tuesday through Sunday for a minimum of three hours per day. I’m thrilled that the hard work is paying off.”
Phelps goes straight from St. Luke’s to the club in Norwalk and trains from 3:00pm to 6:00pm Tuesday-Friday, often staying on to do a little more, and 9:00am to noon both Saturday and Sunday. The winter schedule has been particularly tough as the only time Phelps and his colleagues have been on the water was on a recent training trip to Florida.
Just after the team returned to Connecticut, Phelps was given a surprise 40-minute ergometer test during which he broke the world record. He said, “I had been talking with my coach about the possibility of going for the record but it was really exciting to actually do it. We were a little nervous to begin with as there was some confusion as to whether the record was based on birth year or my age at the time. Thankfully, it was the latter so my time stood.”
Phelps will be rowing in the Heavyweight Quad this Spring and hopes to help Maritime Rowing Club win its third straight National Championship in the 2000m skull.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
