Team: Men’s crew

Hometown: Brookline, Mass.

Major: Psychology and studio art

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Noor Naseer (NN): How long have you been coxswaining?

Isabelle Shah (IS): This is my eighth year. I started my freshman year of high school. I can’t believe it’s been eight years — that feels crazy to me.

NN: What made you join eight years ago?

IS: I’m from Boston, and I went to public high school. I was really lucky that my high school had a rowing program, which is something that’s not very common, especially in public high schools. I remember my freshman year [of high school], there was a sports fair where you could go and look around and see different teams, and there was a rowing team. A few of my friends were like, “Oh, we should walk onto the rowing team,” and I kind of knew that I was going to be a coxswain, given I’m not the tallest individual in the world. I got onto the team and just fell in love with it. We rowed on the Charles River and that also made me fall in love with it, because it’s such a beautiful body of water.

NN: What’s your favorite thing about being a captain?

IS: Being captain, you’re a leader on the team. Being a coxswain is a very unique role that makes rowing very different from some other sports, and in its own way is already kind of a leadership role on the team, so getting an opportunity to also be captain means getting to work with my other two great co-captains and play a small role in continuing to build the culture of Williams crew.

NN: Do you have a favorite regatta or memory?

IS: One of the most exciting races and probably my most fun race ever was Head of the Charles in 2022. That race in general is pretty special to me, being from Boston, and growing up as a coxswain on the Charles River, so that specific race in 2022 was incredible and one of the crazier races that I experienced. I think everyone in the boat executed everything to perfection. You don’t know what you finished until you get on land when you can check the results. We got off the water and we were like, “You know, it felt pretty good. That was really fun.” The cherry on top was coming second, which was incredible.

NN: What’s it like to be the captain of such a big team?

IS: I’m really really lucky that I have two amazing co-captains. I’ll shout them out: Trevor Eckler [’24] and Elias Sienkiewicz [’24]. Honestly, without them I don’t think we would be able to do what we do as well as we do it. That’s the really nice thing about being on a big team: having co-captains who can support you through a tough time. I think being on a big team at Williams is incredibly special because Williams is a small place, so having so many people on your team [means] you get to meet a lot of people who do different things at Williams. A lot of the guys on the team are in a cappella or they do theatre or they work in labs — they do all sorts of things. That exposes me to new things at Williams that I might not have been privy to. I’ll get to go someone’s rehearsal or concert, so that’s really special.

NN: So you’re a senior and in your final semester — as you think about leaving, what’s something about the team that you’re going to miss most?

IS: This is so broad, but I’m going to miss everything about the team. Rowing has been part of my life for so long. It really becomes ingrained in who you are, and I think it’s something that you take to everything that you do, whether it’s your job, the next sport, or the next thing. Specifically with Williams crew, there’s such a tight community of people that you get to see every single day and who are there for you through the ups and downs of the sport but also the ups and downs of my time at Williams. That is an irreplaceable thing that I can only hope to find in other parts of my life after I graduate.

NN: You’re a female captain of a men’s team, which isn’t an experience that many people have. What’s that been like?

IS: I’ve been on this team for four years. I think it’s like any position where you’re stepping up and getting to play that leadership role for your team. I’ve gotten to get to know all the guys so well, as athletes and individuals, over my time at Williams, like getting to see new faces, the new first-years this year, getting to know them. To be honest, I don’t think there is that big a difference being a captain of a men’s team or women’s team. At the end of the day, the most important part is how you get along with your teammates and the fact that they trust you enough to hold a leadership position on the team, which is really special.

A previous version of this article stated that Shah began coxswaining during her first year at the College, but she actually began during her freshman year of high school. The article was updated on April 11 at 10:39 a.m. to correct this error.