Sacred Heart Senior Signs with Division 1 USC for Rowing

Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Sacred Heart Academy Class of 2012, has signed with Division 1, 5th ranked USC for rowing. 

The SHA senior began rowing in March, 2010 for Connecticut Boat Club  of Norwalk, a highly competitive female only rowing club that practices six day a week under head coach Liz Trond.

Deirdre made the Varsity "A" boat last spring, where she and her teammates earned a bronze medal at Nationals in Oakridge, TN in the Varsity 8 boat.

The team travels to many of the top regattas…the top 10 athletes just returned from Newport, California where they competed against the top West Coast teams. Deirdre rowed in both the Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 and the team took second place in both events in CA.

The weekend before, the entire team was in Philadelphia racing against many of the best East Coast teams. In October, the top rowers from CBC competed in Boston at the Head of the Charles; CBC varsity 4 took first place in a field of 76 boats.

Last summer Deirdre made the US Junior National Team, representing the US in the Varsity 8 boat which placed third behind Germany and Romania. The competition took place at Dorney Lake, outside of London, which is the same venue where the Olympics will be held this summer. 

Deirdre has currently been invited to a preselection camp in Texas in December in hopes of making the National Team again next summer. The World Nationals will be held in Bulgaria in August.

Many of the rowers from CBC continue to row in college, most competing for Division I programs. Deirdre had many schools interested; she considered Duke and The University of Virginia, but ultimately decided on USC for its academics, 5th place ranking, and great climate, which enables the team to practice on the water year round.

Offers Patrick McAllister, Deirdre’s guidance counselor: “Academically, Deirdre has earned honors for the three-plus years that she has been enrolled at Sacred Heart. She has qualified for, and elected to challenge herself with a number of honors level and AP courses, and always rises to the challenge of those offerings. 

"She is currently enrolled in two AP’s in addition to Precalculus and Physics, and I applaud her willingness to stretch academically," he said. "She has expressed a fondness for animals, but has not decided on a concentration of study at the college level. She will graduate among an extremely strong class of seniors that likely will place 100 percent of its members in four year colleges and universities in and out of the country. I am confident that Deirdre is well positioned for success at USC.”