In 2017, Allison Arndt ’23 walked on to the Ithaca College rowing team having never tried the sport before. Six years later, she is a three-time team captain, two-time Pocock All-American and a two-time Liberty League first-team athlete.
Following her graduation in May 2023, Arndt was named one of three Division III finalists for the CRCA Athlete of the Year award, one of the most prestigious honors in collegiate rowing. Despite the high praise and recognition she received after serving the Bombers for six seasons, Arndt remains humble and dedicated to her craft.
Sports editor Tess Ferguson sat down with Arndt to discuss her time with the program, how rowing shaped her college experience and her post-graduate aspirations.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tess Ferguson: Just for a little background on yourself, can you tell me a little about how you got into rowing? Were you an athlete in high school as well?
Allison Arndt: I didn’t row until I came to college — I actually did gymnastics my whole life before I got here. [Head] coach Becky Robinson saw me walking around by the [fitness center] and she asked me if I was on any sports teams. When I said no, she invited me to come to a practice and our team takes a lot of novices, so that was pretty common. I obviously said yes and ended up joining the team. … I just fell in love with it.
TF: Since joining the team during your first year, how do you think your time in the boat has shaped your experience as a Bomber six years later?
AA: I haven’t done anything like rowing before, so at the beginning, it was very like, ‘This is a new thing I’m gonna try and college is all about trying new things,’ but it really quickly became a very familiar thing to me. All my closest friends, people that have mentored me, people I came to live with … it became a very comfortable, familiar place on campus. It was basically what I called home.
TF: Recently, you and graduate student Taylor Volmrich were named to the Pocock All-America team. Can you tell me a little about that honor and what it means to share it with your teammate?
AA: I’m happy we’re All-Americans. Everyone works really hard and it’s such an interesting sport because it’s so team-oriented. You usually only see the whole team’s efforts all together, but I guess individuals do stand out. The coaches vote for All-Americans, so that’s a pretty special thing, but it’s really the team’s success that has allowed us to even be nominated for that. I would just want to thank the whole team because if we weren’t successful together, I would never be in this position. It’s really a group effort.
TF: On a more individual level, you were recently named a CRCA Athlete of the Year finalist, which is another huge honor. How does it feel to be recognized as one of the best rowers in the country?
AA: It’s honestly kind of weird because this whole time, during every workout, I’ve really only been thinking, ‘How can I make the team better? How can I make the boat faster?’ So I’ve really never thought of myself as an individual in this sport. It’s nice to be recognized, of course, but a lot of my goals are so team-oriented, so it’s always a little strange when I’m noticed individually.
TF: What do you think earning these accolades means for the future of the program?
AA: It’s great that our program has All-Americans on it. It’s a really strong place to be and it really speaks to our recruiting and coaching because even if you’ve never done this before, you can be really successful at it and row at a really high level.
TF: What role have your coaches played in getting you where you are today as an athlete?
AA: Both Becky and [assistant coach Beth Greene] have just driven us the whole way through every season. They never have a doubt, they never have any wavering belief in us, which is something I find really inspiring. They never question what they’re doing, they know what they want from us as people and as athletes. When they push me as an athlete, they push me as a person as well which is something I really love.
TF: I know Volmrich is training to compete nationally. Do you have any bigger aspirations now that you’re post-grad?
AA: Taylor did a program over the summer that I’ve been really interested in doing as well. I was doing my physical therapy clinicals this summer so I couldn’t really be rowing, but Tayler was rowing at a program in Saratoga and I’ve been accepted to row there too. Hopefully, I’ll start rowing there this fall and that’s kind of where I’m heading. I’ll be working part-time as a physical therapist and rowing as well, and my goal is to hopefully compete at the national level in the next year or two. It’s really pretty exciting.
