Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1535304
22 WAC Magazine | wac.net living fit meet the athlete Meet the athlete Sam Dommer By Mae Folsom Jacobson Sam Dommer grew up in Northern California and began rowing his sophomore year of high school on Lake Natoma, home of the West Coast Conference and Pac-12 rowing championships. He went on to row at the University of Washington, where his varsity eight-plus-coxswain crew won the Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championship his senior year. Post-college, Sam trained with the U.S. national team for two years before competing in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as a member of the U.S. men's eight, which finished fourth. Now a father of two, Sam works as a commercial real estate broker at JLL. He joined the WAC in November 2024 and enjoys taking his daughter to Saturday morning swim lessons and working out. Q. What drew you to rowing? A. It's a team sport, and my strength is supporting other people. I can get the fastest rower to their fastest stride. Help- ing people row to their full potential is rewarding as a team member. Q. You started training for the Olympics immediately aer graduating from UW. What was that experience like? A. irty of us lived and trained in Princeton, New Jersey. We would row or work out six days a week from June 2014 to August 2016. Only 12 of us made it to the Olympics, so the internal competition was intense. It never got boring. Q. How was your Olympic experience? A. It was very surreal. It was a complete 180 from living in New Jersey to suddenly being handed Olympic gear and hav- ing a police escort and people taking your photo. Being in the Rio finals was an out-of-body experience. Q. What's special about the Seattle rowing scene? A. Rowing is in the fabric of our city. We have great access to fresh water, and there's always somewhere protected from the wind to practice. e legacy runs deep because of that. ere's a lot of history and momentum here with a sport that sits on the fringe. Q. Any advice for aspiring rowers? A. Go to the Pocock Rowing Center and take a lesson. If you already know how to row, put as much as you want into it. You'll get that much back in return. WAC MEN'S ROWING The WAC men's eight-plus-coxswain rowing team trains out of College Club Seattle on Lake Union. Composed of former collegiate and national team rowers, the team is led by WAC member Sam Dommer and competed in the Windermere Cup in early May. Rowers with previous experience who are interested in future races can contact Sam at samdommer@gmail.com. Q U I N N T O O M E Y Member Sam Dommer competed in the 2016 Olympics and now leads the WAC rowing team.