By Howard Kim, Co-Sports Editor

When she walked into her first crew meeting in her middle school’s cafeteria six years ago, Savanna Jacovini had no idea that she was taking her first steps into a sport that would soon come to transform her siblings’ lives and their relationships with one another.

Over the last six years, Jacovini and her two siblings would all compete in the crew program and fall in love with it. Jacovini joined the Conestoga Crew club during her freshman year of high school with no prior experience or knowledge about rowing. She had never quite found her footing in any other sports prior to high school and was searching for a fresh start somewhere. One of the main reasons she joined was because she loved the idea of starting a sport where everyone would be a novice just like her. Upon joining, she quickly fell in love with its clean slate and unique qualities.

“It (Crew) wasn’t like soccer where you try out for the first time your freshman year, and there are girls that have been practicing since they were 5 years old. It was cool to find a sport that I could really sink my teeth into,” Jacovini said.

This enduring passion for rowing has always been her driving reason for pushing herself to test her limits as both an athlete and leader on the water. During her time in crew, Savanna quickly excelled in numerous competitions not only through her athleticism, but also her dedicated leadership and aptitude for nurturing younger athletes.

“You could tell that everything she did was with a very genuine heart and that she was always helping teammates with their issues, whether they were medical, mental or emotional. She was a great leader in all aspects,” Goldia Kiteck, Conestoga Crew club’s head coach, said.

Similarly to their older sister, Savanna’s two younger siblings, Willow and Peter Jacovini both signed up for crew when they entered high school. However, each athlete’s personal journey was different. Willow was undecided on signing up, so she tried it out during a beginner event run by the crew club. Afterwards, she decided that she enjoyed it and joined her sister. On the other hand, Peter had always been against following in his sisters’ footsteps throughout middle school, but as high school grew closer, he saw how much joy it brought Savanna and Willow and was persuaded to join them. Because all three siblings play the same sport, it strengthened their familial bonds and friendships with each other.

“I feel that in my family, (crew has) become part of our identity since me and both of my older sisters have rowed for all of our years of high school so far,” Peter Jacovini said. “I couldn’t imagine what we would talk about if none of us were rowers.”

Howard Kim can be reached at [email protected].