Men's Rowing | 10/21/2008 6:17:50 PM

BOSTON, MA - In an Olympic year when older athletes competing for gold in Beijing China became the norm, it was no surprise to RIT Head Crew Coach, Jim Bodenstedt that one of his former athletes, Mike Sivigny '97 wanted to test himself against the very best in the sport of rowing. And what better place to line up behind present and former Olympians than the prestigious 44th Head of the Charles in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sure, elite athletes take time off from the brutal training routine preceding the Olympic drive, but many regard the “Charles” as a measuring stick of pure endurance and skill – plus a lot of fun to spend time with old friends, coaches, and competitors. No one takes it too lightly to the point of not being prepared to race your guts out.

And Sivigny of Somersworth, N.H. did just that – he raced all out and emptied the tank with a second place finish in the elite Championship Singles event. He finished behind Nathan Cohen of New Zealand with a time of 17:41.541, making him the first American across the line. Fellow Kiwi, Mahe Drysdale finished 5th overall. Both Kiwi's represent their country on the national team, and Drysdale finished as the bronze medalist in the single at the Beijing Olympics.

“I can't say enough how much it meant to me to hear “Go RIT” or “Mike” chanted as I passed under all those bridges and came into the last 250 meters of the race," said Sivigny.  "Even though now I technically row the single and for the GMS Rowing Center, I still row with the same RIT spirit as I did in my early twenties. RIT Crew gave me the confidence and courage to pursue my dreams at any age.”

Sivigny, 35, 6'2” and 190 pounds, rowed for RIT from 1994 to 1997 during the early years of the program after Coach Jim Bodenstedt founded the program in 1993. He was a member of the powerful crews who dominated New York State racing in the mid-1990's, and was known as “Piston # 5” by his fellow boatmates.

Sivigny, a manufacturing engineering student, spent the 1998-99 season coaching the RIT novice men to a second place finish at the Dad Vail Regatta while working full-time at Eastman Kodak and learning how to scull and race in the single. In August of 1999 he moved closer to home in New Hampshire to pursue starting his own business – Eagle-Eyed-One. Currently he resides in Londonberry, N.H. but trains at the GMS Rowing Center under coach Guenter Beutter in New Milford, Conn. He hopes to pursue further elite racing by attending the National Selection Regatta this November and next April to ultimately race in World Cup events.