“I’m Izzy, and I’ve been rowing at the varsity level since I was a freshman and currently am ranked sixth in the nation.”

Izzy Saker, a senior at Parker, was accepted on October 1st into the Brown University Class of 2020 as a member of its Division I rowing team. Coached by John Murphy, the Women’s Crew program at Brown currently sits atop the rankings as the #1 school in the nation.

After going on paid visits to five different Ivy League schools—Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton, Penn, and Brown—Saker realized that they were all interested in her and what she had to offer.

“Although I was lucky to have the opportunity to choose from different schools, I worked very hard in school to be able to give myself the chance to go Ivy League from the beginning,” Saker said, referring to her grades and test scores, which were competitive at the highly-selective schools recruiting her. She narrowed her choices down to Brown and Princeton before making a final decision. “After those trips, I sat down with the Brown coaching staff, and they actually offered me a spot right then,” she said. “It took a little while to contemplate, but I thought why not?”

The road to becoming a Division 1 athlete was no a walk in the park, Saker says. “Oh no, it wasn’t easy at all. I have practice six days a week for 2-3 hours each day. I also work out on my own on Sunday mornings to stay in shape.”

Saker needs to keep herself in peak physical condition in order to stay at the highest level of competition. Currently she is the captain of the women’s crew team at the Chicago Rowing Foundation (CRF). “This is my fifth year in the CRF,” Saker said. “My sophomore year, I was voted as the Most Valuable Rower. Then, in my junior year, I was voted Captain.”

The CRF was granted $11 million by the Park District of Chicago to build their state of the art Clark Park Boathouse at Lane Tech. Saker says she has enjoyed her tenure as a member of the CRF, and, despite the time commitment, it has been a great way to spend her time day by day.

Saker’s position within the boat is arguably the most important. She is the “stroke,” located in the back of the boat next to the coxswain—the person who steers the boat. “What makes me proud is the fact that I have maintained my position as stroke in the boat throughout all four years,” Saker said. “I think that has a lot to say about me and my style of rowing.” The stroke sets the pace, stroke rate, and rhythm for the rest of the crew to follow.

While Saker started her rowing career later than most—during the middle of eighth grade—it didn’t take long for her to catch on. “I was with Eliza Reinisch at a family dinner and was introduced to her older cousin, Izzy, who went to Latin,” she said. “She’s the one who got me introduced to everything.” Since then, Saker has rowed in numerous regattas and competitions across the United States, leading her team to second place in the national contest last June.

Her younger brother, Sebastian, rows in the CRF program for boys. “Rowing alongside my sister is great,” Sebastian said. “What’s really cool is that I’m the stroke seat for the boys side, so it’s almost like we’re mirrored against each other.”

Saker’s main focus right now is the National Regatta in West Windsor, NJ on June 10-12th. “What really sucks about Nationals is that they are right when we all graduate, “ she said, “which means that I can’t be at Class Day.”

Although she will miss her senior graduation, Saker is looking forward to going out with a bang with the rest of her team. “We’ve never won the national rowing championship, so we’re all really looking forward to going there and giving it our all,” she said. “It’s going to be a great way to go out.”