By Austin Overmann
Cornell Athletic Communications

ITHACA, N.Y. – As the Summer Olympics in Tokyo draw near, men's heavyweight rowing alumnus Alex Karwoski '12 has his sights set on becoming the 40th Cornell graduate to participate in the games a second time. A member of the fourth-place men's eight boat at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Karwoski is currently training out of Chula Vista, California in hopes of earning a second chance at the medal stand.
 
While not guaranteed a spot in the boat, Karwoski has a leg up on the competition. He's been a member of the senior national team since 2013 and was named USRowing's Male Senior Athlete of the Year in 2019 following a fifth-place finish at the World Rowing Championships. His boats performance at the World Rowing Championships helped qualify the United States men's eight for Tokyo.
 
In order to be selected for the boat that's headed to Tokyo, Karwoski is competing against 17 other athletes. Typically, a series of two-man boat regattas would provide a general idea of who was in line to make the team, but those competitions were canceled for this Olympic cycle due to COVID-19 restrictions. The team will be officially named on June 3rd.
 
"Our official naming date is pretty late in comparison to other countries, but it goes with our system of keeping things competitive until the very end," Karwoski said.
 
For Karwoski, it's a different situation than the one he faced in 2016 however, when he was named to the Olympic boat before the United States had qualified for Rio. Despite being named to what was technically the Olympic boat, Karwoski and his teammates still needed to compete at a last chance qualifier in order to punch their ticket.
 
"In 2016 we hadn't qualified for the games yet, so being named to the Olympic boat was this odd empty feeling," Karwoski said. "That 2,000-meter race was a culmination of four years of hard work. If a few strokes don't go our way then we don't go to Rio. Crossing that finish line and knowing we were going to the Olympics was pretty special."
 
As an Olympian in the Olympic host city, Karwoski experienced all of the perks that come with that honor. From watching the United States face Brazil in beach volleyball, to getting free gear from major outfitters, to going out to dinner with athletes from all over the world, Karwoski had the experience of a lifetime. These are all things he would have missed out on though had he gone through with leaving Brazil following the boat's fourth-place finish.
 
"We finished fourth and looking back it was about as fast as we were ever going to be, but I was 25 and had some naive thoughts on how much faster we could've been so I wanted to leave," Karwoski said. "I was looking at flights, but luckily my roommate who won a bronze medal in London sat me down and told me 'You never know if you're going to be back here.' Him forcing me to stay for that second week was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me."
 
It wasn't until his junior year at Cornell that Karwoski saw making an Olympic team as a possibility. After starting his collegiate career as a cross country runner at Trinity College, Karwoski made the decision to transfer to Cornell prior to the 2009-10 academic year. Following a brief stint as a member of the lightweight rowing program, Karwoski realized heavyweight would be a better fit due to his growing frame. As a heavyweight, Karwoski was a two-year member of the varsity eight and received the "Big Stick" award given to the strongest all-around athlete in the program.
 
"I joined the lightweight team for about five weeks, but couldn't get down to a proper weight," Karwoski said. "When I showed up at Cornell I was about 6'3" and 175 pounds, so shortly after being on campus I approached Coach Kennett and Coach Kerber about making the change. I didn't start taking rowing seriously until I joined the heavyweight team and saw all of the guys my age who were already so much better than me."
 
Karwoski's first taste of what post-collegiate rowing would be like came during his junior year when him and two teammates were invited to the USRowing U23 selection camp. Though he was ultimately cut, Karwoski experienced what it was like to train next to senior level athletes. Getting cut also served as motivation. When he was invited back to the selection camp as a senior he made the team.
 
"It was a ton of fun, we went to Lithuania and took fourth at the U23 World Rowing Championships that year," Karwoski said. "More than anything I enjoyed the experience of going to all of the different places. I flew to Seattle for selection camp, and then to Princeton, and then to Lithuania for the championships. It was all a new and exciting rowing opportunity."
 
Since making the U23 men's eight in 2012, Karwoski has served as a member of the senior national team since 2013 and has rowed for the United States full time. While competing for the senior national team, Karwoski owns World Championships finishes of seventh, eighth, second, fourth, and fifth in the men's eight. This Olympic cycle will be his last as looks forward to a new professional life.
 
"I was lucky enough to be accepted into Columbia's business school, so once this is over I'll be moving back to New York to start school again in August," Karwoski said. "I'd like to go into real estate management, but with a focus on the construction management side. That was my interest when I graduated from Cornell with a degree in civil and environmental engineering. I like having the engineering know-how to actually build the buildings, but I also enjoy getting to experience the hands-on interior design work."
 
Regardless of if he's selected to represent the United States in Tokyo or not, Karwoski has the blueprint for his future laid out.