Lightweight DiPompeo cracks world junior roster
Giancarlo DiPompeo knew he was up against it this summer trying to earn a spot on the Canadian team heading to the World Rowing Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from Aug. 11 to 15.
Athletes were selected for the team based on two-kilometre ergometer times they submitted in May.
“I was really happy and relieved. I knew the selection would be difficult this year,” the 17-year-old Thorold resident said. “Since I am a lightweight, I knew I would have to pull pretty fast on the erg to be able to keep up with some of the heavyweights and get selected.”
The 5-foot-11, 160 pounder did just that and was named to a quad that would represent Canada in Bulgaria along with Payton Gauthier of the Niagara Falls Rowing Club, Ridley Graduate Boat Club member Shane Keagan and Adrian Breen of the Don Rowing Club.
“I was really, really happy to be able to submit a great time and be able to be selected. I knew I would be able to show my speed on the water,” the St. Catharines Rowing Club member said.
Being told they were going to Bulgaria came as a surprise to the entire boat.
“We all thought it was a tentative thing and it wasn’t finalized,” DiPompeo said. “We were talking to the coach and asking what happens next. They told us we were going and it was a pretty cool feeling. It was awesome. We were on Team Canada.”
The Denis Morris grad is most excited about getting international rowing experience.
“I am looking forward to racing on a world stage and at that level. I want this to be one of many times that I represent Canada,” he said. “Being able to say I am representing Canada at a world event is something that I am proud of and I am excited to race with my crew. We all get along really well and we push each other.”
DiPompeo has high hopes for junior worlds.
“We can’t say for sure how we will do but we have great chemistry in the boat. We are looking forward to seeing how well we can do. I would love to make the A final.”
When the summer ends, he will be heading to the University of Victoria on a rowing scholarship.
“It was a last-minute decision and it wasn’t necessarily on my radar at first,” he said. “I had been looking in the States but COVID got in the way a little bit. It threw a little wrench into the mix so I decided to take a look out there.”
DiPompeo liked what he saw in Victoria and its location.
“Their team was getting some guys this year and they have been building up to having a good team,” he said. “What appealed to me the most is that I have been wanting to go a little farther away from home. I want to be in a different environment, live somewhere new and experience different things..”
He had an offer from a NCAA Division 2 school and some interest from Ivy League schools but things didn’t work out.
“Because of COVID, a lot of the guys were supposed to come in 2020 as new recruits. They decided to defer their offers to 2021 so unfortunately that meant that they would be taking the incoming spots for the next year,” DiPompeo said. “There were no spots left for me and I had to get into those schools solely on academics which was difficult. I thought about taking 12B and trying again because I was confident I would be able to get in next year but it wasn’t something I wanted to do.”
He admitted it was tough to lose two key recruiting years but he made the best of it.
“It is going to sound weird but it was beneficial,” he said. “It was obviously a big hit to recruiting and it was frustrating but I feel that it helped me a lot and I was able to improve quite a bit over the COVID lockdown.”
In Grade 11, he realized he had a long way to go to get recruited by an American school so he took matters into his own hands.
“Over that summer, we were inside at home and I took that time to really train hard and I was able to improve significantly. Being in a single over the summer, I got some great coaching and was able to improve my technique as well,” he said. “I was able to push myself to get to a level of being recruited. It just didn’t work out..”
He started rowing in Grade 9 at Denis Morris.
“It wasn’t something I really planned on picking up. I was playing a couple of different sports and I heard that the rowing program worked out pretty hard. There were some pretty good athletes there so I figured I would try it out and maybe get in better shape. I took a liking to it and all my coaches were encouraging me and telling me I could do pretty well if I kept going.”
DiPompeo is a two-time winner of the Ontario ergometer championships and was part of a St. Catharines Rowing Club eight and four that placed third at Henley in the summer after his Grade 10 year.
