There are approximately 100 African American and other student-athletes of color this school year at the University of Minnesota. In an occasional series throughout the school year and sports year, the MSR will highlight many of these players.
This week: Minnesota rowers, senior Misha Shah and sophomore Radhika Ajmera.
Rowing perhaps is the ultimate team sport. Every person in the boat must pull his or her weight if they are to get anywhere in the water. It’s tough, demanding work, not for the faint of heart.
The 2024 Minnesota fall rowing season is now history. Earlier this month, on an early Sunday morning at the Rivanna Romp in Earlysville, Va., the Gophers top boats in both the Varsity Eights and Varsity Fours excelled. The latter placed third overall among 18 boats, and the former finished fifth along a 4,000-meter course.
Senior Misha Shah and soph Radhika Ajmera are the Gophers’ only two rowers of color. Both are coxswains, the crucial person who steers the boat on the rowing team.
The 5’2” Shah from Maple Grove, Minn. is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten. She competed in the Big Ten Championships her freshman season (2021-22) and has several top-10 finishes to her credit.
Ajmera, the five-foot-tall rower from Michigan, and was the coxswain at all eight regattas in this her first season with the Gophers. She guided the freshman eights to a win in her collegiate debut on Oct. 7.
Rowing is a seasonal sport, fall and spring, and training is virtually all year round. As the basketball teams have Williams Arena, and the volleyball team has Maturi Pavilion, the U rowers’ home court is the Mississippi River.
Just before the fall season concluded, both Ajmera and Shah agreed to speak with us by phone after an early morning workout. The two briefly shared how they got into rowing in the first place.
“My best friend’s mom rowed in college, and she just told me it was something she thought I would be good at,” recalls Ajmera.
Added Shah, “I think my a-ha moment really came towards the end of my freshman year, beginning of my sophomore year, where I was understanding and realizing this is something that I can do, something that I can be good at.”
Their toughest opponent, however, is the weather — snow, rain and heat are no deterrents for the rowers. “I’d say wind is our biggest enemy,” noted Shah. “We have to layer up more.”
Besides their hectic training schedule, both Shah and Ajmera are successful in the classroom as well.
“I am a biology major, and I’m on the pre-med track,” said Shah, who hopes to attend medical school and become a doctor one day.
“I’m in the College of Management and studying marketing right now,” added Ajmera. “I’m not sure exactly what I want.”
Moreover, both Gopher rowers are keenly aware that they stand out in a mainly White sport. “I would say that throughout the years we see more diversity,” surmised Shah. “We’d love to see more.”
Said Ajmera, “My [high school] team actually had a lot of diversity and that was really awesome to see. But at the collegiate level, it’s not as much diversity.”
Although they might not be as well known around campus as their fellow student-athletes, both Shah and Ajmera believe they are respected nonetheless because of the demands of their sport.
“My friends definitely have a lot of respect for me just being an athlete. I have to go to sleep [early] and wake up at 5 the next morning,” noted Ajmera.
“The people that are close to you know how hard you work and how difficult it is. They just have a lot of respect,” said Shah.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.