Meet the Rowers: Senior Kathryn Tippey
10/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Before she became an inaugural member of the Alabama rowing team's varsity squad in the fall of 2006, Kathryn Tippey started her rowing career as a member of the club team that had thrived on the University of Alabama campus for years.
"I'd seen it, but I'd never really rowed before," Tippey said "So it was just an opportunity to try something new. I had a friend who had joined the club team and she said it was fun, so I decided to give it a shot."
When the opportunity came to make the transition from club to NCAA Division I athlete, Tippey, who has always been very involved in campus life had to weigh her options.
"It was a really different level of commitment and I had to decide if I wanted to continue on with rowing and put aside some of my other activities," Tippey said. "It was going to be a tradeoff, but one I wanted to make."
Now in her third season on the varsity, she is one of just five seniors on this year's team, helping lend leadership to a very young Tide crew.
"I love racing, but if you break it down even more to the technical aspects of sports that's what I think is most interesting," she said.
It's not surprising that a double major in economics and mathematics with a minor in computer based honors would be drawn to the details and technical aspects of her sport. Tippey's interest in economics goes back to her high school days.
"I was first interested in economics back in 10th grade, when I studied the great depression," Tippey said. "And when I started to learn more about it, at first I wasn't sure, but as I moved into the upper level courses, it's sort of a social science, but it's a math perspective on a social science which kind of plays in with my other major."
A native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Tippey is one of the University's most accomplished students. Valedictorian of her Central High School class, she has earned Presidential and Alumni scholarships as well as entry into as a multitude of honor societies, including Mortar Board, Elliot Society, Omicron Delta Kappa, Golden Key, Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta.
She has been named the Outstanding Undergraduate in Economics as well as one 100 students nationwide named a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholar.
As much as she enjoys the racing and the details of moving a boat across the water, one of her absolute favorite aspects of rowing comes from the Crimson Tide's home on the water, the Black Warrior River.
"We have great water, it's very flat in the morning and it's just beautiful to get out there in the morning," Tippey said. "It can be a chore to get up in the morning, but once you get out there, when you first get out on the water, it's very relaxing, especially when there are wisps coming off the water."
