Samantha Morton
Squads
About Samantha:
What course are you studying and what level?
MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise
Why did you chose that course?
I aspire to work in the commercialisation of exciting healthcare and life science technology.
When, where and why did you start rowing? And what do you love about the sport?
I started rowing in HK/New Orleans over my Covid gap year in 2020/2021. I had just completed two years of division I NCAA swimming at Tulane University and had decided that my swimming time had come to an end. I then decided to pursue rowing because I wanted to continue being a collegiate athlete and I had done a 2k erg for cross training for swimming when I was 17 and gone a 7:10, so I believed that I had a lot of potential as a rower. I applied to transfer to the university of Pennsylvania so I could pursue collegiate rowing and that is when I learned to sweep. Prior to that I had gone out a handful of times in some mixed sculling crews in Hong Kong and New Orleans with the local masters teams.
I love most things about rowing but I would say the biggest thing is the feeling at the end of a brutal hard fought race, where you were side by side the whole time, yet you managed to put it all out there on the line and end the race absolutely exhausted and annihilated, but so satisfied that you rowed your best and your hardest and put out the greatest race possible.
What was your first rowing club and coach?
Hong Kong Yacht Club – Kenny Liu and New Orleans Rowing Club – Will Kuckro
What or who was the earliest sporting inspiration you remember as a child?
The earliest one I remember was Stephanie rice – the Australian swimmer
How has rowing and being part of the Boat Race squad impacted your life?
Rowing has led me to meet so many wonderful – and some not so wonderful – teammates and individuals. It has taught me a lot of hard lessons about working with others, but it has also shown me how special it is to have a team that truly want the best for one another and I have never felt more supported in my life than I do as a member of the CUBC squad.
If you weren’t a rower, what sport do you think you’d excel at?
I think I would excel at netball
What is your favourite non-academic book?
The Outsiders and The Great Gatsby
