It’s been rowing-oar-bust for Long Islanders Olivia Fogarty and Lindsey Rust.
The standout maritime athletes were recently inducted into the inaugural Port Rowing Hall of Fame class.
“It really made me reflect on my rowing journey and how special Port Rowing has been to me,” Rust, who took bronze at the 2021 under-23 World Championships, told The Post of the program that develops youth crew talent on LI.
“I remember my coaches at Port pushing me really, really hard, and I realized, ‘Wow, I can actually do so much more than I thought,’ ” Rust, a stroke seat rower, added.
Fogarty, a coxswain and two-time national champion at the University of Texas, said it was fate that brought her to Port as a middle schooler.
“One of the coaches approached me and said, ‘You’re small, can you yell?’ ” she recalled. “I had gone to the first practice, and like that, off we went.”
Fogarty and Rust are touched to see so many new faces embracing Port Rowing and are proud to be role models for a new generation of young female athletes.
“Just even get one extra person to go sign up … and hopefully that kind of shapes their life,” Fogarty said. “Even if that happens to one girl out there, that’d be awesome.”
Hitting the books
Chaminade High School’s Will Handley doesn’t miss a beat from the locker room to the classroom.
The Flyers standout football player, who boasts a 94.5 unweighted GPA, was named the top scholar athlete of the Catholic League for 2024.
“The main thing for me was just to stay focused on what I’m doing every day,” the Lafayette-bound outside linebacker told The Post between exams. “My parents worked really hard to send me here … I know they’re excited.”
In lacrosse, Massapequa’s girls team hosts rival Farmingdale Friday at 5 p.m.
Port Washington boys visit Roslyn at the same time.
