The interest in rowing is on the rise at Liberty as students like senior Jeremy Stroming and sophomore Duncan Wray take to the water with their crew teams outside of school.

Rowing is less prominent than most sports. This creates more available scholarships to a greater number of people than more highly visible sports such as college football. High interest in a less popular sport can mean a full ride to select colleges.

However, this male dominated sport has gained increasing interest from women, which raises the competition in the search for athletic scholarships.

“It’s a lot easier to get a rowing scholarship if you are a girl. The numbers are lower so there is a high demand for female rowers in college,” Stroming said.

Many elite colleges, particularly on the east coast do not offer rowing scholarships, but the use of outside of school sports on an application allows more recognition for the individual. Students such as Stroming look to rowing for an upper hand on their college applications.

“Most schools that I am looking at don’t offer scholarships for rowing, but they pay attention to the fact I am in it,” Stroming said.