REDINGTON BEACH, Fla. — For Berkeley Prep sophomore Britt Wotovich, rowing begins in the weight room, and it’s all about preparing the body for the challenges of the ocean.  

“It’s definitely a warm-up — get everything loose and kind of get ready for the row,” said Wotovich as she worked out on a rowing machine.

Wotovich is one of the best young rowers in the nation, so it only made sense to pair up with another top rower for mixed competition. 

She didn’t have to look far to find Jesuit junior Brian O’Leary, who takes a lot of pride in representing his country.

“I would do anything for my country and I know a lot people would love to be in my position representing the U.S. at a world level,” said O’Leary.

The pair workout in a neighborhood garage — everything from a rowing machine to weightlifting. They say it’s not easy finding a rowing partner who has the same mindset for training, which is why these two go together so well.  

“We both have a really big drive,” said O’Leary. “We both workout on our own on top of our own practices. We’ll come home, hit some meters on the (rowing machine), hit some weights and do whatever we can to get ahead of everyone else.”

“Lots of people overlook it, but honestly, the way to get faster on the water is to get faster on land as well,” said Wotovich, who focuses on upper body strength.

When they’re done in the weight room O’Leary and Wotovich get the boat ready for a session on the beach.

They each take turns doing laps around buoys while the other monitors their pace and progress with a drone.

“Any time someone does something, we talk about it and we critique our videos after practice a lot,” said Wotovich, who offers up her house for a film session.

“We like to see the radius of our turn on the buoy and how the current, depending on the day, affect how far we should approach the buoy from and where we should start our turn,” said O’Leary.

O’Leary and Wotovich's detailed approach has paid off. They took home silver medals at the 2021 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Portugal. But for this duo, it’s not enough. They believe they can be the best in the world.

“There’s not many doubles that can beat us,” said O’Leary.  

And they say they’ll keep reaching for that top spot one stroke at a time.