Xavier Aniton: Starting from the Bottom to Build Strong Team Culture Artwork

Rowing in Color

Denise Aquino and Patricia Destine are two women of color who are dedicated to promoting diversity within the sport of rowing. Both are former rowers turned coxswains turned coaches in the sport. Together they have almost 25 years of experience on the erg, at regattas, in the launch, or at the boathouse. No stranger to navigation or microphones, these former coxswains amplify what it’s like to navigate the topic of race within the white-dominated sport of rowing. Like most bodies of water, the tide is changing; there are more American rowers of color than there has ever been. You’ll hear from people who represented the U.S. in international races to folks who just started to row this year. Tune in to listen to a mix of interviews, special co-hosts, and tag-team shows from hosts, Denise and Patricia. Whether a rower or not, you’re not going to want to miss. Hit subscribe and enjoy.

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Rowing in Color

Xavier Aniton: Starting from the Bottom to Build Strong Team Culture

July 23, 2020 • Season 1 • Episode 28

#028 - Xavier Aniton is an 8-year rower, who served as team captain at both Shaker Heights High School in Ohio and Jacksonville University in Florida.

In this episode, we talked about:

Saying no to basketball and yes to rowing [1:35]
Building a strong team culture on a boys high school team [7:23]
Juggling rowing and academics in the role of a student-athlete [19:33]
Did support differ when coming from a more demographically diverse team than from a less diverse team? [28:56]
“Do you feel like your team was treated any differently because of who you were or how you looked?” [34:25]
Advice for younger rowers of color [38:59]

… and much more.

To get in touch with Xavier, please reach him on Instagram @xaniton2024

We hope that the conversation in this podcast helps us all in the rowing world -- no matter your race -- to unify the rowing sport through diversity.

If you have a response to this or any episode, we want to hear it. Send us your voice message at www.speakpipe.com/rowingincolor or just check out our Linktree (linktr.ee/rowingincolor). If you don't follow us on IG already, find us @rowingincolor.

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We hope you and yours are well. Stay safe.