David Garvey ‘22 is currently beginning his first year at Hobart College in Geneva, NY. When first asked about his time there so far, he was blunt. “I’m a D1 student-athlete. I am a tank. I wake up at 4:30 every morning and hit the wall,” he said.
David has found opportunities at Hobart to pursue his many interests. One of those is continuing to row. Recently, he made the cut for Hobart’s D1 crew program. On the subject of adjustment, he commented, “It’s a big adjustment going from a crew team of 1 person at Northwood to a Division 1 program in one summer, but it’s treating me well. We’re putting in the hours, we’re putting in the meters.”
David adds depth to an already stacked Hobart crew team that is ranked in the top 15 in the country. He is also the first Northwood graduate in the Runyon era of rowing to go straight from Northwood to a D1 crew program. He also said that Coach Runyon, the crew coach here at Northwood, helped a lot in terms of preparing him for the adjustment to collegiate athletics.
He has also found some time to pursue other hobbies, like squash. While crew is too much of a time commitment for him to play squash competitively, he still finds innovative ways to get on the court in his free time. He is the president of Hobart’s squash club and has been improving his game under some of the best coaches in the sport. “I’m hitting the thing around 175 miles per hour,” he remarked. “I’ve got the back corner drop shot down to a science.” He also jokingly mentioned that he should be playing in the U.S. Open, thanks to this alleged mastery of a hard shot.
In terms of academics, David has hit the ground running. He is majoring in Biology and Ecology and is taking Biology, Chemistry, Philosophy, and Science in Fiction. He has also expressed a desire to finish his studies by 2025, and to do various independent work over the summer to pursue his interests in ecology.
When I took the opportunity to tell him about the upcoming Northwood Crew race in Saratoga, which I will be taking part in, the classic banter was not lost on him, as he immediately said: “I hope you fall in. I hate seeing joy in your life.”
David, or “Garvey” as he was commonly known during his time at Northwood, is enjoying the start of his new school year at Hobart.
