Meena Baher dabbled in rowing in sixth grade, taking a weeklong camp at Stanford, but the sport didn’t stick. The Mountain View resident focused on basketball and cross-country until midway through high school.
That’s when Baher gave rowing another try – and this time, it stuck.
“In June of 2020, I took a learn-to-row camp at the Los Gatos Rowing Club,” said Baher, who graduated from Woodside Priory last month. “After the first week, I fell in love with the challenge of the sport. It’s a very meticulous sport, and I became obsessed with every little part – even the frustrating parts.”
By the fall of that year, Baher dropped basketball and cross-country altogether.
“I felt I knew that my heart was in rowing,” she said. “I realized my future was in this.”
Based on her success since then, Baher’s heart was right.
Within a year, she was among the best in her age group in single and quadruple sculls. At her first major competition, the Youth National Regatta held in June 2021 in Florida, Baher placed fifth in single sculls.
“It was incredible,” she said. “I look back at that race quite frequently. I had no expectations, but I felt like I was proving something to myself.”
The next month, she made the U.S. Under 19 National Team and competed in the World Rowing Junior Championships that August in Bulgaria. There, Baher was part of a foursome that finished sixth in the quadruple sculls.
“It was one of the most notable ones under my belt,” she said of the race. “It was exciting.”
Baher’s rapid rise in the sport didn’t go unnoticed by colleges. Recruited by several schools, she committed to Harvard University last fall.
“I fell in love with the team culture and goals they had, and the coaches are awesome,” Baher said. “I’m super excited.”
Baher plans to take some time off before heading to Harvard in August. Her summer has been a busy one. Last month, Baher returned to Florida for the youth nationals and won singles – which she called “my yearlong goal” – and took sixth in quad.
Baher is in the United Kingdom this week for the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta, teaming with double scull partner Hailey Mead, a rising junior at Princeton University. Baher and Mead placed fourth in Friday’s qualifier – only the top three advance to join the seven seeded teams – but they learned Saturday that one of those teams scratched, so they’re in.
Racing up a level – competing with the likes of the USA women’s Olympic lightweight team – the pair will face stiff competition.
“I’m taking it one race at a time,” Baher said prior to Friday’s qualifier. “It’s definitely challenging, but I’ve made a lot of progress with my doubles partner.”
Mead is also from the Bay Area (Orinda), but the two rowers only practiced together five times before the trials.
“It’s hard to do after five practices, but we have a fast time,” Baher said. “We made the most of it.”
Once she’s back in the U.S. next week, Baher said she will take some time to cross-train on land, “so I won’t burn out,” before getting back on the water at Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos.
A vacation is in order as well – oars not included.
“That would be nice,” she said. “(Last month’s trip to) Florida was like my senior trip, but I had work to do there. It was worth it, though.”
