Jen Didun has always wanted to be a rower.
The Hopewell Valley Central High School senior is a multi-sport athlete, and she has been for almost all of her life. She played field hockey for the Bulldogs, and she is currently a member of the basketball team, which recently captured its eighth straight Patriot Division title. She could never quite fit rowing, a foreign sport for her, into her often demanding schedule.
“She’s been begging me to row since she was little,” said Lisa Didun, Jen’s mother. “She was constantly like, ‘Mom, sign me up for rowing,’ but she was always just too busy.”
So, when HVCHS basketball coach Jeff Losch asked Didun if she would be interested in rowing for Rutgers, she jumped at the chance.
“It felt like a dream,” she said. “I was like, ‘Is this actually happening?’”
Losch said the Rutgers crew program contacts him every year in search of athletes who fit the profile of a typical rower—a strong, academically-minded multi-sport athlete who is 5-foot-8 or taller.
Didun said the majority of the rowers on the team are new to the sport and recruited in the same manner.
“Rowing is such an unpublicized sport that a lot of schools have to send recruitment letters like that out,” she said.
Before Didun made a final decision, she wanted to literally test the waters, so she signed up for a Princeton National Rowing Association camp last summer.
“I loved it,” she said. “There was a completely different feel to the sport. It gives you such a good workout and it’s such a team thing. Your whole body has to give so much. Growing up playing a lot of sports prepared me for the challenge. It felt like I was meant to do it.”
Soon after, Didun went on a three-day overnight visit with the Rutgers team. She said the girls reminded her of her Bulldogs teammates.
“Rutgers is such a big campus, but they felt like a family,” she said. “It felt like a high school team. All of the girls look out for each other. They’re so close-knit and welcoming. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play any sports in college, but after that visit, I knew I couldn’t pass it up.”
Didun decided to attend Rutgers. She signed her letter of intent in January.
The visit also opened her eyes to the sport’s intense schedule. Because Rutgers is a Division I school, she said, practices are rigorous. The team holds daily early-morning and afternoon sessions in addition to rowing in spring and fall regattas.
Lisa said she was initially concerned, but after speaking with a coach, she felt more at ease.
“I’ve heard horror stories of girls waking up for the day at 3 a.m. to be out on the water by 4,” she said. “The coach assured me that they never do anything before 7.”
Balancing college athletics and academics is a difficult task, especially for a freshman who is new to her sport. Didun isn’t worried, though.
“I’ve been doing it my whole life,” she said. “Doing both helps. I’m more focused in general during sports seasons. In sports, you keep practicing and practicing until you can apply your skills in a game. It’s the same with academics. You study the material until it’s time for the test. Sports play into my everyday life. They’ve really helped me learn how to balance multiple tasks.”
Didun comes from a family of athletes, so it’s easy to see where she gets her discipline from. Her father, Charlie, played basketball and baseball for McCorriston and was recently named one of the school’s 50 best all-time athletes. Lisa played basketball and softball for Notre Dame. Didun’s brother Christopher, a 2008 Hopewell graduate, played football, basketball, and baseball for the Bulldogs.
“We come from that mindset,” Lisa said. “Sports teach way beyond the gym.”
Losch said Didun’s discipline and enthusiasm for sports are among the the qualities that will benefit her rowing the most.
“She is an extremely hard worker and very focused,” he said. “She works well with others and sets a great example for her teammates. I know she will work hard, and I think she will really enjoy the teamwork component of crew.”
