From the Red to Rio: Alex Karwoski’s Unorthodox Path to the Olympics

In August, former Cornell heavyweight rower Alex Karwoski ’12 competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro representing the United States of America, where his boat placed fourth overall in the men’s coxed eight. Karwoski’s story begins in Ithaca. Karwoski found himself at Cornell’s College of Engineering in his second year of college, after spending his freshman year at Trinity College. “I was super lucky,” Karwoski said. “I still think they made a mistake in the admissions office … I think they put my name down by accident.”

Karwoski competed as a heavyweight rower at Cornell and in the Olympics.