“I was training with the cycling team a lot,” Sam noted. “I enjoyed training with the team but rowing was always my priority. My goal was to come back as soon as I was in good shape again.”
Sam’s cycling efforts paid off this summer when he won the Minnesota state championships twice.
“He’s just a machine,” Hicks said of Sam. “When he was coming back, he’d be on the stationary bike before you came and after you left … we were always sure that he’d come back fighting fit.”
As Sam’s interest in cycling continued to develop, he turned his brother onto the activity as well. Sam arranged for James to have a road bike this past summer for his internship in Washington, D.C., but James’ biking also resulted in injury.
“I was biking after work one day in the pouring rain,” James said. “I hit a pothole and my bike stopped, but I didn’t. I went right over the handlebars. I got up and checked the bike; I figured it was probably more expensive than I am.”
Originally James thought the accident just caused some scrapes and bruises. But, within a few days, he started experiencing significant pain in the abdomen and had trouble breathing. James went to the emergency room for an x-ray, which showed he had broken one rib and fractured another.
As both O’Connor brothers fought to overcome injury and return to rowing this season, they relied on each other for support and motivation.
“It is not that often that I’ll ask James to row with me and he will say no, or vice versa,” Sam said. “We train pretty hard.”
REUNITED AND READY TO RACE
Exactly a year ago at the Head of the Charles, the O’Connor brothers competed together to take second place in the Championship Eight event and first at the Tail of the Charles. Now, Sam and James are healthy again and excited to row this weekend.
“I am just happy to be back racing,” Sam said. “I am looking forward to more of that this season.”
Two particular members of the Head of the Charles crowd will make the race an even more special event for the brothers.
“We are excited to have Mom and Dad here this weekend,” James shared. “This is the first time our mom is visiting us at college.”
With a bit of reluctance, both Sam and James admitted to having bikes on campus.
Hopefully, the brothers will wear their helmets and use caution the next time they head out for a ride.