Giuliana Cardinale ’25, Co-Captain of Girls Crew, has embodied the role with passion. Leading through her determination, positivity and good-humor, she works to foster a welcoming and supportive community.
Despite her parents having experience with crew up to the collegiate level, Cardinale started at Andover with no intention to row. Cardinale explained her winding and unique route towards crew, originally starting from golf.
“Both my parents rowed, my dad rowed at collegiate level, but I didn’t come to Andover with the idea that I was going to row. Then, my Freshman spring I got cut from the golf team and I tried out tennis and then I was like, ‘What do I do now?’ So, I joined crew and had such an amazing time in my [Junior] spring that I wanted to keep coming back,” said Cardinale.
Caroline Romano ’26 praised Cardinale’s captaincy, highlighting her supportiveness from pre-season which has continued throughout. She described her appreciation for Cardinale’s moments of encouragement and spirit.
“She’s been a really great captain, and she’s been super supportive.Whenever we’ve had ups or downs, she’s always been there. She’s been really excited since preseason, from the get go, kind of getting us all motivated and being there for all of us when we’ve had a lot of different tests and when they don’t go very well. I think that definitely she always has a lot of spirit and a lot of positive encouragement and good leadership qualities to her that help out a lot,” said Romano.
Willow Wright ’26 highlighted Cardinale’s enthusiasm and down to earth captaincy, pointing out her determination and grit she embodies both in and out of the boat.
“Giuliana shows really enthusiastic and down to earth captaining, just because she is always there. She’s ready to show up and show out. She has a smile on her face even when things are difficult, she’ll sing through it. It’s been really good to be around because this season has been a difficult one and just to have her there and always know that she has your back has been really great,” said Wright.
Growing up playing multiple sports, Cardinale expands on her belief that crew is the only sport that really allows you to push yourself in all ways. She especially points out her love for the tight-knit community crew builds.
“I played a lot of sports when I was younger and I think crew is the only sport that really pushes you in mental, physical, and emotional ways. You don’t really make a boat during preseason, you have to constantly be fighting for your spot and I just think the reason why I’ve come back is because I love the team so much and I love the community it builds because crew, we’re kind of separate from on campus sports and people can’t really come watch crew very easily. I just love being with a group of a hundred kids who are putting themselves into their work every single day and just always ready for a great time and to work hard. I think a lot of what I’ve learned from crew can be applied to how I approach my studies and how I approach everything with discipline and mental toughness. Just knowing that I have people’s backs and they have my back is what I love about this sport,” said Cardinale.
Wright described Cardinale’s supportiveness for new and returning rowers, always coming to show her appreciation for each and every athlete, from top boats to lower boats.
“She is able to really get the team going, get them together, whether that’s through our warmup where everybody does it together or through sort of when we’re racing five or six boats across, just cheering everybody on, cheering for each boat, no matter what place you came in or anything. You rowed the same amount, everybody rowed the same amount towards this one common goal. I think she cares for everybody and makes sure that everybody knows that they’re appreciated,” said Wright.
Romano commented on Cardinale’s influence throughout the two years of being on the same boat. She especially highlighted Cardinale’s positivity and humor, which many appreciate.
“Giuliana is a big role model for me because I’ve known her for a few years now, and she’s been on my boat for the past two. I think she’s so positive, and in the boat, she’s so funny whether it’s singing a song because it’s raining out or checking up on our teammates and cheering everyone on when we have a really hard practice. She’s always there and she’s always very positive and she’s there for all of us, and I think that’s super important,” said Romano.
Cardinale shares her favourite moments from her past season as captain, especially their hard-fought win against Kent and St. Paul’s and the little moments where as a team they share fun moments on the water.
“In my four years, we have never won against Kent and St. Paul’s. We had to reschedule the race, so we were racing both of them on the same day. It got rained out the whole day. We were there for like six hours, not rowing and everyone was getting frustrated and we just wanted to row. It was thunderstorming out and then all of a sudden the light came through the clouds. It was just stunning. We went out at sunset and we rowed the best race of our lives. We won by a good amount. At the end we were all just laughing and in disbelief because we had put so much effort in this season, literally blood sweat and tears and it really paid off. I also think crew is something where the little accomplishments also really matter. I think some of my favorite times have been being on the water and acapella singing with the team just to get energy up and vibes up,” said Cardinale.
