SUNY Potsdam Athletics

SUNY Potsdam has had many great student athletes in its history and they share the common goal of being the best. In capturing the fifth national championship in school history, diver Nathan LaRowe was the most recent to reach the pinnacle of his sport.
 
Like all talented athletes, LaRowe was passionate about sports, but he didn't start with the one that would bring him the greatest success.

"I was a gymnast my whole life," said LaRowe. "I started gymnastics when I was three so (diving) was a whole new degree of difficulty so to speak. I kind of liked the challenge."
 
LaRowe got his start on the board in seventh grade and was hooked. As he advanced through Shaker High School he claimed school records, sectional championships and All-American honors. His success drew the attention of college coaches, but while LaRowe was interested in competing at the next level, he was more determined to find the right school than the flashiest.
 
"I kind of stayed under the radar," LaRowe said. "I had a few (coaches recruiting me) here and there. I had a few DI's try to recruit me, but I wasn't too interested in going Division I."
 
He received interest from multiple programs, but turned his attention north. At the time, LaRowe's friend Sean Bradke was the Bears' diving coach. Bradke attended Potsdam as a diver himself, but a neck injury forced him to give up competition. Rather than leave the program altogether, Bears head coach Ken McLaughlin gave Bradke the opportunity to join his staff even as an undergrad. Bradke jumped at the opportunity and LaRowe became his first big recruit.
 
"He was a really good friend of mind so I kind of had my heart set on going there," LaRowe said. "I like things that are familiar and obviously, he made it an easy transition for me."
 
LaRowe also liked the North Country environment that Potsdam could offer.
 
"I enjoyed it. I thought it was very simple. That's one of the reasons I moved up here (after graduation). It's a nice area, outdoorsy. It's a nice place to relax."
 
LaRowe arrived at Potsdam and joined the team in the fall of 2006. Idolizing former Olympians Greg Louganis and Cassandra Cardinell, another Shaker High grad, he went to work on his technique.
 
"It's basically repetition," said LaRowe. "A lot of it is repetition. You get yourself pumped up, get the adrenaline going."
 
He practiced so much that he didn't have to think, while he was actually diving. That's the way he preferred it.
 
"I just tried to keep my mind blank," LaRowe said. "Don't overthink it. Just kind of go. When I overanalyzed dives, they wouldn't come out well. Once the dive's going, you just need to take a deep breath and go with the flow. Do what I did thousands and thousands of times. Let the muscle memory go."
 
As his freshman season progressed, LaRowe opened a lot of eyes and he quickly began to rewrite Potsdam's record books. By the time the SUNYAC Championships arrived, LaRowe was known to be a contender. In his conference final debut, he finished fifth in the 1-meter competition. He then nearly claimed the 3-meter title, finishing second just behind Oswego's Kevin Morgan and edging Fredonia's Scott Horsington. The performance earned him a spot on the All-SUNYAC second team and a trip to the NCAA Championships.
 
At nationals, he quickly set the tone in a competition that he'd attend all four of his seasons.
 
"My first dive off the 3-meter," said LaRowe. "I remember I was doing a dive that nobody ever does. It was an inward, full twisting one and a half off 3-meter. It was my first dive, one of my easy dives. I was trying to do it to psych people out and I end up putting it in for nine 9.5s. Near perfect."
 
LaRowe finished eighth in the 3-meter with a score of 435.75, giving him All-American status.
 
He headed into his sophomore year looking to raise his game. While, LaRowe was focused on self-improvement, he also kept an eye on rivals Morgan, the previous year's SUNYAC Diver of the Championships Meet, Horsington and Fredonia's Christian Torres. All of whom were eyeing conference titles and more.
 
"Any day they could be neck and neck with me and or I could have been neck and neck with them."
 
That was certainly the case at the 2008 SUNYAC Championships. Horsington (466.85) edged
Scott (466.30) and LaRowe (456.75) for the 1-meter title. Morgan claimed the 3-meter crown and with Scott second and LaRowe sixth. As he had the previous year, LaRowe earned a second team all-conference nod and a trip to nationals. There he finished 13th to earn Honorable Mention All-American accolades with another strong showing.
 
LaRowe was even more dominating at the 2009 conference championships. He claimed his first SUNYAC title in the 1-meter with a score of 504.80. LaRowe then captured the 3-meter with a 552.70. With the two crowns, he claimed Diver of the Meet honors and first team All-SUNYAC accolades. At NCAAs LaRowe finished 13th in the 1-meter (422.95) and fourth in the 3-meter (499.35) for his third straight spot on the national All-American team.
 
After so much success, there was only one thing that had eluded LaRowe and he pushed himself harder to achieve it during his senior season. At the 2010 SUNYAC Championships, Torres edged LaRowe for the 1-meter title and Oswego's Eric Messina did the same in the 3-meter. He collected his second team all-conference honors and headed back to the NCAA Championships for one last shot at a title.
 
After great start in the 1-meter preliminaries, LaRowe captured SUNY Potsdam's first national championship in 24 years with a finals score of 548.00.
 
"I was having a good day and I think I was approximately 50 points ahead of everybody in the prelims," LaRowe said. "So, I was feeling good. I didn't do as well in finals, but I think I was still 20 or 30 points in front of everybody. I had been working for that for four years. I always had the ability to do it, but it was never my time until my senior year. There's a lot of pressure. It's basically whoever can deal with the pressure."
 
To close his career, LaRowe narrowly missed another title with a third place finish in the 3-meter (542.95). With the championship and one final All-American honor under his belt, he returned to Potsdam to graduate with his criminal justice degree.
 
Gymnastics and diving weren't LaRowe's only passions. He also aspired to work in law enforcement for most of his life. When LaRowe graduated, he was still a month too young to take the New York State Troopers exam so he waited a year. The following year, a hiring freeze prevented him from starting at the academy so he took a minor career detour. LaRowe served as a corrections officer from 2013-15 until he was finally admitted into the police academy in March.
 
"It was very challenging and rough," said LaRowe. "It's run like a boot camp. So, you're basically in pushup position and doing a lot of burpees. I think I did more burpees in that six months than I've done in my lifetime."
 
LaRowe was a full-fledged Trooper by November 2015 and remains stationed in the Franklin County area. While the two activities are very different, he believes his ability to handle pressure in diving helps him as a police officer.
 
"There's a lot of pressure in diving and a lot of pressure in what I do now. In both you have to make a choice very quickly and it better be the right choice."
 
LaRowe finds his career to be very rewarding.
 
"I enjoy offering assistance to anyone truly in need and that's the gratifying part of the job."
 
Living and working close to Potsdam allows LaRowe to continue serving as the Bears diving coach as well. He likes working with young divers and staying connected to the sport.
 
"I enjoy being able to spread the knowledge and help somebody else hopefully get to where I was," LaRowe said. "It's a little bit depressing that I don't get to do it myself. I've always been a competitor. It's kind of hard to sit on the sidelines."
 
LaRowe now hopes to get his pupils onto the national stage.
 
Staying in the area also allows LaRowe to be close to his four-year old daughter Aubrey. Aubrey, who just started school, will get to see her dad join 137 others in the Bears Hall of Fame on Saturday night.