From the Pitch to the River

When senior Courtney Diekema came to Harvard in the fall of 2009, she was focused on three things: classes, a military career, and soccer. Diekema—now one of Radcliffe’s top heavyweight rowers—never thought she would call the Charles River home.

But as a rookie goalie on the women’s soccer team, Diekema suffered from bilateral tibial sesamoiditis, a foot injury, which made running and jumping difficult.

“I was in a walking boot a lot,” Diekema recalls. “I would play for a month and be in a boot for a month. Over the summer, my doctors told me that soccer wasn’t sustainable and that I should think about stopping.”

But for Diekema, quitting soccer felt like giving up.

“[The decision] was pretty challenging,” she admits. “I had given up swimming [in high school] to pursue soccer, and giving up soccer just seemed like just another sport that I didn’t pursue all the way.”

Although the decision did not come easily, Diekema ultimately chose to walk away from the sport.

For Radcliffe heavyweight coach Liz O’Leary, Diekema’s tough choice was a stroke of good fortune for her team.

The summer before Diekema’s sophomore year, she decided to give rowing a shot.

“My mother had always wanted me to row because she heard it was good if you were tall.... In high school she tried to send me to rowing camp, but I only wanted to play soccer,” Diekema says. “Over the summer I still really wanted to do a sport, so I emailed the coaches and told them I am a 6’1” recruited soccer player and that I was interested in joining the crew team.”

Harvard soccer coach Ray Leone also reached out to O’Leary.

“Ray Leone came up to me one day and said he had a great soccer player who couldn’t play soccer anymore,” O’Leary recalls. “He knew [she was] a great candidate for Harvard when he recruited her, and we were the beneficiaries of it.”

Teaching someone how to row is not easy, but O’Leary says that, Diekema’s athleticism and willingness to work smoothed the transition.

“It wasn’t something that came to her naturally, but she worked so hard,” O’Leary says. “Miles make champions in our sport, and she has been putting in a lot of miles.”

And indeed, a champion Diekema became. In just her second season of rowing she helped lead the first varsity eight to an upset Ivy League Championship last spring, and she was named an All-American in recognition of her efforts.

“If you had asked me at the beginning of the season if I ever thought I would be an All-American, even All-Ivy, I would have said, ‘No way,’” Diekema says.

Though she is fairly new to the sport, there is no end in sight for this rower’s burgeoning career. Diekema has been pursued by the US national program and is considering the Air Force’s World Class Athlete Program, which would allow her to begin working for the military while training for the 2016 Olympics.

Being one of the fastest people on the Radcliffe team makes Diekema a natural role model, and O’Leary says her presence on the team is strong but quiet.

“[Diekema] is a leader through and through,” O’Leary says. “She works hard all the time and sets the standard. She knows how to draw out the skills of others just by being encouraging and positive, but she doesn’t have to say a lot.”

Off the water, Diekema also leads by example. As Wing Commander for the Air Force ROTC at MIT (which she has been involved in since freshman year), she worked over the summer to create and organize the training plan for the cadets this semester, and she currently acts as a direct liaison between the officers and the other cadets.

A government concentrator with a job lined up in Air Force Intelligence upon graduation, Diekema considered attending both Air Force and Navy.

“I applied to military academies and Harvard,” Diekema says. “I chose Harvard because I can be a normal college student, and for a designated amount of time each week, I get to be in uniform and have the military aspect. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Having the best of both worlds does not always leave a lot of time for relaxation. This semester is the biggest balancing act of Diekema’s college career, as she devotes about 30 hours to crew—including individual workouts—and between 10 and 16 hours to ROTC. And then there is school.

So what does a varsity athlete and soon-to-be Air Force Officer do in her spare time?

“Great question,” she laughs. “Sleep is the number one priority. Any time there is downtime, it’s nap time.”

Diekema has maintained a lot of the social ties she formed with the soccer team, which she says made leaving the team easier. Her blocking group includes three current and former members of the women’s soccer team, and her roommates remember her as a fierce competitor and supportive teammate, even as a freshman.

“She is super competitive,” says blockmate AJ Millet, a goalkeeper on the soccer team who played with Diekema freshman year. “We were both goalkeepers competing for the same spot. I was worried there might be tension, but she was really funny, and we just clicked right away.”

Diekema describes herself as “very chill,” but even during the offseason, she can’t keep still. She does triathlons to cross train and loves the outdoors.

Her blockmates have gotten to know a different side of her in the rare moments when she has time to hang out.

“She is honestly a little bit of a geek outside of sports,” Millet says. “She loves ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Lord of the Rings,’ and we watch a lot of stupid movies. She’s just kind of goofy and fun.”

But as soon as she gets on the water, her focus returns. This attitude, as well as her athleticism, have helped her learn a new sport from scratch and rocket to the national level in just three years.

“Courtney and her senior teammates are a class with tremendous character and personality,” O’Leary says. “I’m excited for them and proud of what they’re doing, and Courtney is very much the heart and soul of that.”

As much as Diekema has given to the Radcliffe team, she said she has gotten back even more. Being a Radcliffe rower has shaped her college career in ways that she never expected, and she emphasizes the team rather than her individual accomplishments.

“I just want to say that I love my team,” she says. “It’s the best mix of girls you could ever meet. I’ve been so lucky to have them as a resource and support system.”