Sarasota rower manifests childhood dream of becoming Olympian into reality

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Twelve years ago, Clark Dean was at rowing camp when he had an epiphany. If he set his mind to it, one day he could become an Olympian. The moment stood out for him, so much so that he choose the word epiphany for a vocabulary project.

We caught up with Clark and his mother, Paige Dean, at Nathan Benderson Park, home of U.S. Rowing, and talked to them about a YouTube video from 12 years ago that they still laugh about to this day.

“The Olympics? I thought those were only in the fables,” a 12-year-old Dean is heard saying in the video.

“Fables? The Olympics have one every four years, and only the world’s best athletes can compete in them,” said his friend.

“World’s best athletes?” Clark said.

Little did he know at the time, Clark would become one.

“He made a video with his friends and they had three or four friends involved in it, and it was his epiphany that it’s actually possible he could become an Olympian. They made a Wheaties box and headlines for the newspaper and everything, and it was about him becoming an Olympian,” Clark’s mother recalled.

“I remember at the time thinking, I’m gonna go for something I don’t know if it’s gonna be rowing or running which is a crazy idea because I had not run competitively,” said Clark.

Clark didn’t always love rowing or even sports in general. But one day, his mom signed him up for rowing without his knowledge.

“‘I will never be an athlete! I don’t know why you won’t give this up. You want us to be athletic, we are never going to be athletes. It’s never going to happen,'” Clark’s mother recalled him saying. “Well, I’m sorry you’re not gonna sit at home. Maybe this will be something you’ll like.”

“I think at that moment I was like I’m going to try to see this through, and go as far as I can in the sport,” said Clark.

Now Clark’s days begin before the sun rises. He trains countless hours, dedicating his life to his sport.

He became an Olympian in 2020, competing in Tokyo. His boat came in fifth place, and he left Japan without a medal. He uses that experience as motivation for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Now Clark and his team have their eyes on the prize.

“All the focus is on how we can get a medal, not what we have to do to get in a boat or be in a seat and beat this guy. When we talk about racing, we talk about racing in Paris, not racing to qualify or racing each other. It’s about Paris and getting a medal there.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com.