Photo by: Paul Capobianco
Badgering: senior Agathe Denis
May 29, 2018 | Lightweight Rowing
Q&A with the senior lightweight rower
MADISON, Wis. -- Senior rower Agathe Denis enters the 2018 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships fresh off her second consecutive Women's Sprints team title with the lightweight team. From Austin, Texas, Denis graduated with a double major in economics and French. She talked recently about why she came to Wisconsin, her advice to her freshman self and her favorite place on campus, among other topics.
How has being a Badger helped shape you?
"I definitely think that in my time here in Wisconsin, I've changed a lot. I've learned to stick to things and I've also become a lot more patient with seeing the end goal. My freshman year, everything was kind of a mess and I learned to not get flustered with that and stick to it and keep on working. That's changed the way I do everything, from studying to applying to jobs and all that stuff. I see things a lot more long-term ever since I've been here."
What are your plans after the season?
"I'm planning to either move to Boston, where I grew up, or to Paris where my family is because I have different job opportunities at each one. I don't know what exactly I'm going to choose, but those are my two options for now."
What's your major?
"Economics and French, double-majoring."
Why did you choose to come to Wisconsin?
"I wanted to do something different. I was going to go to McGill originally, where all of my brothers went, and I kind of decided to go a different way. The freshman coach at the time, Todd (Vogt), told me about Wisconsin and I looked into it; it had good academics and when I came here everything was so beautiful because I came in the spring. I loved the place and I met a professor in economics here who is a family friend of mine and she got me really excited to come here. I decided this was going to be the place for me."
What is your favorite memory so far?
"I think it would be really hard to choose. It's more like a continuum, just being here every day with all my friends and just the opportunity to have all these amazing teammates all the time and being able to hang out with them. It's very gratifying and it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of good memories that are small but come together to be my best memory."
Funniest memory?
"My freshman year I was briefly on the openweight team. I was taken out in a four with three new people on the team and we were going all the way, far away, and it was a perfectly quiet, beautiful day. And then all of the sudden this storm rolls in and the waves are crashing and it was the first day back on the water since the lake unfroze so everything was freezing cold. The coaches were like, 'just point towards the land and try to row the boat to land, we're going to dock and just abandon.' So we were going and going and the waves were piling in, we had people dump water out but there were only four of us so it wasn't working. The boat sank and we had to jump out and it took my breath away. We swam to the launch and the launch drove us but it became too rocky for the launch so we had to jump out of the launch and swim to the shore. Then all of the sudden our teammates who were on a run pop out and were like 'what are you guys doing?' So then we ran out to Picnic Point and coach Bebe (Bryans) came and picked us up in her car. It was so funny, so absurd that all of this happened on such a beautiful day at first. I'll never forget it."
What is your favorite place on campus?
"The Discovery Center. I love studying there, it's just such a nice area. It's so peaceful and quiet."
Favorite pre-race snack?
"The Gatorade bars, they have chocolate-pretzel Gatorade bars. They're so good, they're like candy."
What advice would you give your freshman self?
"To not get discouraged when things are not going the way you want. I came from Texas, it was warm and I was in the water all year long. Then I went from the openweight team to the lightweight team, it was just a hard transition. I kept to it, obviously because I'm still here, but I think I'd tell myself to be more okay with what's going on, accept it and keep working hard."
Fantasy job?
"I like Kate Ruffalo's idea of being a chocolate taster, but I think I would expand that. My fantasy job would be owning a store of chocolate, bread and fresh pasta. But also an art gallery at the same time. I'd own it and manage it and I'd get to taste everything that comes through."
Autobiography title?
"A Leap in the Wind' or something like that."
How has being a Badger helped shape you?
"I definitely think that in my time here in Wisconsin, I've changed a lot. I've learned to stick to things and I've also become a lot more patient with seeing the end goal. My freshman year, everything was kind of a mess and I learned to not get flustered with that and stick to it and keep on working. That's changed the way I do everything, from studying to applying to jobs and all that stuff. I see things a lot more long-term ever since I've been here."
What are your plans after the season?
"I'm planning to either move to Boston, where I grew up, or to Paris where my family is because I have different job opportunities at each one. I don't know what exactly I'm going to choose, but those are my two options for now."
What's your major?
"Economics and French, double-majoring."
Why did you choose to come to Wisconsin?
"I wanted to do something different. I was going to go to McGill originally, where all of my brothers went, and I kind of decided to go a different way. The freshman coach at the time, Todd (Vogt), told me about Wisconsin and I looked into it; it had good academics and when I came here everything was so beautiful because I came in the spring. I loved the place and I met a professor in economics here who is a family friend of mine and she got me really excited to come here. I decided this was going to be the place for me."
What is your favorite memory so far?
"I think it would be really hard to choose. It's more like a continuum, just being here every day with all my friends and just the opportunity to have all these amazing teammates all the time and being able to hang out with them. It's very gratifying and it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of good memories that are small but come together to be my best memory."
Funniest memory?
"My freshman year I was briefly on the openweight team. I was taken out in a four with three new people on the team and we were going all the way, far away, and it was a perfectly quiet, beautiful day. And then all of the sudden this storm rolls in and the waves are crashing and it was the first day back on the water since the lake unfroze so everything was freezing cold. The coaches were like, 'just point towards the land and try to row the boat to land, we're going to dock and just abandon.' So we were going and going and the waves were piling in, we had people dump water out but there were only four of us so it wasn't working. The boat sank and we had to jump out and it took my breath away. We swam to the launch and the launch drove us but it became too rocky for the launch so we had to jump out of the launch and swim to the shore. Then all of the sudden our teammates who were on a run pop out and were like 'what are you guys doing?' So then we ran out to Picnic Point and coach Bebe (Bryans) came and picked us up in her car. It was so funny, so absurd that all of this happened on such a beautiful day at first. I'll never forget it."
What is your favorite place on campus?
"The Discovery Center. I love studying there, it's just such a nice area. It's so peaceful and quiet."
Favorite pre-race snack?
"The Gatorade bars, they have chocolate-pretzel Gatorade bars. They're so good, they're like candy."
What advice would you give your freshman self?
"To not get discouraged when things are not going the way you want. I came from Texas, it was warm and I was in the water all year long. Then I went from the openweight team to the lightweight team, it was just a hard transition. I kept to it, obviously because I'm still here, but I think I'd tell myself to be more okay with what's going on, accept it and keep working hard."
Fantasy job?
"I like Kate Ruffalo's idea of being a chocolate taster, but I think I would expand that. My fantasy job would be owning a store of chocolate, bread and fresh pasta. But also an art gallery at the same time. I'd own it and manage it and I'd get to taste everything that comes through."
Autobiography title?
"A Leap in the Wind' or something like that."
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