From One Uniform to Another: Kamath's Path From Rowing to the Navy

Shruti Kamath never intended to row. 

While growing up in Chennai, India, 8-year-old Kamath was considering adding sailing to her long list of extracurricular activities. When she went out with her family in search of the sailing club, she ended up somewhere different, somewhere that would change her life.

The slow start didn’t deter Kamath. With practice, she was able to develop her rowing skills. Tennis, classical dance, piano, and her other hobbies were no longer as enticing as her new passion.

“Rowing kind of stuck and I started really enjoying it,” Kamath remembered. “Everything else took a back seat as I moved up in rowing.”

Kamath progressed quickly, eventually working her way all the way up to India’s National Team. The team competed internationally, taking part in top competitions like the Asian Games and the Junior Asian Championships. 

Although Kamath enjoyed the experience, she knew she had a choice to make.

“If I wanted to continue at the level I was at, I would actually have to take a break from school because a lot of schools in India don’t have rowing,” Kamath explained. “I wanted to move to the U.S. because schools have teams here and I could still compete.”

Kamath followed her dream and moved to the U.S., rowing at Bair Island Aquatic Club in Redwood City. While she was there, she was recruited by UC San Diego. She worked hard to navigate the unfamiliar process.

“It was all very new to me because I didn't even know what Division I, II, or III was,” Kamath recalled. “I was fresh out of India applying to colleges, taking the SAT, trying to figure out what the NCAA Divisions were.”

Despite the challenges, Kamath ultimately earned admission to UC San Diego and accepted the offer. Much like the recruiting and application process, her start to her collegiate experience required some adjustments.

“The whole schooling system was super new to me and I had to get used to how things work here versus back in India,” Kamath recounted. “I wouldn’t say it was a culture shock because I was used to traveling, but getting used to the different systems and the way things work was a little weird.

“Rowing was definitely different too,” Kamath added. “The standard of training was a lot higher, so it put a whole new grind on my body… The girls on my collegiate team had way better ergometer times than India’s National Team.”

Kamath wasn’t the only new face to UC San Diego women’s rowing at the time. Colin Truex was named the team’s head coach in August of 2012 after five seasons as an assistant coach with UC San Diego’s men’s team. Like Kamath, Truex had to adjust to his new role. 

“Being a first-time head coach, I didn’t really know what to expect that first year,” Truex recalled. “I felt like I had to prove that I did have the skill set to run a successful collegiate program, so I definitely put some pressure on myself. The team hadn’t made the NCAA Championships since 2008, so I felt that qualifying would be an overachievement in that first year.

“We had some great veteran leadership on that team – Alyssa Dixon-Word and Ashley Travaglione, who were very excited to have a new direction for the program. I knew I could count on them to set the standard and then we had some new team members really step up and embrace hard work – Shruti Kamath, Michelle Robbins, Kelsey Henck, and Cat Sheffler.”

The squad started off the spring with a bang, earning first place in four of its five races at Long Beach, and continued to show promise as the season progressed. For Kamath, her hard work paid off as she earned a coveted spot in the Varsity 8 boat. 

With the Tritons’ success throughout the season, the possibility of a spot in the NCAA Championships soon came into sight. After wrapping up their regular season at the Dad Vail Regatta on May 11, 2013, they had nine days until the NCAA’s official announcement of which teams had secured spots in the Championships. 

Finally, on May 20, the Tritons anxiously awaited the NCAA’s announcement. When the clock struck 2 p.m., the names were revealed.

UC San Diego was in.

“We were definitely blown away,” Kamath said. “It was super exciting. We had obviously been trying really hard for it. The whole team was pulling for Colin since he had just taken over the team.”

With their NCAA Championships berth secured, Kamath and the Tritons made their way to Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. Battling rainy conditions during the opening heat, Kamath and the Varsity 8 placed third, sending them to the following day’s repechage. 

The stakes were high in the repechage, as a spot in the grand final was on the line. UC San Diego excelled under the pressure, dashing across the finish line less than a second ahead of regional rival Western Washington to finish first out of four teams. Clinching a spot in the grand final with the victory, the Tritons were set to face Barry, Nova Southeastern, and Western Washington in Sunday's big race.

With Kamath in the stroke seat, the Varsity 8 took part in their final race of the year: the grand final of the NCAA Championships. Recording a time of 6:54.69, Kamath and the Tritons placed third in the nation.

“The whole race was such a blur,” Kamath said. “Those were some of the most challenging waters I rowed in. The waters were so choppy and it was so windy. It came down to mental grit.”

After getting out of the water, the Tritons celebrated their impressive finish with a joyful group hug. For Truex, the moment felt like a turning point.

“It felt amazing!” Truex shared. “It hooked me into this profession even deeper than I had been at the time. Mostly I felt validated – that I could be a successful collegiate head coach and run a competitive program with engaged, hard-working, and determined athletes. 

“There have some down seasons since that of course, but I always look back at that 2013 V8, with Shruti leading the way, and know that we can do this.”

Throughout all four of her years at UC San Diego, Kamath remained passionate and dedicated to rowing. Looking back on all of her experiences, the practices stand out as a highlight for her.

“You have your ups and downs in your practices, but you're never alone,” Kamath reminisced. “You always have that team there with you. There’s that feeling of being in the boat together. You have to be perfectly in sync, and that feeling is so beautiful.”

Kamath closed her senior campaign with All-Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Second Team honors and graduated from UC San Diego with her Bachelor of Science in cognitive science and a specialization in neuroscience. 

With her degree in hand and her rowing experience behind her, Kamath was ready to join a new team: the Navy. 

“I always wanted to try military medicine,” Kamath explained. “I thought it would be an interesting twist to my life.”

Her time with the Navy began with boot camp. Thanks to rowing, boot camp wasn’t as challenging for Kamath as it was for some of her peers.

“I expected it to be physically more straining, but having rowed for almost my entire life, it wasn’t,” Kamath shared. “I was used to working out six days a week, three to four hours a day. Rowing prepared me so much that keeping up my physical fitness for the Navy was no big deal.”

After completing boot camp, Kamath began “A” School, the Navy’s technical training program for a selected field. Kamath’s chosen position was a corpsman, a medical specialist for the Navy. For about three years, she served on a ship and in a hospital. 

“We do a lot of patient care, depending on what department you’re in,” Kamath said. “We did a couple toenail extractions on the ship. You get to do a lot of stuff that you won’t get to do when you’re a civilian unless you’re certified. I shadowed a lot and got to sit in on a lot of surgeries.”

Kamath’s experience was typical up until this past March. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. 

“It was crazy because a ship is a contained environment; everyone’s breathing the same air,” Kamath said. “I was with 1,200 people and I was one of about 20 on the medical team… It felt like every day a new policy was coming out about how to handle it.

“There were days we were up from 6 a.m. until midnight or later. Every time someone potentially tested positive, we had to interview so many people they may have come in contact with because everyone lives in close quarters... It takes a mental toll on you.”

Eventually when social distancing rules were announced, the crew was downsized from 1,200 to 300 essential people on the ship, and Kamath was not among those required to stay. With the ship in Mississippi and a halt on travel for military members, Kamath filled out a waiver to travel to San Diego – the ship’s home port – and gathered her belongings. 

Kamath’s training concluded about three months ago, when she was selected for a pre-medical program funded by the U.S. military which serves as a pipeline to medical school. For two years, she will complete the prerequisites for medical school through George Mason University while preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

“Our professors know we’re part of this specific program, so they try to relate physics, chemistry, anything we take to medicine,” Kamath said. “It’s really helpful that I’ve had some exposure to these things. I’m taking these classes and seeing how it’s applied, like how you use physics in surgery.”

Although her pre-med program may seem unrelated to rowing on the surface, Kamath feels that her rowing experience has helped set her up for success.

“Rowing helped me grow as a person,” Kamath shared. “I learned about being on a team and how to make adjustments and be accommodating. It definitely gave me a lot more patience in real-life work situations.”

Truex recalls Kamath’s exemplary attitude during her time with the UC San Diego women’s rowing team.

“She was simply a joy to work with, and rowed and raced with such passion that she inspired everyone around her,” Truex said. “I miss having her around, but I am so proud of her and the life she has chosen to lead.”

Kamath will take the MCAT early next year and apply for medical school next summer. She will complete the pre-med program the following summer and begin medical school in the fall of 2022. 

Her top choice for medical school? UC San Diego.

“UC San Diego for me is like going back home,” Kamath described. “That’s where I found my first set of friends when I moved to this country. I felt like I belonged.”

As for what’s next after medical school, Kamath is considering the possibility of the Navy’s flight surgeon program since she grew up wanting to be a pilot. She would be required to participate in a two-year flying program after graduating from medical school. 

Aside from her career aspirations, there’s another goal that she’s chasing: competing in the world’s most popular regatta.

“Before I die, I want to row in a Henley Regatta. Whatever age category that might be,” Kamath laughed.

With Kamath’s lifelong passion for rowing, it’s hard to imagine that she never intended to participate in the sport. If she hadn't been misdirected from the sailing club to the rowing club, her life might look significantly different.

In the years that have passed since the mix-up between the two clubs, one thing is clear; it all worked out for the best.

About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program begins a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.