Captain of the Week: Ellie Ana Sperantsas
Photos courtesy of Edie Fisher
By MEGHAN TATE ZEE, HENRY WISE, LOGAN LIU, ANGELA HE
Girls’ crew, a very successful team throughout the 2024 spring season, is one of the largest teams on campus. The team, comprising many rowers from boat six to boat one, could not do what they do every day without the leadership and influence of their captain, senior Ellie Ana Sperantsas.
Sperantsas began her rowing career as a prep. From the start, she was enthusiastic and passionate about rowing. During her first year, she made the first boat that won NEIRAs (New England Interscholastic Rowing Association), becoming an integral member of the team.
Coach Becky Moore stated, “I loved seeing her enthusiasm as a prep, with all the world of PEA crew new to her and the joy that she took in trying out that new competitive world. Growing more skilled as a rower and as a competitor, she has learned to be able to deal with both triumph and disappointment.”
Senior Jane Park added on, describing Sperantsas as a captain who “brings a different level of work ethic to the team. Her work ethic is different from others because she is able to take the bad parts of practice and somehow turn them into the good parts.”
“I’ve known her since prep year and she’s always had that kind of energy and that just originally inspires me every day to keep going and getting better,” Park continued.
Lower Kaitlynn Farkas echoed this sentiment. “Sometimes I’ll have a bad row and I won’t want to come the next day and I’ll talk to Ellie Ana and she’ll inspire me to come back and try harder every day because I know that she goes through the same thing.”
“One of my favorite things about Ellie Ana is how personable she is,” prep Bella Tyson Montgomery said. “She’s always going out of her way to talk to someone she hasn’t before and always makes an effort to get to know the entire team better.” When asked to describe Sperantsas in one word, Tyson Montgomery said, “Dedicated.”
While Sperantsas is a great captain, she is also a memorable and amazing friend. Senior Edie Fisher commented on a memorable moment with Sperantsas. “We went to see the Nutcracker in Boston last December, and we explored the city for hours looking for a good restaurant while she hobbled along in heels too tall for that amount of walking. Our phones were about to die the whole time, so it was really fun trying to conserve battery by not using Google Maps and trying to make our way around the city.”
Park highlighted Sperantsas’ character as a team captain versus as a friend. “She’s a very jolly person I would say. She’s very outgoing and she’s very extroverted. But whenever she steps into the boathouse, it’s time for her to take ownership of her rowing and to lead the team. She also has that very stern and very motivated side of her, which is so inspiring.”
The girl’s rowing team could not be at the level it is without the direction and authority of Sperantsas. “Ellie Ana inspires me as well as the rest of the team to be the best teammates possible,” Fisher said. “She has worked very hard to have lots of team bonding, so everyone can get to know as many others as possible.” Sperantsas’ leadership is one of the things that drives this team to have one of the best communities of all spring sports.
