High Point University freshman Arianna Ording served as the coxswain for the Ukrainian national rowing team during its races at the High Point Autumn Rowing Festival on Oak Hollow Lake on Oct. 8.

Ording is a computer engineering major from Ridgefield, Connecticut, and a member of HPU’s rowing club team. She said it was an honor to compete with the Ukrainian national team at the regatta – especially since her grandparents immigrated from Ukraine during World War II.

Ording, who can speak some Ukrainian, understood the significance of the moment. The Ukrainian rowers have been living and training in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, while dealing with the impact from the country’s ongoing war with Russia.

“It’s such an amazing thing. I never ever imagined that I’d be able to do this,” Ording said. “Coming from what’s happening now in Ukraine, it’s like I’ve been able to represent a part of where I come from. It’s beyond words.”

The coxswain is like a coach sitting inside the boat during a race, steering it on the water and giving orders to the rowers who sit facing her.