After driving all night with Fairmount coach John Kieffer, Owston was on time for the Lower Merion football team's 6 a.m. trip to the Poconos for the start of summer football camp.
"Doing that, I know I can do anything," Owston said. "I was falling asleep watching films."
Forgive Owston that tiny transgression. A 6-foot-2, 200-pound captain and defensive end, he played football with the same zeal with which he rowed. Owston was asked which sport was harder.
"They are different," he said. "There is no pain like the 2K [2,000 meters]. That's unmatchable. Just pushing yourself to the limit and knowing your boundaries until your body can't take it."
Owston is set to push his inner envelope again on Friday and Saturday on the Schuylkill at the 78th annual Stotesbury Regatta, the largest and oldest high school regatta in the world. The event features 183 teams and nearly 5,000 rowers.
At the Philadelphia City Championships on the Schuylkill last Sunday, Owston finished a close second to Haverford School senior John Fetter, the defending Stotesbury Cup and national champion.
Both will compete for high honors again at Stotesbury. Fetter won the city title in 5 minutes, 52.02 seconds on the Schuylkill's 1,500-meter course; Owston was next in 5:54.59.
During Lower Merion's practice sessions, Owston has faced doubles, fours and even eights.
"In order to give him competition, I put him against different boats," Lower Merion coach Brian Conley said. "He races against the double and four most often. They may end up beating him, but he'll hold his own."
Owston is in his fourth year rowing, but he has been aware of the sport almost as long as he can remember. His father, Tom Owston Sr., graduated from Monsignor Bonner in 1968 and won Catholic League and Philadelphia City championships. His sister Maureen was a standout at Merion Mercy and Mount St. Joseph; she rows now for St. Joseph's University.
