Alexandria’s Christian Tabash is rowing with Team USA in the upcoming Paris Olympics, and says that the games are the culmination of a lifelong dream.
Tabash has been training in Italy with his team, and stopped to talk for a few minutes with ALXnow. He’s lived in Alexandria with his family since 2017, and rowed four years on the varsity team of Gonzaga College High School in D.C., and then for four years at Harvard University where he earned a degree in government. He was selected to be on Team USA’s men’s eight rowing team at the end of March.
Tabash considered not participating in the games because of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Tabash is Palestinian and said on LinkedIn after making the team that the conflict made it “unexpectedly difficult” for him to continue performing at a high level.
“(I’ve) struggled to feel like what I’m devoting myself to has any significance at all,” Tabash wrote. “(I’ve) cried more than I ever have these past 144 days only to realize that the pain and sorrow I feel does not begin to compare to that of Palestinians in Palestine.”
Tabash is one of two Alexandria athletes going to the Paris Olympics, along with sprinter Noah Lyles.
Tabash said he was inspired at a young age after watching Usain Bolt’s gold medal-winning (and record-breaking) sprinting performances in the 2008 games.
The 25-year-old also speaks fluent French and Haitian Créole, and was named 2016 All-Met first team by the Washington Post.
Tabash’s heat with Team USA is on July 29, and if the team qualifies their final is on Aug. 3.
ALXnow: What’s training like right now? Are you rowing on ergs (ergometers) or open water?
Tabash: We’re training really hard. It’s probably like the hardest I’ve ever trained for a sustained period of time. Nothing’s changed dramatically, like the coaching staff has a combination of rows on the open water as well as on the ergs. I’m on the men’s eight,
ALXnow: The U.S. rowing team didn’t medal in the Tokyo Olympics. What’s the vibe been with the team, and what’s the message?
Tabash: We haven’t won in the eight since 2004, and that was a bronze. On the men’s side there’s been a little bit of a drought since. What’s different about this cycle is that we have a new high performance director Josy Verdonkschot who came after Tokyo and he’s really restructured the way things operate.
It’s really methodical and scientific. He’s amassed a really high level of world-class coaching staff and it seems like every year the results have gotten better and better leading up to this Olympiad.
ALXnow: Are you watching tape of the other teams, or just focusing on yourselves?
Tabash: I mean, a huge part of it is just trying to sharpen ourselves, because at the end of the day, unlike different ball sports there’s no interaction between the competitors, our lane, our boat, the start line and the finish line. So, yeah, we do a lot of video analysis of ourselves, you know, technical feedback, technical analysis, as well as obviously getting to the highest level of fitness possible.
ALXnow: What inspires you and keeps you going?
Tabash: I have that little kid excitement, you know, in me about trying to do something better than anyone else. I think that idea of winning a gold medal and doing something that a lot of people have tried, but doing it at its peak performance, similar to how I saw Usain Bolt shatter those world records, I think that has provided me a lot of purpose to go through tough training and a lot of situations I otherwise would not have wanted to be in.
ALXnow: You put out a strongly worded statement shortly after making the team on LinkedIn and said that you struggled with the idea of participating in the games because of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Tell me about your position on this and why you decided to put out that statement.
Tabash: My family and I are Palestinian. This is one of history’s first fully documented in 4k genocides in history where you have a native indigenous population dating back to the time of Jesus Christ that is being genocided by a foreign colonial European, armed occupation, and there’s footage that comes out every day of just the most unspeakable horrors…
The sad thing is, I’ve really had to compartmentalize a lot of my emotions and and not try not to let things bleed into one another. I could have been born in Gaza, I could have been born in the West Bank or under Israeli military occupation. Any of these hundreds of thousands of houses that were bombed could have been my house, and that’s hard as I try to comprehend this and focus on my rowing.
ALXnow: You have a government degree from Harvard. What are you going to do with it?
Tabash: I’m not sure right now. I think I’m taking it one step at a time. Over the the past year or so I have been a full time athlete. But once the games are over, I do have to make some decisions in terms of the direction I want to go. I could continue rowing, but I think I’ll make that decision when I when I get there, which is after the games.
