Jeri Rhodes was in gym class when St. Louis Rowing Club head coach Tim Franck showed up for his annual visit to Ladue Horton Watkins High School. Franck brought rowing machines as well as additional information about the program.
Rhodes, a sophomore at the time, tested herself on the rowing machine along with her fellow classmates. She finished with the fastest time of them all. Her older sister, Ginette Rhodes, rowed with the club in the previous year and now attends Ohio State University.
Franck was dead set on getting Jeri to join as well. She was just as talented as Ginette, but boasted greater size and strength.
“He told me, ‘Wow, she would be a great person to row. Oh, my God,” Jeri’s father Jeffrey Rhodes said.
Luckily for Franck, Jeri was interested in following in her sister’s footsteps. “She came to me and said, ‘Dad, I want to win as many medals as my big sister did,’” Jeffrey Rhodes said.
Two years later, Jeri has done just that. She’s the St. Louis Rowing Club’s current junior female record holder for the 2k, 5k and 10k indoor rowing times. She’s a member of the junior United States Rowing Team, attended the 2017 Junior National Team High Performance Camp, and signed a national letter of intent to attend the University of Michigan.
Jeri is one of the most accomplished rowers in club history, but her favorite honor of them all came in June when she attended the high-performance camp in Connecticut. She was a part of the eight-boat team that won a gold medal in the 2017 Intermediate Club Nationals.
“I learned a lot about myself, working in a different setting, with different coaching styles,” Jeri said. “That was a memory I think I’ll keep 20 years from now, because I think that was one of my first steps for competition rowing outside of St. Louis.”
Her father concurred.
“With my work schedule, most of the regattas happen while I’m at work,” he said. “That was the first one that I got to see from start to finish. To see her race and finish as a gold medalist is probably something that I’ll always cherish.”
Being a member of the St. Louis Rowing Club requires traveling outside of Missouri for every race, but the month-long camp was the first time that Jeri spent an extended period of time away from home. The team participates in at least three competitions during both the fall and spring seasons, with practice being held at Creve Coeur Lake six times a week.
It’s been a valuable experience for Jeri, but it puts an enormous amount of pressure on her to keep up with her academics. For her parents, the primary stressors are time and expenses. Both have responded well to their respective challenges.
Jeri currently has a 3.5 GPA and she has taken several AP courses for college credit. Jeffrey’s work as a pharmacist (St. Louis College of Pharmacy graduate) helps fund his daughter’s rowing ventures, while his wife Valarie Rhodes has also taken a leading role.
Valarie graduated from the University of Missouri – St. Louis with a master’s degree in elementary education. She once taught in Chicago and in Ohio, but has now turned her full attention to raising and nurturing her five children.
“I was the one that would take Jeri to practices six days a week,” Valarie said. “She needed that support or she couldn’t really be a rower.”
The Rhodes family’s primary concern is the success and happiness of their children. “We never try to let (Jeri) feel that stress that we’re going through,” Jeffrey said. “We want her to focus on what she’s doing and not worry about it.”
That’s been the formula ever since Jeri started playing basketball at the YMCA in fifth grade, and it’ll continue throughout her rowing career as a Michigan Wolverine and beyond.
“I wanted the most well-rounded school,” Jeri said about her decision to pick Michigan. “There were schools that excelled in one area, but in Michigan they had everything. I felt like I would be the most comfortable there and have the most support in rowing as well as any other activities.”
Jeri has an interest in criminology, law enforcement, and psychology. She’s excited to start her college career, but her main goal is to improve at the next level. She’s already won at Nationals, but her aspirations are to win internationally.
“There’s so much that Jeri has to uncover,” Valarie said. “There’s just so much left in her body to give. I just think that one day she will be in the Olympics. I just feel that with her determination and the gift that God’s given her, the sky is the limit.”
