When the night is darkest, dawn warms the horizon with its humble luminescent glow. On a team filled with inside competition, a dawn shines over a mass of neglected under-classmen and novice rowers. When the Hingham Crew Team needed him most, Sean Cunningham steppe up to make a difference by leading the team he grew up on.

Sean is a senior at HHS and one of four captains selected by his teammates to represent them this year as they compete in various trials around New England. When asked about his experience as a leader on the team, he told me, “I always thought of myself as a different kind of captain. Instead of giving orders, I let my actions speak for themselves. I made sure to befriend everyone in attempt to envision their experiences. I want my peers to feel as if they can approach me about anything, not just rowing.”

On the crew team, teammates are constantly pitted against each other for higher seats in better boats. The constant competition and ranking leads to an omnipresent tension during practices, and those select few named as the top athletes on the team are members of the coveted 1st varsity boat. The coach will take the 1st boat out and train them until they are as good as they could ever hope to be, which leads some members in other boats to feel a bit neglected. Under Sean’s leadership, the younger members of the team are seen as peers of the power players, and not just cannon fodder to fill the lower end boats. As a result the team is tighter knit and better off racing against the brutal competition they face.

Matthias Ling, a 3rd year rower on the team, observed Sean throughout his entire career as a rower. He expressed no hesitation in singing Sean’s praises. He described Sean as, “Extremely humble as well as down -to-­earth. He is willing to help even the newest and most inexperienced rowers improve. Although he is extremely good at what he does, Sean doesn’t feel like he is any more important to the team than anyone else.”

Sean is highly regarded by the inexperienced novices on the team and commands the respect of his peers and coaches. When he has left the team and HHS next year, he will be remembered for his compassion and willingness to help others, especially those overlooked by the other top rowers.