- June 9, 2026
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Orlando Area Rowing Society’s Brooke Deaton never will forget the Junior 8+ boat with which she won Sweep States in 2024. She was in her second year of rowing, and at that point, she had to decide whether she would commit to the sport or venture down another avenue.
Rowing took time out of her schedule.
Deaton, who graduated from Olympia High in May, missed out on high school football games for practices, but the group of girls made it all worth it — everyone was willing to work hard for one another.
Winning states as a sophomore made Deaton realize she wanted to begin the recruitment process. One-and-one-half years later, Deaton officially committed to the University of West Virginia’s Division I rowing team, she almost had fully signed with the school until she received a different offer.
In 2024, Deaton not only learned she was serious about rowing but also that she craved the structure and security a military academy offers.
When she received a call from the United States Military Academy West Point, she decided to de-commit from the University of West Virginia.
Although she no longer will be rowing for OARS or in college, the experiences she gained through her four years there and her year as a senior captain will shape how she approaches her future at West Point and life.
Growing up, Deaton was active in athletics. She previously played soccer before participating in a summer camp at OARS.
“I liked the water,” she said. “I liked how it was a team-built sport, and I liked the consistency. … I thought it had the prettiest landscape, and that’s where I went.”
She always had begged her parents for a consistent and structured schedule, and OARS gave her just that. The first year, as most newbies, she was infatuated with it, but after realizing the commitment required, she began to feel the weakness in rowing more than the strength, especially since rowing demands athletes to be well-rounded.
Rowers have running, weightlifting and erg, which is the on-land rowing machine, assessments. They also have rowing assessments, which is done on the water and through single, doubles and eight-person boats.
“It is a sport of statistics,” Deaton said.
The erg machine always has been her favorite measure of effort. Its screen shows rowers how long it takes them to row 500 meters. If they pull harder, then the time goes down.
“That either puts you in a situation where you want to accept the challenge or puts you in a situation where you’re going to underestimate yourself,” Deaton said.
Ultimately, Deaton achieved the recruitable benchmark of 2,000-meter erg time of 7 minutes, 45 seconds — fast enough to capture the attention of the University of West Virginia.
But through the recruitment process, Deaton also was applying to service academies. She applied to the academies for her call to service that was inspired by her male family members who have served and her siblings who all are on their own pathways. She said being in a driven family has pushed her to work even harder, especially since education is expensive.
“I like to make this funny joke with my dad because he has three biological kids, and I like to joke where he has two out of three college funds because he’s gambling on the fact that out of three kids, one of them won’t use it and he got lucky because I’m not using it,” Deaton said.
Deaton dreamed of a stable job with opportunities and a school that would keep her focused on success. It’s why she’s honored to be attending West Point.
A Navy Seal quote has inspired Deaton’s dedication to improving herself, pushing herself when she’s overwhelmed to produce results that shock her.
“Once you feel like you’ve given all your effort, you’re only giving 80% and you have an extra 20%,” Deaton said. “I live by that. You can push yourself harder than you mentally think you can.”
She departs for West Point’s boot camp Monday, June 29.
Deaton knows the path that lies ahead of her won’t be easy.
“Boot camp is definitely a fear,” she said. “Gas chamber is definitely a fear. Jumping out of a plane, getting screamed at for hours on end, everything is scary. But what I keep reminding myself, as I said in my final speech at OARS, ‘It is a privilege to be uncomfortable. It will be a privilege and it will help me learn and grow.’”
The rules she must follow as a freshman at West Point also will help her grow. She can’t shut her door unless she’s changing. She can only walk on the inside of halls. She can’t speak outside and must walk everywhere with her hands cupped. Deaton won’t even be known by her first name the entire year.
“Some of those things I know are going to make me uncomfortable,” she said. “But I’m willing to embrace it for the journey.”
Deaton won’t return home until Thanksgiving break. It will be hard not to see her parents and five siblings for months, but her family always has supported her and pushed her through every step of the way, and attending West Point will unlock a new world of possibilities.
“It’s an environment where people want to teach you, they want to learn, and I’m such a person that all I want to do is learn,” she said. “I want to be in an environment where I’m pushed to learn.”
The student to faculty ratio is 3:1 at West Point — perfect to foster Deaton’s success. She will have the support system around her to help her find academic success, like she had at OARS.
Being in a rowing community pushed Deaton to become the best version of herself. The organization always encouraged participants to be more than just a rower and that the student in student-athlete always came first.
The environment helped Deaton graduate as an AP Super Scholar from Olympia and top 10% of her class. She spent more than 10 hours per week studying for her 14 AP classes she took during high school.
Service academy appointments require a nomination from a state senator, vice president of the United States or other representatives. Sen. Ashley Moody and U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster selected Deaton.
After fitness exams and her formal application, Deaton found herself in an interview room with Sen. Rick Scott. Deaton walked into a room with five people all sitting in chairs in front of her in uniform. One by one, they asked questions and took notes of her answers.
“I had never been in a situation like that before,” she said. “I had to get interview trained. I had to find an outfit. I had to (be specific in) my essays for what I wanted to say and how I wanted to be perceived.”
One common theme throughout all of her interviews was the question, “How would people describe you in leadership?”
Deaton said being able to talk about her leadership time as a captain of an OARS team of 200 and competing at events that had thousands of participants helped her showcase the scope of her leadership.
“They want to see that you’re a small fish in a big pond making as much difference as you can make than a big fish in a small pond,” she said.
As she prepares to step into the next chapter, she will carry that lesson with her. She’ll become the bottom of the food chain, but it’s the first step in setting herself down a path of service and eventually come out of the academy as a second lieutenant and ready to lead in a new fashion.
