Thursday, October 1, 2026
When Long Beach native Caelin Feehan was a ninth-grader in 2022, her mother, Noreen Feehan, encouraged her to try out for Long Beach High School’s crew program, a 10-week enrichment program that took place at Concept Fitness, a health club in Oceanside. That decision has now come full circle, as Feehan has signed a letter of intent to row at Loyola University, in Maryland, where she plans to major in biology.
Now 17, Feehan said her mother always pushed her and her older sister, Torrance, to get involved in sports to build healthy habits. Caelin, who also runs track and cross-country, said she had to persuade her sister, who’s known as Tori, to try out for crew.
“She didn’t want to do it because she was doing shot put,” Caelin said of the track and field event. “Tori figured she had a sport, so she shouldn’t need to do it.”
After school ended in June 2023, both sisters joined Concept Fitness’s competitive rowing team, for which they trained five days a week, rowing for two hours and then weight training for two more.
The program was under the direction of Lizzy Carson, Head Coach at Concept Fitness, who was impressed by the Feehans’ skills and dedication. “They were the reason I woke up early,” Carson said. “Not only were they amazing athletes to coach, but they really helped us develop the program.”
The sisters became known for their similar personalities and constant jokes. “We had this habit of saying everything at exactly the same time as twins from a horror movie,” Caelin recalled. “Our teammates kept coming up with different reasons as to why we were the same person.”
Early in their rowing careers, the sisters competed in doubles races together, but, Caelin said, as they progressed, Tori was rowing more frequently, leading the pair to split up.
“Realistically, I would have held her back,” Caelin said. “In order for her to win races, she needed to row with someone on the same level.”
Despite the split, the sisters stayed close. They rowed together on four-women crews and on bigger boats. They also competed in “2k scores,” a test of endurance and power across 2,000 meters. At the end of their practices, the girls always jumped or pushed each other into the water.
“Our bond strengthened through everything we did together, from the doubles races to our inside jokes,” Tori, who now studies Psychology, and rows at the University of Delaware, said. “It was really nice to have that experience with her.”
The pair also traveled to major regattas, including the annual New York State Scholastic Championships, in Saratoga Springs. There, in 2025, Tori and her doubles partner, Ava Maidhof, who will row at Delaware this fall, placed .3 seconds behind the rower in front of her, which would have qualified her for the US Rowing Youth National Championships, in Florida. But because it was a scholastic event, the Concept Fitness crew, which wasn’t affiliated with Long Beach High, didn’t meet the time requirement to qualify.
“I was so pissed,” Caelin recounted.
Tori, who was into weightlifting as well as track and field, said she developed a passion for rowing in the summer program. As was the case with Caelin, running and field events, like the shot put and discus, were never her calling. At Delaware, Tori loved getting to know her teammates and being part of a collective, working toward a common goal. The Oceanside program, she added, fueled her competitive drive.
While most college freshmen row in novice boats, Tori’s skills earned her time in more advanced boats, such as the varsity 4, a boat containing four rowers, each with one oar. As a freshman, this year, she earned a Mid-American Conference Weekly Laurel at the Cornell Invitational.
“Being in the rowing program in high school really helped me build a love for the sport,” Tori said.
As Caelin prepares for her own collegiate rowing career, Tori said she was looking forward to bonding over their shared sport again. “When I come home at Christmas and tell her my back feels like I’m 85 years old, she’s going to know what I mean.” Tori said. “I love having this connection with her.”
