2008 Woodie Awards
Student makes waves, races to winner's circle
Motorboat racer, Valerie D'Agostino earns national racing accolades
Nick DiMarco
Life | 7/6/08
At the D'Agostino house in Bowie, Md., a Buick is parked on the street and the garage is used for two high-powered motorboats and a host of impressive three-foot trophies.
After winning two stock outboard national championships in 2006 and 2007, Towson junior Valerie D'Agostino has been coined the Danica Patrick of the water-racing world.
"It's pretty much like NASCAR on water, is what we like to say," D'Agostino said.
"It's kind of like when you're driving next to a tractor trailer in the rain, all that spray, imagine that without windshield wipers, that's what we see in the turns."
The finance major, Dean's List honoree, former softball player and self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie has been racing since she was nine years old.
Though a decade ago, the boats she used only reached speeds of about 40 mph, today D'Agostino spends her weekends ripping through lake water at speeds exceeding 65 mph.
"It's more adrenaline than fear. I love the rush and the feeling. I just went skydiving last week and I love roller coasters, anything that gets your heart pumping," D'Agostino said.
A transfer student from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, D'Agostino came to Towson in hopes of being closer to the sport she loves, something she calls a lifestyle.
She competes in races almost every weekend with eleven other boats in the water, all of them vying for the coveted first place finish. D'Agostino is no stranger to the danger the sport has to offer.
"I had a bad crash in New Jersey. Other boats out there are dangerous. If they crash, you can't turn right in these boats," she said, recalling an event she participating in last year. Her mentality, given the inability to turn right is, "go fast, turn left," she said with a smile.
She only suffered minor injuries from the crash, despite being thrust through the center of her boat after a competitor lost control of his watercraft.
"Some people get scared. They crash and get scared and it becomes a fear. They don't want to go out and do it again. But the best thing to do is go out and do some laps. [You] get back into the feeling and not let that fear hold you back," she said.
After winning two stock outboard national championships in 2006 and 2007, Towson junior Valerie D'Agostino has been coined the Danica Patrick of the water-racing world.
"It's pretty much like NASCAR on water, is what we like to say," D'Agostino said.
"It's kind of like when you're driving next to a tractor trailer in the rain, all that spray, imagine that without windshield wipers, that's what we see in the turns."
The finance major, Dean's List honoree, former softball player and self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie has been racing since she was nine years old.
Though a decade ago, the boats she used only reached speeds of about 40 mph, today D'Agostino spends her weekends ripping through lake water at speeds exceeding 65 mph.
"It's more adrenaline than fear. I love the rush and the feeling. I just went skydiving last week and I love roller coasters, anything that gets your heart pumping," D'Agostino said.
A transfer student from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, D'Agostino came to Towson in hopes of being closer to the sport she loves, something she calls a lifestyle.
She competes in races almost every weekend with eleven other boats in the water, all of them vying for the coveted first place finish. D'Agostino is no stranger to the danger the sport has to offer.
"I had a bad crash in New Jersey. Other boats out there are dangerous. If they crash, you can't turn right in these boats," she said, recalling an event she participating in last year. Her mentality, given the inability to turn right is, "go fast, turn left," she said with a smile.
She only suffered minor injuries from the crash, despite being thrust through the center of her boat after a competitor lost control of his watercraft.
"Some people get scared. They crash and get scared and it becomes a fear. They don't want to go out and do it again. But the best thing to do is go out and do some laps. [You] get back into the feeling and not let that fear hold you back," she said.
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