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135 H ijinks from Eve Stewart's brother, who at 13-years-old enjoyed pranking his older sister with bogus text messages, nearly cost the University of Iowa a rowing student-athlete. Stewart is a senior from Amsterdam. During her final year of high school at Amsterdam International Community, she was studying with a friend when she received a random, phony text message. So she thought. e note was from University of Iowa assistant rowing coach Jeff Garbutt. Stewart was not familiar with Garbutt, so she assumed it was another joke instigated by her brother. Irritated, Stewart phoned her mother. "I told my mom that Jake (her brother) has got to stop sending me these fake text messages. It is getting really annoying," Stewart said. Mother Rachel said Jacob was innocent. Hmmm, a confused Stewart thought, so she replied to the text. "I had never heard of Iowa and I had never considered coming to America to study," Stewart said Nov. 13 at a University of Iowa Athletics Department all-staff meeting in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. "I talked to coach Garbutt and soon aer that (head) coach (Andrew) Carter. ey explained to me what collegiate sport was like in the U.S. I had never been to America, never heard of Big Ten, never heard of NCAA. I had no idea what I was getting myself into." Essentially, Stewart was getting in on the ground floor of building a rowing powerhouse. As a freshman in 2016-17, the Hawkeyes placed 14th at the NCAA Championships, their first trip to the postseason in 16 years. As a sophomore, Iowa was fourth at the Big Ten Championships and 11th at the NCAA Championships. Last season, the Hawkeyes were third in the Big Ten and Stewart and the I Varsity Eight placed ninth at the NCAA Championships, the program's highest finish in any boat. "I don't know where to start with great moments," Stewart said. "One of my favorite memories was our appearance at NCAAs my freshman year. At this point, I had been rowing two years in the sport, so I was a newbie. "I remember getting to (West Windsor) New Jersey and there were so many crews. I had never been surrounded by so many athletes at such a high level. It was a moment where I finally understood: OK, rowing, collegiate sport, this is a big deal." e following season, the Hawkeyes scored upset victories over Yale, Princeton, Michigan State, and Michigan. "at's when Iowa rowing started to realize that we can hang with (any program in the country), and that has continued since," Stewart said. An English and creative writing major, Stewart intends to return to Amsterdam aer earning a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa. e impact of her four years in Iowa City will remain forever. "I was on the phone with my mom saying I don't think I would be this person if I had stayed in Amsterdam or Europe," Stewart said. "at's all thanks to the University of Iowa and the great coaches, staff, donors, and everything that is set up for us here."