Members of the (PCRA) and students at Scarsdale High School are remembering .
Madoff, a member of the PCRA and SHS class of 2014, was
Alexa Pappas, a student at Scarsdale High School, spoke about his involvement in crew.
"Tyler was in my English class last year and that's when we really became friends," Pappas said. "Sometimes before English (class) I would catch him in the hallway walking and we would walk down together, during this time we talked about our lives and such."
Pappas said Tyler had a big love for crew. "Most of these conversation during these walks to English included his involvement in the crew team, my fondest memory is on a Monday when he had just returned from a long weekend of crew competitions and told me about the metals he had won. He was very nice, easy to talk to, and all around a fun guy. I am really going to miss him."
Matthew Cabarrocas, a student of Pelham Memorial High School and Madoff’s teammate, spoke of his time with Madoff on PCRA.
“Over this past spring season, I was in an 8 [on the crew team] with Tyler," Cabarrocas said. "We got really close and shared many good memories.”
“The most memorable time I spent with Tyler was when the whole crew team, PCRA, went up to Saratoga. We had a lot of fun on the coach bus ride up, and just hanging out in the hotel lobby," he recalled.
“Tyler was a great person and friend. He brought joy to this team,” added Cabarrocas. “He will always be remembered as someone who never gave up and who will go out of his way to help someone. I will miss him very much and I know everyone on the team will as well.”
Madeline Spencer, a recently graduated senior of Hackely High School and also a member of PCRA with Madoff, spoke of their close friendship and remembered meeting him during his freshman year of high school.
“Tyler was a good friend and an awesome teammate," Spencer said. "He was always smiling and lent a hand to anyone that needed it. I met him (in the) spring when he was a freshman and he was so sassy when I first met him, but in a good way. This past spring he and I became fairly close."
Spencer recalled Tyler as being "chivalrous. I remember he was sitting at a table during a team dinner and I jokingly asked him to give up his seat and without complaint or comment he got up and held out the chair for me,” she said.
Spencer also spoke of his work ethic on the team.
“One day I was rowing with him and he and I were the shortest people so we were the last pair in the boat," she said. "Trying to keep up with him was really difficult but no matter what, during every break, he turned around and asked me if I noticed anything he could do better. Whether it was technique, or application of power, he always wanted to work harder and do better. At one point we all stood up in the boat and I was terrified we would flip over, but he somehow made me feel comfortable me standing up.”
Madoff was “like a little brother” to Spencer, she said. “When his boat at States did really well I gave him my PCRA blade necklace that he really wanted and kept threatening to steal. I just hope that he knew how much we all care about him,” she said. Our coach is thinking about naming the boat Tyler raced at States after him and I can't imagine a better way to celebrate his life.”
