1. What inspired you to go to your first rowing practice; was there anything memorable about it?
I was actually pretty adamant that I did not want to row. At Michigan State during your freshman orientation there is an activities fair at the very end. All of the students and parents go through it. My mom found the booth that MSU Rowing sets up every year and decided at that moment that I needed to row. I remember my mom telling my about how awesome the rowing program at Michigan State is and that they had come in 6th place at the NCAA Championships that spring. The rest of the summer she encouraged me to join the rowing team so that I would be involved in something when I got to school. I wasn't having any of it. In my head there was no way that I was going to row. I wanted to go to football games and enjoy the Big 10 atmosphere at MSU. Lucky for my mom and in retrospect myself, my roommate that I was roomed blind with was 5'0. So when we were moving in my mom mentioned rowing to her mom and they ganged up on us. The rest is history.
I don't think this comes from my very 1st practice, but it is from my 1st practice on the water. Michigan State used to have what was called preferred walk-ons. They were athletes that were preselected during the summer who were maybe tall or former athletes and they would start practicing a few weeks before all of the other novices. I was not aware of this and was put in a boat with all of the preferred walk-ons. The entire practice the coach was correcting me and telling me that I was basically doing everything wrong. I couldn't believe how much worse I could already be than the other girls. It wasn't until we were back on land that one of the other girls told me they had already been practicing for a few weeks.
2. Was there a practice, race or other event when you fell in love with the sport, or when you knew you might not be too bad at rowing? When you thought you could make the national team?
Falling in love with the sport was a process for me. I didn't really want to row when I started. My freshman year the team was struggling so a few novices were moved into varsity boats in the spring. I originally stuck with rowing because I didn't want to let my teammates down. But I was part of an amazing team my sophomore year and over the course of my second year I really fell in love with the people and the sport.
I guess I knew pretty early on that I had some natural talent. In the spring of my sophomore year my college coach Matt Weise and Kevin Sauer, the head coach at UVA really encouraged me to apply for the U23 national team camp. I actually had no idea what I was applying to, but I did and went to camp that summer. I was not prepared for what it actually was and had my butt handed to me the entire time. It was a good motivator for me because I was able to see how talented the girls were from other programs and it gave me a goal for the future. This camp is also where I met 3 of my Olympic boat mates (Katelin Snyder, Meghan Musnicki, and Amanda Polk)
3. Best race/practice, worst race/practice?
The best race I have ever been a part of was the final of World Cup III in 2013. It was my first race in an Olympic class boat and we set the world record. What made it so special was that it was so surprising. The crew was mostly filled with girls who were racing in their first ever Olympic class event and we even had a few girls who had never even raced internationally before. We really didn't have any expectations for ourselves except to go out, race hard, and have fun. We were lucky to have Caroline Lind to lead us along the way.
My worst ever practice was my first practice in a 1x. It was windy, and I had never been in a small boat before. I made it probably about 5k away from the dock where I proceeded to flip twice in about 500 meters. I remember crying and begging my coach to please tow me home. I am pretty sure that is where my fear of flipping came from. Poor Ali Cox was the first person I rowed a pair with at the training center. She was an Olympic Medallist and I was a newbie who would hold on to my back stay for dear life. I am proud to say that I have overcome my fear of small boats.
4. Best/Anything you've done in the sport no one knows about?
My hidden talent is flipping singles. I flipped at least once a year when I was in college.
5. Any/Most important advice for young rowers?
My pair partner in college used to wear a shirt that said "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard" I think that's some of the best advice rowers can learn. You can be the most talented person in the world, but it doesn't mean anything if you're not willing to work harder than the people around you. Some of the fastest rowers I know aren't the most talented, they're the ones who are willing to put in more work than anyone else.
DATE OF BIRTH: 6/10/88
HEIGHT: 6'2”
WEIGHT: 175
BEGAN ROWING: 2006, Michigan State University
HOMETOWN: Buffalo, N.Y.
BIRTHPLACE: Buffalo, N.Y.
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Princeton, N.J.
HIGH SCHOOL: Nichols School
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION: Michigan State University, 2010
TRAINING LOCATION: Princeton, N.J.
CURRENT COACH: Tom Terhaar
CLUB AFFILIATIONS: USRowing Training Center – Princeton
National Teams: SENIOR: 2011, 2013-2016, UNDER 23 TEAMS: 2010
International Results: Won gold in the eight at the 2016 World Rowing Cup II...Won gold in the eight at the 2015 World Rowing Championships…Won gold in the eight and four at the 2015 World Rowing Cup 2…Won silver in the four at the 2014 World Rowing Championships...Won gold in the eight at the 2013 World Rowing Championships...Won gold and set a world record (5:54.16) in the final in the eight at the 2013 World Rowing Cup 3...Won gold in the four at the 2011 World Rowing Championships...Won gold in the eight at the 2010 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
National Results: Finished fourth in the pair at the 2015 National Selection Regatta 1...Won the four at the 2011 Senior World Championship Trials...Won the varsity eight at the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Big 10 Championships.
Personal: After rowing, Emily would like to pursue a masters degree…Her parents are her personal heroes…The most influential person in her sporting career has been her college coach Matt Weise, who showed her how much potential she had and encouraged her to keep developing herself in the sport of rowing…In 2010, Emily was named a DI First-Team All-American, First-Team All-Big Ten, First-Team All-Central Region and the Big Ten Rowing Conference Athlete of the Year.
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