Success breeds confidence.
If you don’t believe this saying just ask Mercyhurst University men’s and women’s rowing coach Adrian Spracklen. After taking over a rowing program that seemed to be stuck in anonymity, the rowing veteran has turned the Mercyhurst squad into a top notch collegiate program that proves to be a serious contender each year.
“Part of my job as coach is to prepare them for winning and how to handle the expectations of the program standard that we have created,” said Spracklen, who was named women’s head coach in 1998 and also the men’s coach in 2001. “The training we do gives them confidence both physically and mentally.”
At last year’s Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, the Lakers withstood the pressure as defending champions and rowed to victory once again in both the men’s Varsity Lightweight eight (Tom Loschaivo Trophy) and women’s varsity heavyweight eight (Division II).
The men’s lightweight eight defended their title from the previous year while the women’s varsity eight rowed to victory for the third straight year.
“It goes without saying how proud I am of the student-athletes at Mercyhurst,” Spracklen said. “I respect the commitment they have to the program, their academics and to themselves as individuals. Being a successful student-athlete is no easy task and I honor them with giving them my absolute best.”
Prior to Spracklen taking over the rowing program at Mercyhurst, the Lakers had minimal success at the Dad Vail’s collecting just two gold medals in the programs 40-plus year history. Since 2008, the Lakers have rowed to eight titles.
Upon his arrival, Spracklen hoped that the passion combined with his knowledge of rowing would place the kids in a different mindset that success might only be a few strokes away.
“I was very reluctant to enter the realms of coaching,” Adrian said. “as the shoes I was following in were a little large for comfort. Early in my coaching life having the last name Spracklen was a huge load on my shoulders and it was both a great source of pride and hard to bear at times.”
The shoes he was referring to were his father Mike, a successful rower and world renowned coach.
In 1958, the elder Spracklen won a gold medal at the Empire Games prior to starting his coaching career in 1975 where he achieved success on the international level capturing either gold or silver at every Olympics since 1976.
When Spracklen arrived on the small Western Pennsylvania campus he had a mindset to change the philosophy that hindered the stagnant rowing program.
While every program has its challenges, two that face Mercyhurst is the distance they must travel to train and of course the weather. Each day, the rowers face the task of traveling 20-miles each way to their training facility on Lake Findley, New York.
Additionally, due to area’s longer winters the earliest Mercyhurst typically hits the water is the middle of March but there have been years when they were not able to start until the beginning of April.
Spracklen said, “In the limited coaching capacity I self imposed early in career, my crews began to be successful and that in turn brought confidence. I took the head coaching position in 1998 because I knew I could be successful and my passion ever since has grown greater with each passing year.”
The benefit Spracklen had was first-hand knowledge of success breeding confidence. When Spracklen began rowing at the tender age of eight, he was unsure this is what he wanted to pursue.
After achieving success by age 14, Spracklen was hooked. When he was approached with the opportunity to coach, he was hesitant due to large shoes he must fill in regards to his father’s prestigious career as a coach and rower.
With four rowers and the coxswain returning from last year’s men’s lightweight eight team and five rowers and the coxswain from the women’s varsity eight (Division II), Spracklen hopes to have continued success.
When the Aberdeen Dad Vail launches on May 11 and 12 in Philadelphia, Spracklen believes his teams will once again be setting their sights on the winner’s dock.
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