Next up In The Driver's Seat--where we hear from the folks who keep the shells straight—-is coxswain Tessa Kurtzman.

Tessa, a junior at Marist, walked-on to the sport when she got to college, and worked her way up to coxing Marist's entry at the 2024 IRA, the Varsity Four.

Along the way, Tessa learned how to cox on the Hudson River, earned a spot in the Red Foxes' top boats, and tells row2k that her experience shows that you can start out as a complete novice and still become a good collegiate coxswain if you stay determined to learn as much as you can and keep improving.

Fun "Driver's Seat" fact: in both the semi and her final at the IRA, Tessa raced against fellow 'Driver's Seat' coxswain Dominic Mazza from LaSalla (you can read Dominic's interview from last June here).

Let's hop In The Driver's Seat with Tessa:

row2k - Give us your top three essentials for being ready on Race Day:
Tessa Kurtzman - Develop a Ritual: To get me in the right mindset and ensure I don’t forget anything, I’ve developed a routine that I do before every race. Mine consists of checking the rigging twice after we’ve rigged the boats, checking bow numbers, checking that I have my tools, and going over my race plan again with my boat. There are smaller habits I’ve also gotten into such as listening to the same playlist when I’m 20 minutes out from the course. It’s whatever works for you, but I find the repetition important to making sure I’m not just prepared, but confident that I’m ready to race.

Race Plan: We all know it’s important to make a race plan, but I also ensure that my rowers know the plan as well as the course. Before every race, I make a Google document to send out to my boat. This document consists of an in-depth explanation of the course, weather for the day, and maps. I also make a section for each rower. This includes technical changes that the rowers could make to improve, but also how to incorporate that during race day instead of overthinking it. I find this helps my rowers feel more confident on race day, which in turn helps me feel more prepared.

Using the race plan at the Head of the Schuylkill, 2024

Overpack: If you can carry it, you can bring it! I pack an insane amount of clothes, snacks, and trash bags for wet gear. While I may have a lot to carry, I’m at ease knowing I have everything I need. This has also come in handy when other coxswains or rowers need something they may have forgotten to pack, and my crew knows they can come to me as a prepared coxswain.

row2k - What is your favorite drill to run with your crews? Any tips on how to do the drill well, for maximum effectiveness?
Tessa Kurtzman - In my opinion, nothing beats a pause drill. I enjoy running a 15-minute workout that consists of 1 minute on the pause then 2 minutes of steady-state, which we rotate through 5 times. The pauses are at the finish, at arms away, arms and bodies over, arms and bodies and half slide, and then cut the cake to finish. For maximum effectiveness, make sure the rowers understand the purpose of each pause and highlight just that part of the stoke. In the following steady-state, keep the focus on what you just refined with each pause as you build the stroke.

row2k - What's some of the best coaching advice you've received about your coxing?
Tessa Kurtzman - It may sound cheesy, but the best advice I’ve ever been given was "be yourself." My coaches, rowers, and other coxswains all give fantastic advice that allows me to improve with every practice, but that phrase always sticks with me.

The pre-race fist bump with Coach Stratton (photo credit: Jeff Kurtzman)

Before each race, my assistant coach, Josh Stratton, gives me a fist bump and tells me to be myself and "crack the whip" on my crew. I don’t think he realizes how much that fist bump encourages me or how that’s become an integral part of my pre-race ritual, but it gets me in the racing mindset and instills an extra boost of confidence. To "be yourself" is more than just a silly saying, it means to trust everything you’ve worked for. I implement this in my daily practice as I work on my style of coxing and how I work with the crew, rather than trying to become a carbon copy of another coxswain.

row2k - What is a mid-race call or move that you've made that you'll remember for the rest of your life?
Tessa Kurtzman - I’ll always remember my final at the NIRC this past year. It was us and WPI in front and they were pulling away. I could tell my crew was losing motivation and we had just passed the 1k. At this point, I could hear our team, alumni, and parents on the shore cheering for us. It was at about 1250 meters that I decided that, if we were going to bring it back, we had to begin a sprint immediately. To call them up to the sprint I said that we could hear our team showing up for us, so we had to show up for them. The response from the boat was immediate and although we did not win, that early sprint allowed us to close the gap and put pressure on the other crew. I’ll never forget how those boys responded to my call.

Coxing her crew at the 2024 NIRC

row2k - What was the hardest thing to learn as a walk-on/novice coxswain, and how did you figure it out?
Tessa Kurtzman - The hardest thing to learn was how to be confident in my calls, especially my technical knowledge while coxing guys who have been doing the sport for up to 8 years. It took me my whole first year to become confident in what I was saying and trust that I knew what I was talking about.

I figured this out by taking the time before my sophomore year to dive into the sport and work on my style of coxing, even though I didn’t have the chance to be on the water. If you asked my team, they could tell you I came back an entirely new person. I went into it with the determination of "I am the coxswain, they do trust me, and I will work on myself daily to make myself someone they can trust." To this day, my strengths lie in motivation and preparedness, but I trust that my technical calls will improve my boat and I will work to improve myself with every practice. Overall, I feel I’ve come a long way and can’t wait to find a higher gear for myself. The Hudson River has taught me well and although everyone is partial to their own water, I love learning how to adapt to all kinds of winds, currents, and docking conditions.

Launch to race at the 2022 Navy Day Regatta (photo credit: Jeff Kurtzman)

row2k - -Can you tell us anything about what you've learned about how to call a good sprint?
Tessa Kurtzman - I’ve learned that one of the most important parts of the sprint is how you set up for it: giving the rowers time to set the stage and stay clean, while giving them clear expectations of how you want the sprint to go. This is where I ensure we have a strong platform so we can build upon that. Then when it’s go time, demand it of your rowers. In addition, give them the aggression you expect out of them. Build the energy and your tone but remember to continue to annunciate and not get desperate.

row2k - Tell us about the best race/practice you've ever had?
Tessa Kurtzman - The best race I’ve ever had has to be this past spring in the Varsity Four semifinals at the 2024 IRA Regatta. As a novice coxswain selected for our IRA boat, I felt as though I had a lot to prove. Lined up between La Salle and Williams, we were just ready to rip it. Our goal for this race was "get ahead and stay ahead."

Coming down the course at the 2024 IRA

When we began, there was an immediate understanding that our boat was not willing to settle until we had established a dominant position. It was a risky move, since we had not practiced this, but I don’t think we settled until around 700m in. This gave in us at least a length ahead of all the other crews in the race. As we continued, La Salle kept the pressure on, with Oklahoma City not far behind. Our goal became to hold off the walk and keep our position. It was electrifying as we had 500 meters to go, and the announcers even stated, "I can’t believe Marist is still in front!" We ended up crossing the line with 0.3 seconds on La Salle. It was such a fun and intense fight the whole race, and definitely the most exciting one I’ve ever been part of.

Thanks for riding along with Tessa...and, remember, this column is open to all "drivers" out there, so if you are an experienced coxswain at any level--from juniors to masters--and would be willing to invite row2k to join you in your ride, just contact us here. We’d love to hear from you about what you see from the Driver's Seat.

On the course at the 2022 Navy Day Regatta