1. What inspired you to go to your first rowing practice; was there anything memorable about it?
The coach of the local rowing club approached my father and me in the supermarket. I was in seventh grade, and already almost 6 feet tall. He suggested that I try rowing, and encouraged me to enroll in the summer learn-to-row program.
I rowed a little bit that summer, but I didn't start rowing competitively until my family went to Australia in 1996, my freshman year of high school. I was bored and didn't have anything else to do at 6am, so I tagged along with my brother to the local rowing club. At first the coach was annoyed and didn't want to be bothered with me, but in the end he agreed to coach me, and soon I was rowing in the first eight.
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?
The first time I realized I could make a junior national team was my first 6k erg test. I took it with my coach at the time, Whitney Post. I guess it was pretty good for a junior, because afterwards she exclaimed, "Wait until I tell Hartmut about you!" Her boyfriend disagreed; he said, "Don't let Hartmut get his hands on her yet... let her enjoy her time as a junior first!"
3. Best race/practice, worst race/practice?
My first race ever, while not the worst, was certainly one of the most embarassing. I was 14 years old, and I was in a quad with three experienced girls. The girl in front of me turned around at the start and said "Ok, so the start will be 3/4, 1/2, 3/4, full." Stupidly, I asked "How many strokes of each??" She didn't reply because at that moment, the starter announced "Attention!" I was still contemplating what I was supposed to do when he said "Go!" and I completely missed the first few strokes! I got back into the rhythm quickly, however, and we won the race.
4. Best/Anything you've done in the sport no one knows about?
I raced the senior single in the 1997 Australian National Championships. I was 14 at the time. I recently discovered that I actually raced my current teammate, Laurel Korholz, in that race! She had been training in Australia for the year. Of course, she kicked my butt; she was in the final, whereas I didn't make it past the reps. I remember the head-wind was so strong for the heat that my time was around 11 minutes, and I wasn't even last to finish!
5. Any/Most important advice for young rowers?
Get out now, while you still can! Just kidding. Actually, my best advice is learn to scull. There is nothing like rowing a single regularly to learn good boat feel. Also, keep a training journal to record workouts, times, drills, how you feel, and anything else you want to write down.
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