1. What inspired you to go to your first rowing practice; was there anything memorable about it?
My next door neighbor growing up was Ethan Ayer who was a national team rower. I had heard of his success as a rower and was encouraged by people around me to try the sport. I remember my first practice quite vividly. I walked into the Saugatuck Rowing Club, which at the time was an old wooden barn that had previously been a railroad station, and met James Mangan. James showed me an ergometer and began to explain the different parts of a rowing stroke. The practice was interesting, and quite different than other sports I had tried, but I was very young and definitely had no idea where the sport was going to take me. James believed in me, and I believed in him as a coach, and that was enough to keep me coming back.
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?
My passion for the sport derives from a combination of many things and I'm not sure it will ever be possible to fully realize or articulate every single one of them. I guess that is part of the intrigue of our sport.
As novice high school rower, James Mangan inspired me to try for the Junior National Team. When I made the team in 1999 and competed in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, it was a huge moment for me. When you begin to have some success at a challenge that you enjoy, it spurs you to keep on going.
Early on I was attracted to the correlation between hard work and results. In addition to the work-result correlation, the difficulty of the sport and feeling of victory after winning a race was unlike anything I had experienced in other sports.
College was the first time I had trained on a large team, and that experience was next to none. I was incredibly fortunate to row on a team with amazing people both on and off the water, and I would have to say that my teammates were the cornerstone of my college rowing experience. That, and of course, rowing for Harry Parker.
As I have continued rowing after college and moved down to Princeton, NJ, teammates have still remained a huge part of the sport for me today.
During college I had the idea of trying out for the national team in the back of my mind, but wasn't sure If I could compete on that level. It wasn't until I moved down to Princeton and trained here for awhile that I was I certain I could do it.
3. Best race/practice, worst race/practice?
Best race - any race I have won. Each victory along the way has meant something different and something special, it is hard to single one out.
Best practice - nothing stands out alone, but I have always enjoyed practices in which you end up rowing better than when you started.
Worst race - don't believe in them. Every race, win or lose, is important and can be a positive experience. When you lose, you learn what you need to do to win the next time. When you win, well you win, and that is awesome.
Worst practice - I already forgot about it, try to remember only the good ones.
4. Best/Anything you've done in the sport no one knows about?
My identical twin brother Cameron and I had a hunch that Harry Parker told the difference between us by which wrist we wore our watches on. I always wore my watch on my left hand and Cameron always wore his watch on his right hand. We decided to switch our watches around and see what would happen. Low and behold we were right! Harry for the first time mixed us up!
5. Any/Most important advice for young rowers?
Have fun. Learn from those around you and ask senior rowers questions, we were all in your shoes at one time or another and are more than happy to help out.
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07/25/2008 11:57:22 AM