1. What inspired you to go to your first rowing practice; was there anything memorable about it?
I didn't know anything about rowing until I got to college. There was nothing special that inspired me to go to my first practice. I heard about tryouts for the team from a friend and we both to the team meeting to see what it was all about. I had been a swimmer for years and figured i would try a new in college. I always tell people I ended up rowing because I tried all the other sports first and they didn't work out. More than any other sport I've done, rowing rewards persistence and hard work. I remember my novice coach told us that we wouldn't learn to row in our first year. All we could learn was to work hard and to love the sport. That was pretty accurate. After my first year of rowing, I loved the sport and I was terrible at it. So much of the love of rowing was from training with the guys I rowed with. We were all walk-ons and everyone loved to work hard. As a result, I think we always outperformed our raw power or individual talent.
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?
I don't think there was any one moment where it hit me. It was just seeing small improvements over the years that made me realize rowing was the sport for me.
3. Best race/practice, worst race/practice?
My worst race is was the 2010 coxed pair trials. At that time, world's trials were best out of 3. You had to win the final twice in order to win the race and be selected for the team. My boat won the first final rather easily but we went on to lose the next two finals in the next two days by hundredths of a second each. In both of the races we lost, we were up a lot at the 1000m mark but got sprinted through in the final strokes. Nothing like being on the other side of someone else's inspirational story. Row2k managed to capture the sprint in detail and it was posted on the front page when I got home that day. It was a tough loss for a lot of reasons. We lost to fantastic rowers, but it always bothers me that i let down the coxswain and the bowman of the boat I was in(Marcus and Troy). They won worlds in the event the previous year and I believe this loss was my fault. In the end, I learned from the experience and used it to improve.
My best race was the 2014 Holland Bekker final in the 4-. We were racing 4s and the boat I was in was thrown together at the last minute, with no time to even practice. Our “practice row” was the heat. When we raced the final, we only had a total of about 10k together in the boat. We went out with nothing to lose and ended up winning the race and beating the boat that had won the World Championships the previous year. Our time final time was one of the fastest recorded times in that event.
4. Best/Anything you've done in the sport no one knows about?
My best 2k while I was on my college team at Drexel was a 6:14. We trained hard, but it took me a long time to develop. It was a while after college before I became somewhat decent at rowing.
5. Any/Most important advice for young rowers?
1. Always set a goal. Figure out what you want to do and break it down into smaller goals throughout the year. Find something every week to do just a little bit better than the week before. Maybe its a best time on the last piece on the erg. Maybe your steady state average for that week is just a little faster. Maybe you rowed 10 more meters that week than the week before .It can be anything but if you're a little better every week, that’s a large improvement over time. Even on your worst week of training, you can still do at least one thing better than before. Seeing these improvements is a big part of maintaining motivation.
2. Do not confuse confidence with arrogance. It is good to be confident and proud of what you've accomplished but do not let that turn into arrogance. Arrogance is the only thing that limits your abilities. As soon as you become arrogant, you are as good as you will ever be and all progress will stop. If you take a sense of humility to your training and focus on what you can improve, you can always move forward. This is one of the great things about rowing. People can continue to improve their whole career if they take the right mindset.
3. Get your blade in
DATE OF BIRTH: 2/14/82
HEIGHT: 6’7”
WEIGHT: 215
BEGAN ROWING: Drexel University, 2000
HOMETOWN: Cinnaminson, N.J.
BIRTHPLACE: Cinnaminson, N.J.
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Princeton, N.J.
HIGH SCHOOL: Holy Cross High School
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION: Drexel University, 2005
TRAINING LOCATION: Princeton, N.J.
CLUB AFFILIATIONS: USRowing Training Center – Princeton
National Teams: SENIOR: 2007, 2009, 2012-2014, 2016, PAN AM:-2011
International Results:L Won bronze in the eight at the 2016 World Rowing Cup II...Won the eight at the 2016 Final Olympic Qualification Regatta...Won gold in the eight at the 2014 World Rowing Cup II. . . Won bronze in the eight at the 2013 World Rowing Championships...Won gold in the eight at the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup 3...Won silver in the eight at the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup 1...Finished fourth in the eight at the 2012 Olympic Games...Won the eight at the 2012 Final Qualification Regatta...Won gold in the eight and finished fifth in the four at the 2011 Pan American Games...Finished fifth in the eight at the 2010 E.On Hanse Canal Cup...Finished ninth in the eight at the 2009 World Rowing Championships...Finished seventh in the eight at the 2009 Rowing World Cup stop in Lucerne...Finished seventh in the pair with coxswain at the 2007 World Rowing Championships.
National Results: Finished fifth in the pair at the 2014 National Selection Regatta 2...Won gold in the eight at the 2013 USRowing National Championships…Won the four at the 2011 Pan American Games Trials...Won the pair at the 2011 USRowing Elite Nationals...Won the eight at the 2009 USRowing Elite Nationals...Won the pair with coxswain at the 2007 Senior National Team Trials.
Personal
Steve enjoys running marathons and mountain biking...He lists running the 2004 Philadelphia Marathon as his most memorable sporting achievement...Steve's father is his personal hero...He lists his rowing friends from Drexel and Penn A.C. as the most influential people in his sporting career.
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