TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

This year, your season started off with the team posting its best finish ever at the Head of the Ohio, where your top two teams placed first and second, respectively. How exciting was it to battle your own teammates to the finish line at that race?
It was really exciting, actually. When we heard the results, we were on our way home and the team morale just went through the roof. Everybody was jumping up and down. It was good and it was definitely a plus to start off the year.

This week, you travel to the Head of the Charles in Boston, where UB finished fourth last year. What is that event like, being a competition that draws 50 teams and also attracts more than 100,000 spectators?
Head of the Charles is one of the best races I’ve ever been in. It’s really exciting. To be able to compete at that level is outstanding. As we get ready to go, we really get excited. We’re working hard toward it because it is our race of the season. Just being able to say that I’ve rowed in the Charles means a lot.

At the end of every April, you compete with Eastern Michigan for the Harvey Cup. Last year, Eastern Michigan won the cup by nine seconds in the varsity eight race. With Eastern Michigan the only other school in the MAC to have rowing as a sport, how big is the rivalry between your two programs?
It’s definitely pretty big. Every time we see Eastern Michigan at another race, it is always about beating Eastern Michigan. That’s all we have to do. Especially since there’s only two of us with programs in the MAC, it’s a big thing because it shows all our other teams where we’re at because nobody really knows if we beat another college what that means. It is important. While we’re on the water training, we’re always going for that.

To wrap up last year, the novice eights won the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia. What was it like watching them succeed in a very prestigious event and also knowing that in the future, they would be rowing with you?
It was really exciting to watch their race go down and see how well they were doing for both the coaches and the athletes. We were so pumped. It didn’t even matter how anyone else did because it was all about the freshmen eight at that time. To know back then that they’d be coming up and rowing with us, that was kind of motivational because we needed a little kick in the butt. They gave it to us and it's been really exciting.

Rowing, it’s often been said, is the ultimate team sport. Do you like that there are no personal statistics at a meet to measure how well you or any of your team members did?
Yes and no. A team is as strong as your weakest member and if one of us has a bad day, the whole crew suffers. You really have to step it up together and you really have to push toward your goal together. It takes away the competitive drive of, ‘I need to beat her.’ It enforces ‘Let’s do it together.’ Many hands make light work.

You have both four-person and eight-person boats. What are some of the main differences between the two kinds of races that result from the different boats?
Both boats compete in the same way. It takes the fours, obviously, longer. The biggest races are the varsity eights. That’s really where we try to stack the boat, put it all into the eight. So, it’s not really that different, it’s just where the cards fall, who we can put where and how many people we have.

In the fall, you compete in Head races whereas in the spring, you compete in sprint races. What is the difference in preparation for the two types of races?
In the fall, we do a lot of steady state. We put in the miles. We just keep going for hours. In the spring, we begin sprinting with power pieces, short pieces, just to get going.

Many of your teammates participated in other sports in high school. What do you think has made them choose rowing when they came to college?
A lot of times it’s to try something new. Rowing is still relatively young and to a lot of people, it’s really fresh and new. We always try to recruit really heavily on campus because we always need bodies.

You, however, did have an introduction to crew before college, as you rowed for the Pittsford Club team and also rowed at the 2002 Empire State Games, earning a silver medal. What got you into rowing?
I actually saw a poster that said, ‘Learn to row.’ My friend wanted to do it, so she asked if I’d go with her. I did and fell in love, so I just kept going after that.

What has been your favorite moment as a UB athlete?
Rowing at the Head of the Charles last year (where the varsity eights finished fourth out of 50 teams). That’s definitely at the top.

“The 10 Questions With…” feature is compiled by Joe Guistina.