Following the social media trend of “Woman Crush Wednesday”, my blog partner/teammate Brian had the great idea of doing a “Women’s Team Wednesday” and interviewing a different female rower once a week so the readers can get to know the teammates. I believe that each rower on this team brings something unique and special to the team so I was excited to start interviewing the girls. I started with senior and well-seasoned rower, Leyla Dombrowski.

Leyla Dombrowski

Hometown: Erie, Pa

Major: Interior Design

Class: Senior

Boat: Varsity 8

I wanted to interview Leyla because my thoughts on this amazing athlete had changed quite a bit as my first year on the team went on. I went back in my mind to the first time I encountered Leyla and remember it vividly, it was the 5k test before we started on the water. A tall, blonde rower had walked into the erg room wearing a Barry uniform; the girl was revealing an array of tattoos and a projecting a dominating presence. I knew who she was the moment I saw her. It was Leyla. I had heard only that she was fast and very serious about the sport. So to be perfectly honest, when I first was able to put a face to a name, I was intimidated. However I distinctly remember thinking, “I’m going to do whatever it takes to be in her boat, because she’s here to win.” And any practice where she was in my line-up, I tried to not be the freshman who didn’t know what she was doing. And whenever I messed up, she would let me know - and I grew great respect for that. Anyone can hold your hand when you mess up but in my eyes, it takes a serious athlete who is dedicated and unafraid of what it takes to win to say, “hey, this is completely wrong”. And as I’ve come to get to know the blonde girl with the tattoos I realized there was so much more to her than just a competitive rower. She was a caring, funny, and driven young female athlete with one of the most genuine personalities you can find in a person. So the decision of who would be the first woman to be interviewed was simple: Leyla.

I met Leyla at the trainers after an erg workout, and interviewed her while she was taking an ice bath - a perfect place to talk about rowing. I started with the simple question, how did you get into rowing? She responded by telling me that before rowing she had played soccer for eight years, and in her senior year of high school she was looking for something different. The rowing coach at Collegiate Academy asked her if she would be interested in rowing, and said she seemed like she would be the perfect fit. Turns out he was right. And while after erging and lifting she was hesitant about the sport, when Leyla first got on the water, she knew she was meant to be a rower. From here she was introduced to Coach Adrian Spracklen and Jamie Francis of Mercyhurst University, a school she was interested in because of their Interior Design program. Just from talking with the coaches, she knew she had found the perfect fit. Leyla then said what every rower on the team has said about our amazing coaches, “All it took was me sitting down and having a conversation with them”.

So Leyla committed to row for Mercyhurst and became a student-athlete. This is no easy task and I wanted to know more - I wanted to know if rowing had changed anything in her life. I asked the question, “What effect has rowing had on you?” and got a very inspiring answer. Rowing has developed her into the best version of herself and has opened her up. There’s no hiding who you are in this sport and Leyla is a true example of that. Rowing has revealed that this athlete is not one who gives up, and has never really entered a point in her rowing career where she has thought about quitting. When I went a little more in-depth with her about the topic of rowing and how it can become too much to handle for many she responded with the perfect answer, “Giving up is worse than the pain of losing” which remained in my head for the rest of the day.

I finished the interview by asking about this season. As a rower who has gone to NCAA every year and knows the talent we are up against, I was very interested in her thoughts. So in regards to her goals for the season her answer was simple, “I refuse to graduate without a medal around my neck. I’ve come in fourth every year and there is nothing worse than putting in all that hard work and just barely missing the podium”. Fortunately, she believes this is our year. She says the eight hasn’t felt this connected in previous seasons and she can tell that the rowers have all gotten a lot faster, and still have potential to be better. And the sooner we can get on the water, the sooner the team can get to work.

Thank you Leyla for allowing me to interview you and I can confidently say that every woman on this team will back you up and agree that they are ready to do what it takes to make this season our season. If only we could get the weather to agree with us...

Men's Team Monday

This week I bring you the first of a new series of blogs I am rolling out called "Men's Team Monday." This series will consist of me interviewing one athlete on the Varsity Men's Rowing Team so that you, the readers, can get to know the rowers.


Name: Milos Veres
Year: Junior
Hometown: Belgrade, Serbia
Position: Stroke Seat - Varsity 8/Varsity 4
Fun Fact: "I love gardening"

When did you start rowing?
"I started rowing in September 2005 when I was 13 years old"
When did you start thinking about rowing in the States and can you describe that process?
"It was 2010, I was graduating from high school in June and I knew that I had to do something else. I couldn't just settle after high school. I had quite a few friends come to the US for rowing and school and two of those friends were at Mercyhurst at the time so I basically got in touch with those two guys and asked them about the process and they briefly explained the process. I started task by task... first and foremost I had to perfect my English. I had a private teacher in Belgrade who was actually from Texas but he decided to move to Serbia to teach English. He taught me about a lot about the American life and culture as well as the whole college process."

"The main reason behind coming here...well I had two options...Option A: Stay home and find a job and work for minimum wage ($1.20/hour) without any days off. Option B: Come here to study and row. At first I had quite a few jobs lined up but I decided I didn't want to take my life in that direction so I decided to come here..."
What is it like being a student-athlete in in a foreign country?
"Its definitely very different from being a student and an athlete back home. From an academic perspective, a lot more is expected of me because I'm at a higher level, pursuing a bachelors degree. At the same time I have to manage my athletic performance and continue performing at a high level every single day. This can get very exhausting, but it is VERY, VERY rewarding. Its not just the material side of things that is rewarding, meaning the Scholarships; it is rewarding knowing that I am setting an example for my younger brother back home. It will be a wake up call for him when he graduates next year; I am raising the bar for him. I see it as a positive pressure from me, pushing him to go further in academics and in life, and never settle.

What are some of your goals before graduating from Mercyhurst University both as a rower and as a student?
"As a rower, it is definitely getting a medal at one of the championship races, starting with Dad Vails. I have a lot of personal goals that ultimately lead up to placing at a championship regatta. The student side of things is more intangible...my main goal is to create as many friendships and connections as I can so that if I stay here after I graduate I have a large network to reach out to. This will help with getting up and running once I graduate."
Can you talk about the "GoFundMe" initiative you are taking to inform our readers, and potentially encourage them to pitch in.
"I decided to start a campaign after a good friend of mine suggested it to me. It has been my dream since I started rowing to become an elite athlete. This was especially the case after I won my first National Championship title in 2008. I always used to look up to the national team guys because they always seemed very well rounded as individuals. They are all educated, good athletes with great results, and overall really good people. It is the environment I dreamed of being a part of since I started rowing. At the moment I can not make enough money to buy a ticket back home to try out for the national team this summer. My parents don't have enough [money] to spare for my ticket so it was either me asking my parents for money they don't have, or asking my friends and peers here for their support."
Finally, talk about your life after college. What are your plans? 
"It all depends on how my trip back home goes" (Assuming everything works out). "The main reason of my trip back home this summer is to test my skills along side the national team; If I am good enough, meaning I will have earned a spot on the National Team, I have a reason to return home to Serbia after college. I will give it my best and try to make it on the national team, however, I my other option would be to stay here and either get my masters degree or start working."

"Next year at this time I want to know what I am doing with my life...whether that is staying here to start my life or it means going back home to continue my rowing career and pick up a life there as a member of the National Team."

Mercyhurst University vs University of Pennsylvania

This weekend the mens team traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a dual against Penn. There is no better way to start off the season then testing our early speed against Ivy League competition.




The results were:

Varsity 8: Penn 1V 5:49.3 Penn 2V 5:57.5 Mercyhurst 1V 5:57.9 Varsity Four: Mercyhurst 6:49.1 Penn 7:17.8

Frosh/Novice 8: Mercyhurst 1F 5:50.1 Penn 1F 5:58.1 Penn 3V 5:59.8

(http://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=5277270&cat=1#.VRk5vFPF9ew)





We loaded the buses early Friday Morning and hit the road for our 7 hour trip to Philly. Upon arrival, the mens and women's teams went for a practice row on the beautiful Schuylkill River.

The men's team, being a Varsity Lightweight Program, weighed in with the Penn team Friday evening to make sure all of the rowers were at (or under) weight for Saturdays competition. Every guy must be under 160 pounds and the entire boat must have an average weight of no more than 155 pounds. Some of the guys continue to lose weight up to the last second before stepping on the scale. However, the second after stepping on the scale, it is a race to see how quickly the guys can rehydrate and replenish the nutrients lost while they were cutting weight. 

We woke up to a sunny, cool, spring morning on Saturday, which allowed for ideal racing conditions. Although rowers prefer no wind at all while rowing, a "tail-wind", which pushed you from behind, making the race faster, is the preferred wind in a rowers opinion. 

I was in the Varsity 8 race, which was the last race of the day, and the wind shifted to a head wind half-way into our race, making it especially challenging for the guys right as the lactic acid starts to really hit hard. 

(Varsity 8: Brian Comey, Milos Veres, Nick Wnek, Jonny Blazevic, Blaze Kelly, Jake Lennon,   Gary Loo, Aaron Dowd, Harrison Kieffer) 

All-in-all, the weekend shined a light on the depth and young talent we have in our crews. Although our Varsity 8 did not win, there were many things that we took away from this weekend that we can build on as a team. We look forward to keep stepping in the ring with the toughest competition in the country by racing Ivy League crews time and time again. 

(Freshman 8: Charles Hummel, Jonas Weller, Pat Salvatore, Galen Bernick, Nemanja Uzanovic, Zack Ghalayini, Bernardo Ramirez, Anthony Delgreco, Danny Madden)

(Varsity 4: Kevin McCarthy, Douglas Riethmuller, Sam Sheridan, Amel Younis, Sam Rouse)

Just as our scrimmage with Navy showed promise for our Spring Season, this weekend's dual agains Penn further proved that we have a lot in store this season, and we are all anxious to continue gaining speed throughout the month of April. 

-B   

Murphy Cup

The original plan for the women's team was to have our first race in Ithaca, New York and compete in the Ithaca Duals. However, winter was not on our side and our coaches were called this past Monday to be notified that the race was cancelled since the course had not been opened yet and had too much ice. So, we rolled with the punches and entered a Women's 8+ and JV8+ into the Murphy Cup, which is hosted my Temple University Rowing on the Cooper River. 

On Friday morning around 7am the men and women's team piled on a bus and headed for Philadelphia. After a long 8 hour bus ride we were all happy to get a good swing row in the day before our first race since our lakes in Erie are still frozen.

Saturday morning the men went back to Philly to race UPenn and the women headed to Cooper River. The Women's JV boat placed 5th in the heats against Lehigh, Rutgers, Drexel, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh. The Women's V8+ finished first and brought home gold against Franklin&Marshall, Bates, Hamilton, and Philadelphia. 

After a successful weekend in Jersey, the women are all ready to get back on the water here in Erie and dominate the Knecht Cup in two weeks at Lake Mercer.

Check out the women's page for more information about this weekend and our promising spring season!

Throwback Thursday

To kick off the "Throwback Thursday's" I take you back to the fall. Last October, the Men's and Women's team each sent a varsity 8 to the worlds largest regatta. 

The Head of the Charles takes place every October on the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. I was fortunate enough to race at this venue three times in High School, but for some guys on the boat, this was there first time in Boston, let alone racing at the largest race, on the biggest stage. 

The banks of the Charles River were lined from end to end with spectators yelling and cheering for 3 miles, making all 15 minutes of the race as intense as a sprint race is in the spring. 

Mercyhurst walked away with their heads held high because, although we hoped to place a little higher, the fall is still a very good indicator for the spring season, and we proved to have a lot of speed and a lot of young talent. 

Throwing it back: October 19th, 2014 was a great day for Mercyhurst Rowing. 

-B

We've been back from Alabama for just under three days and I think I speak for everyone when I say that the countdown to next spring training has already begun. While the bus ride down had us all questioning our sanity, the moment we were able to get on the water, it was smiles the rest of the week. When we weren't on the water for one of our three daily practices, the rowers could be found soaking up the sunshine and becoming a strong, well-bonded team. From frisbee games to playing cards to surprise water balloons fights, laughter was always in the air and sun in the sky. We were lucky to have the weather on our side almost everyday and many practices were sunny with blue skies (which led to a few rowers, including myself, getting some unfortunate sun poisoning).

The training trip was an amazing experience for the team of rowers. I went around and asked a few of them to describe the trip in one word. The results varied from "legit" to "awesome" to "sublime" and were all positive. I decided to go a step further and ask our head coach about his thoughts on the trip. I wanted to know how he thought we performed as a whole team. His answer made everyone feel as though their hard work and blisters were worth it, "Spring break I think was one of the most successful camps that we've had. We got a lot accomplished and because we got a lot accomplished we're further along coming out of camp than we were in previous years. And so from that aspect, we feel more prepared which we had to be because we don't know what the weather is going to do to us. In that case we had to get ahead and the team was able to be up for that task. I think we have more skillful athletes and good team chemistry and I think that's why we were able to have such a successful camp".

But all good things have to come to an end and after a perfect week we all had to pack up the 
cottages. From Alabama we drove to Oakridge, Tennessee to scrimmage and put all our hard work to the test. Stay tuned for a recap on the Mercyhurst women's team scrimmage and start to what we hope to be a successful racing season.  

Want to see more Alabama photos? Go on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and search the hashtag #hurstrowinbama15 to see what the women's team was up to during our time down south!

Spring Break Recap

Sweet Alabama was home to the Mercyhurst Rowing team for Spring Break. The skies were indeed so blue, and the sunsets were picture perfect (https://instagram.com/p/0Jh4vZriZm/?taken-by=showmecomey).

They days were long, but flew by way too fast. We typically practiced once at 7am, had a mid-day technique practice around Noon, and then had third, intense, practice in the afternoons. In between practice you could find the guys cooking up some weird creation in the cabins or soaking up the southern sun out back.

We definitely grew stronger as a team both on and off the water during our training trip. The guys came back to campus yesterday more excited than ever to kick of the 2015 Spring racing season:
http://www.hurstathletics.com/schedule.aspx?path=mrowing&


Visuals are a lot more fun than words, so take a look at a few clips that I shot while out on the water:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmt6lrxrZcs

Testing Week

In rowing, we train our bodies and minds for those few moments in the season when we get to prove ourselves and have our hard work pay off. In the spring and fall, we are training for races and national championship titles. In the winter, we train for testing week... commonly known as "hell week" amongst many rowers.

Only one practice a day, sometimes as short as an hour... seems great, right? Not quite. For our testing week, yes we are only doing one piece a day, but each one is putting our bodies to the ultimate test. By the end of the week, the pieces become as mentally as they are physically challenging. Every rower is seeking the same goal - a personal record (PR). The more speed you gain in the winter, the faster you'll be on the water. While some rowers may dread these weeks during training, many rowers on the team look forward to seeing how they've progressed and where they stand against the rest of the team.

I decided to write this post about testing week since it's highly-stressed, as well as vital to winter training for any team, not just ours. I walked around the women's Friday morning lift practice and got some opinions about testing as well as advice on how to try and guarantee that PR (and rock the 2k).

To my surprise, each rower had a different view on testing week. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses and find different tricks to help them get through it. A senior rower described testing week well when she said, "Our testing weeks are essentially a breakdown of mental road blocks to help you surpass those mental limitations. Each piece shows you your different strengths and elements of your ability to row. The 2k is a combination of it all, it combines the mental and the physical."

I talked to the women's team captain briefly to try and get her opinion since she's not only a knowledgable rower but is on her way to making it onto the 2k record list for Mercyhurst. Her input on testing week was that "it showcases our hard work" and when I asked why we have a whole week dedicated to testing instead of having them spread out throughout winter she responded with "we race under pressure so we need to test under similar circumstances in the winter." I then asked her about testing week for her and what she does during the pieces, specifically the 2,000m test. Our captain said that this Tuesday she will be focused on keeping the rate high. That, and kicking Jordan Herbert off the record list of fastest 2ks. Herbert is about a second off of her PR and she's ready to do what it takes to get her name there to showcase all her work and dedication.

It was freshman, Leah Griffin, that had the most to say about our testing week at Mercyhurst. Her first winter training here and she oddly loves testing week and the chance to put a number to all the pain and sweat she puts in every week on and off the erg.

Q: So tell me, why do you like testing week?
A: Because it's the week where you get to see all the work you've put in over winter training and you get to see how well you've improved.

Q: Last testing week, what was it like for you?
A: It was fun, it was exciting. My best piece was definitely my 2k, it felt really good and I'm excited to do another one.

Q: And what's your plan of attack for this 2k?
A: Umm, row fast basically. Break 7:40 is my goal so I think that's a 1:54 split so I'm just going to try and hold that and then spring at the last 300m.

Q: It's 750m meters to go... this is where it really hurts, you're telling yourself to stop- what's going through your mind at that point?
A: I always tell myself that this is where I win the race, and everyone slows down, so I repeat that over and over in my head. I keep telling myself, "this is when I win the race, this is when I win the race" and so that's when I kick it in the most. That 250m between 750-500m is what I focus on.