Men's Team Monday

Name: Blaze Kelly

Class: Junior

Years Rowing: 9

Degree of Study: B.S. Sports Medicine; Minor in Biology

Concentration: Pre-medicine

Position: Bow Seat LWT 4+

Hometown: New Milford, CT

Fun Fact: Dobro Jutro

1) How did you first get into rowing? 

"Before we begin, is this for the record?"

Me: "Yes"

"Ok lets begin."

"I have an older cousin who rowed throughout high school for Miami Beach Rowing Club and was offered a full-ride to row at University of Florida. A few years later, around 2006, I saw a poster for a rowing club in my town in Connecticut, so I decided to sign up. When I signed up I was pretty short and so it was suggested I become a coxswain. After a few months, about the same time they realized I wasn't the best coxswain, I grew (a bit) so I was put in a boat. The first time I rowed I was bow in a quad with three other older guys in the program, it wasn't pretty. I was basically chasing them up the slide, putting my oars in and letting the water pull them to the finish, [Laughter] when I got off the water I thought to myself, I can't imagine they are going to let me do this again. Eventually, I got a better feel for it and really focused on perfecting my technique, as my coach at the time said it was the most important thing I could work on. After a rough season, or two, or three, I started to work hard and went to a few national championships and got a taste of success... Now Im gearing up for my third Dad Vail Championship."

2) What brought you to Mercyhurst?

"It wasn't an immediate decision, Mercyhurst was always in the back of my mind, but I was talking to a handful of other schools as well. While I was in highschool, three guys from my club were all recruited to row at Mercyhurst and they were rowing at Mercyhurst. All three of them won Dad Vails and it looked pretty awesome. I didn't even know what Dad Vails was, I definitely didn't know who Mr. Vail was or his Dad, but I wanted to win one. The guys told me about the program and only had good things to say, so they pretty much sold me. Overall, it was basically a combination of the programs winning reputation and the guys who I knew who rowed here that made me decide on Mercyhurst."



3) What is your favorite part about rowing?

"My favorite part about rowing is winning, not to be shallow, but I'm a goal oriented person and winning is a tangible product of hard work. After a few seasons of being dead last in races (PBL), I eventually got a taste for winning and I was hooked. Going off that, the other thing that is up there would be when you get a crew that has really good chemistry and a really good feel for the boat and you are able to row relaxed and have finesse, yet be explosive and powerful at the same time, thats really the feeling I'm after in every boat I row in."

3.5) Favorite part about Mercyhurst?
Germans. (Jonas Weller)

4) What has been your hardest day at Mercyhurst?

"To start, the only easy day was yesterday. There have been more hard days than I can count, but that comes along with the sport. It's not an easy sport so you're going to have hard days, but that makes it even more rewarding. A challenge for me is trying to balance my schoolwork, sleep, and rowing. Sometimes my schoolwork cuts into my sleep which cuts into my rowing. I've learned the hard way, it is not easy getting up at 4:50 if you were up late working on something the night before.

5) What is your outlook on practice?

"I basically look at practice as my job. The coaches or coxswains give us the workout, so we know what we have to do, and it is our responsibility to get the job done. This is the same outlook I had in high school. My coach G-man, would tell us what to do (the workouts, the training, etc.) and I would do it exactly as he said to. I carried that over when I came here to Adrian's coaching. I'm confident that Adrian and Jamie know what is best, and have much more experience behind them. I'm always appreciative of the advice they have to offer."

6) What is the biggest take-away from rowing at Mercyhurst?

"I think the biggest take away would be the camaraderie between the guys on the team. I wasn't used to this before coming here, because there were only a handful of guys at my club back home, and here we have around 30 guys and 1 girl....and we are all really close."

7) What are your plans with rowing after you graduate?

"I've been rowing for nine years, next year will be my tenth year. I plan on using my last year here as motivation for me to finish my colligate career strong. Although in the future, down the road, I see myself rowing. My sights after graduation are set on Medical School; that is my number one priority. The best way I can describe continuing rowing at the caliber I do now, is by the following Steve Redgrave quote, "Anyone who sees me in a boat has my permission to shoot me."Although I'm 20 years, four olympic golds, and 10 inches short of Redgrave, what I'm trying to say is; I try to give everything I've got right now on a daily basis and that doesn't come at an easy price."


8) Can you talk a little bit about what it is like living with a Serbian? 

"I would say living with a Serbian is basically like living with any other college roommate one would encounter. During the middle of the night you might wake up to cursing in another language, sometimes the apartment smells like traditional Eastern European food, and I learned how to say good morning in Serbian; Dobro Jutro (Or at least I think that's what it means)."