Men's Team Monday

This is the last Men's Team Monday of the season so I had to feature my boy. They say we were "randomly selected" as roommates last year, but I believe some greater force created the unbreakable 321 Boyz (Our room number Freshman year). Nick has taught me so much about life just over the course of two years that I actually went to my academic advisor and asked him if I could count living with Nick as my philosophy requirement. 

Nick always tells me that "You can catch flies with honey, but you can catch more honeys being fly"

Nick, if you are reading this, here's to being fly and catching honeys together 'till the day we die. 

Name: Nicholas "Wide Neck" Wnek

Class: Sophomore 

Years Rowing: 6

Degree of Study: Sustainability Studies 

Position: 3 Seat Varsity LWT 4+

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA (Fishtown)

Fun Fact: Enjoys Chick Flicks 

Philadelphia is one of the greatest cities in the world in terms of rowing (and in general). Growing up in the city, when did rowing become part of your life? 

"I started getting involved with rowing because of my Dad. He works with the Philadelphia Fire Department and he was a part of their Dragon Boat team. He would practice on the Schuylkill River and come home and tell me about all of the rowers he saw training out on the river. He mentioned how fit  they were and how it could help keep me in shape for football." 

"Also, my cousin, John Snyder (he's a beast) rowed in high school and earned a scholarship to college for it, that lead to him to train a bit with the under 23 National Team" 

As you packed your bags to head upstate for college, what impact did the City and the Schuylkill have on you both as a racer and an individual that you carry with you wherever you go? 

"Well I was leaving home for the first time. I never really traveled that much growing up, I pretty much stayed in the neighborhood with friends and family. Being in the city I always had a shield up and kept to myself. Especially when I used to take the bus and subway to school everyday - I just had a guard up at all times. [The City] makes you a strong, independent, individual, not as accepting and friendly to strangers. I noticed this on move-in-day when some kids in my hallway were looking at me as I walked towards my room. At first I was like what the hell are they looking at? As they got closer they said "Hey, whats up?" I didn't know if they were talking to me, but after the fact it was kind of an eye opener to what it was going to be like up here." 

"Training on the Schuylkill throughout High School was very beneficial in terms of being around elite athletes all the time. It forces you hold yourself to high standards and to be mature on the river." 

I understand you were looking at a few other schools, what was it about Mercyhurst that grabbed you? 

"I kind of wanted to get away a bit, and the other schools were a lot closer to home. I wanted to experience something new. All of the grass and trees and big front lawns were all something I've never been exposed to. It still had that neighborhood feel that I embraced back home. So it was a combination of new experiences and the sense of community I grew up around." 

Don't start crying on me now, but as you approach the half-way point in your college career, what are some of your favorite things about this whole experience? 

"Connecting myself with people I could've never imagined meeting. I know have a group of friends that I consider brothers from all over the world. I now have brothers from Serbia, Germany, Poland, Canada, Connecticut, Pittsburg, Boston, Arizona, Miami, and DC....all linked by a common passion. It is a very unique experience. There is no better feeling in the world then going up to the line with eight other guys knowing they got your back and you have theirs and you're about to throw that thing down the course..HOT!"

As you approach your 7th year of rowing, as one of the top varsity athletes in this program, what is your philosophy on the sport of rowing? 

"My personal philosophy, when it comes to rowing, is: Don't try to make a boat, try to make a boat go fast. What this means is that I don't train to specifically to make a certain boat, I want to be able to adapt to whatever boat I am in and be able to contribute everything I have to the boat speed and make it go faster in any scenario. I try to achieve that goal by looking at every day as an opportunity to better myself and get faster. I don't do this by taking leaps and bounds. I take it inches at a time; Strokes at a time. If I take one hundred good strokes in the morning I try to take one hundred and one good strokes in the afternoon. Same as a race, you don't win it by strokes, you win it by inches." 

As you take on the role of being the eldest child back home, who is the most influential person in your life thus far that has made you the role model you are for your younger siblings and peers? 

"First off, I am not a child. I am a grown ass man. Getting back to the question, I would hands down have to say that my father is the most influential person in my life. He's the type of guy that wakes up every morning, packs his lunch, puts his hard hat on, and goes to work. He gets the job done day in and day out. He is, without a doubt, the hardest working man I know. He has taught me to be an honest working man who leads by example." 

Before we leave, drop some knowledge bombs on our readers.

"There are two things about integrity: 

1) If you have it, nothing matters. 

2) If you don't have it, nothing matters." 

Famous quotes from the man himself: 

-It is what it isn't 

-Expectations are premeditated resentment

-3. 2. 1. Boyz!

-Yo my boy Matt Weaver

-V-Quad Boyz

-Donkey Punch it down the race course

-Controlled caos boys...controlled caos

-FMP

-Lets Get SWEATY