MACRA Championships

This weekend we raced is Ypsilanti, Michigan in the MACRA Championships and for the women's team, this is was our last time on a 2,000m buoyed course until the Dad Vail Regatta in two weeks. The weather was dreary but the rain held out thankfully and the wind stayed minimal. And if you're a seasoned rower you know that a regatta, races rarely run on time, and sometimes you have to wait behind the starting blocks for upwards of 20 minutes. This past weekend, races reached a delay of an 1.5 hours and the slow process up at the start had some boats waiting 40 minutes up by the start.

Despite the delays, the women's team was able to race and all boats advanced to either the grand or petite finals. The Mercyhurst women were able to take home two medals this past weekend and are ready to compete for more as the season starts to come to a close. You can read more about this weekend by clicking here.

Women's 8+ : Second in Grand Finals
Women's 4+ A : First in Grand Finals
Women's 4+ B : Second in Petite Finals
Women's Frosh/Novice 4+ : Sixth in Grand Finals


Want to find out more about upcoming regattas or results from past regattas? Check out RegattaCentral for all the information.

Men's Team Monday

Name: Doug Riethmuller

Class: Senior

Years Rowing: 4

Degree of Study: BS Anthropology/ Archaeology

Concentration/Minor: Archaeology (Concentration) Geology (Minor)

Position: 3 Seat/LWT 8

Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Fun Fact: My eyes are each two colors.

1) Describe your coming about with the sport of rowing, what made you decide to start rowing?

"In order to explain why I started rowing at Mercyhurst I need to take you back to junior year of High school.  I decided that year to become involved in some athletic pursuit, and the options that were available were Rowing or Ultimate (Frisbee). These were club sports at school, and were both very welcoming to new faces.  I decided to give Ultimate a try, ultimately (pun intended) because it was cheaper and most of my friends were on the team. So I played until I graduated, had a lot of fun and started to foster a self-competitive attitude. Once here at Mercyhurst, I saw the flyers for a rowing informational meeting, and decided that I’d give it a whirl and see how I enjoyed it.  After starting to get the hang of it my freshman year, and starting to see success, I was hooked.  The upperclassman and my fellow freshman all were very welcoming and provided a great environment that I wanted to stay involved with."

2) What ultimately brought you to Mercyhurst?

"The strength of the Archaeology department, hands down.  Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute (MAI) has worked on some very high profile and well known sites, been involved with really neat artifacts, and has some professors that literally wrote the book in their respective fields. This coupled with the small liberal arts college feel, and the convenient distance from home (not too far, not too close) made it a very good choice.  It was actually the only school I applied to."

3) After rowing all four years here at Mercyhurst, what has rowing taught you? 

"It taught me discipline both physical, as well as mental. It has fostered time management and the ability to put aside differences for a greater good. I have learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of. Had I not rowed, I really do not know how different my life would be right now, however I couldn't imagine college without it."

4) Can you talk about one of your most memorable moments with the team?

"I really couldn't isolate one experience. The entire process of learning to row to competing, and the intense training in between has been an experience that I doubt I will ever truly forget."

5) You graduate in a little over three weeks from now, where do you see your life taking you next?

"Right after graduation I’ll be working with a company called SWCA, and environmental consulting agency, and I will be doing archaeological field work.  This consists of examining/testing the ground ahead of any building projects that may disturb sites of archaeological importance. If the project will impact these sites, we will be responsible for mitigating any damage by excavating them.  I plan on doing that sort of work for the near future, then potentially back to grad school probably for an advanced archaeology degree."

6) As one of five graduating seniors from the Men's Rowing team, what is the biggest take-away message to the underclassmen?

"To always keep the primary reason that you row at the forefront of your mind, during the great days and the bad."

"Also tip your waiters and waitresses."

Fun Fact Friday

Sticking to the trend of being late this week, I missed "Throwback Thursday" so I bring you: "Fun Fact Friday!"

Fun Fact: The Men's Rowing Team at Mercyhurst has transitioned into an entirely Lightweight Program over the past few years. 

This means that all of the guys have to weigh in under 160lbs on race day. The part that makes it even more interesting is that most of the races require each boat to have an average weight of 155lbs. This means that while the guys have to be under 160lbs, many of the guys have to be even lighter in order to bring the boat average down to 155lbs. I have seen some of the guys cut weight in the most ridiculous ways while at college and it only goes to show how much of a commitment this is to them. One of the most eye opening things when I came here was sitting in the dining hall after practices and watching how much thought the guys put into what they are eating. It comes down to a science for most of them, and this sport engulfs every aspect of their life; on and off the water. 

Women's Team: Mairead Manke

Mairead Manke
Biology Major
Senior
Varisity 4+

This is a little delayed but fits that I'm not doing this on a Wednesday since this rower isn't just my #wcw but my #wce. Her witty personality shines through off the water and the moment you put her in a boat, she has focus like no other rower and will do whatever it takes to push herself and win. I introduce to you all the sassy senior, Maired Manke.

Tell me, how did you get into rowing?
Oh lordy, okay so it was the second day of school and I was still getting acquainted with everything and went down the hall to hang out with some friends my roommate had met. Later on, one of them said they were leaving to go to a meeting and I said I would go with her. It turned out to be the rowing meeting for the novices and Jamie and Adrian were there and they just talked about it and I just kind of put my email down and started coming to practice...and I never quit. I must have a real sadistic personality but it was good, it helped me meet a lot of my friends and create new outlets in college. 

What was it like when you first got in a boat?
Well it was an old pocock and it had these clog shoes and I was thinking, "Good god this is gross, I hope we don't go in. I don't know what I'm doing" pretty much. I remember the first couple practices we didn't even get off the dock, we just sat in the boat and hung out on the docks because that was al we could do.

What was the reason that made you stick with rowing for these past four years?
Well I have a really competitive sports personality. I'm not competitive with board games and that stuff but with sports it's like I have to good and something and then I stick with it. Rowing was really different from any of the other sports I had played before, I was previously involved in hockey and softball which are more of contact sports and require certain skill sets. While rowing on the other hand is kind of like a free for all, you can be anybody and you can figure it out. It was really cool being able to adapt and be good at a  spot that I had just started, I wouldn't have been able to do that with any other sport.

Why did you decide to be a rower instead of a coxswain? 
(For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting Mairead, she stands just over 5'4" and is a lightweight)
As soon as a I learned what a coxswain was and what they did, I  made sure to not become one. It's not that they sit back and don't do anything but they sit back and they steer and I'm not about that. I have to be in the action, so there was no way that was happening.

Just briefly describe the journey of going from sitting on a dock because that was all you could do, to racing down the finals at NCAA all in one year.
Well freshman year in particular was torturous, it was the hardest physical exertion period of time in my entire life. I've never been more exhausted and sore. And we had sort of a smaller team way back when and there were only 13 or 14 of us that were even eligible to row. I was able to squeak my way into the four and I remember at the time we had  really competitive eight and a freshman four and we made it work. We got to go to NCAAs so we didn't mess it up that bad and Kristine and Leyla who were also in the four are still hanging around. 

Sitting here now, what is it like on your way to your last NCAAs?
Ugh, well it's really exciting because the group of people we are going with are an exceptional group of people. They are really good at rowing first and foremost, and we always talk about team chemistry and how it's really important for speed in the boats and this year it seems like we seem to be clicking even though we're all from different corners of the world. And then, Sacramento. I mean come on it's going to be really fun and I think it's going to be a really good course since Indianapolis was always windy and was had to get a good row in at times so I think this course will be a really good test of our true speed.

And how have you had to adapt by being tinier than everyone else?
Oh sweet mama jamba, well... I have to try and eat more than I want to because caloric intake is really important for me to maintain the little weight that I have and we have a really rigorous training so it's hard to keep that weight on. I know that I'm never going to be big though, so instead of worrying about it I just know that I have to be the best the way that I am. I've been trying to optimize my length, that's been a huge thing I've been working on the past three and a half years and I think I've finally gotten to a point where it's really good. So with that it doesn't matter that my legs are rally short because I row the same length and the fact that I weight 20-30 pounds less than people is just an advantage for me because I don't bog anything down. 

Would you say that rowing has changed you in any way?
Yeah, I thought I knew what blisters were before I started rowing and now I really know what blisters are. But yeah, it's taught me a lot about my mental limitations and being able to get past them. It's taught me about my physical limitations and how to exceed them through training. It's also taught me incredible things about her people and how to deal with the differences between you and how to incorporate different personalities into a competitive situations. I would say it's brought primarily positive things, aside from the sore butt and hurting hamstrings.

Last question, you know that's all going online right?
You're not going to transcribe everything... Oh that's awful, this is just twelve minutes of shenanigans.

Mairead and Taylor showing that Women's V8+ beat Barry by 2 seconds in the heats at Knecht Cup

A big thanks to Mairead for letting me interview you, and for making me laugh multiple times throughout it! 

Throwback Thursday

I apologize for the delay on the Women's Team Wednesday, my bow seat is a busy gal but her story on how she went from a novice to the finals at NCAAs is on its way! Never fear though, Throwback Thursday is here :)

I'm throwing it back to this week actually, because we have had some pretty bad weather at Findley Lake and yes, yes there has been snow in late April....
Don't believe me? Check on this picture our coaches snapped as we were heading out to row in the tundra.

We managed to have one or two days this week without a snowy surprise and I was able to capture it on video and thought I would share it for this week's throwback. I was able to get some video of this year's promising Frosh 8+ as they prepare for our race this weekend in Michigan and you can hear the wise words on Coach Adrian
Spracklen in the background as he helps them fine tune their rowing. 

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)."

Throwback To Ergs

(There were some problems posting this on Thursday so here's a Throwback Sunday!)

I decided to bring it back to to J-term, which is a three week period during our six week winter break where Mercyhurst students can come back to campus and take a class. It's one class a day, three hours a day, for three weeks and really helps to get a class out of the way. 

The rowers all come back for J-term so we can then take one less class during the hectic spring semester and to officially kick off winter training. 

We practiced twice a day, cross-training/lift in the morning and erging in the afternoon, and questioned our sanity approximately twice a week. J-term may have been hard at times but it brought the team closer together and got us one step closer to Alabama!

For the women's team we made a banner that we all signed that read "We Row For Cali" to remind us the every painful erg piece was all working towards a greater goal: NCAAs in Sacramento. We also figured out that Sacramento is about 4 million meters from Erie and decided that we were literally going to "row to Cali" and row 4 million meters as a team over winter training. 

Here's a photo of our assistant coach Jamie Francis showing off the meters rowed in January, such a proud coach!