Winter 2013 Squaring the blade A Newsletter for MIT Crew Alumni

These exercises aren’t difficult, but meet regularly one-on-one with Director’s Message they only work if done correctly. freshmen to help with academic by Tony Kilbridge The athletes’ technique in perform- issues. A number of years ago when I ing this warm-up is one of the was coaching at the University of details that can help us win. We are just entering the second Virginia I attended a talk by UVA year of this leadership training football coach Al Groh. Before I believe that the best way to experiment, and I expect our ap- coming to UVA, Groh had coached control these details is to create a proach will change as we figure in two Super Bowls, winning one team culture in which older ath- out what works and what doesn’t. with the Giants and losing one letes model correct behavior for It has already made me a better with the Patriots. Groh had a lot the younger ones and everyone coach to have conversations with of interesting things to say about understands that being on the team my team about matters that were team building, but one which stuck means doing things right. This is rarely mentioned before. Likewise, with me was the importance of easier said than done, and having I hope that the athletes will absorb understanding the things that can often been frustrated in trying to the concepts of leadership and use help you win and the things that create such a culture through top- them when they leave MIT. How- can make you lose. Groh wasn’t down coaching, I, and the other ever, the leadership program will talking about the obvious variables MIT crew coaches, have decided prove its worth only if it helps us of how good your athletes are and to try something different. At the make a better team, and put faster how hard they work. I believe he suggestion of Paul Dill, MIT’s very boats on the water. That, after all, meant that the coach has to un- successful volleyball coach, we is what we are all about. derstand the important details of have embarked on leadership train- preparing a team, which, over the ing with our teams. Each squad has course of a season, can add up to approached this differently, but the the difference between winning general idea is to teach principles Director’s Message 1 and losing. of leadership to every athlete, and to put the athletes out front in set- New Staff 2 One small example from the men’s ting and implementing team goals heavyweight crew is our mobil- and culture. We are hoping to make Team Culture 3 ity warm-up. Every day before our captains more effective, and we row the crew does a series to teach every athlete to act as a Dock Rescue 5 of exercises that are designed to leader, whether they have a title increase range of motion. The goal or not. For example, on the men’s Florida Reflections 6 is to decrease the risk of injury by heavyweight team, in addition to ensuring that each athlete has the meetings and exercises to teach Fall Recap/ range of motion needed to row and leadership, we have a mentorship Spring Outlook 8 lift weights with good technique. system in which upper classmen New Additions Previn Chandraratna dous success, including over sixty By Holly Metcalf medalling performances, ten state championships, and a national MIT crew welcomes Previn championship. As a Director of Chandrarata as assistant women’s Programs and Head Coach at Row openweight coach, replacing Aaron New York, he was a founding Benson, who left last summer member of the US Task after 7 years with the program to Force that focused on broadening be head coach of the Puget Sound access to the sport of rowing, he University varsity men’s and earned the 2008 PASEsetter Award women’s program. for excellence in youth develop- ment across all New York City Previn Chandraratna brings over non-profit organizations, and his fourteen years of coaching experi- program earned the 2011 US Row- ence to the MIT staff. ing Anita De Frantz Award.

No stranger to the collegiate level, A 1997 graduate of Columbia Uni- Chandraratna was the freshman versity, Chandraratna was a three- men’s heavyweight crew coach at time member of the first varsity his alma mater, Columbia Uni- heavyweight eight, a team captain, team is on an upward trajectory and versity, from 1999 to 2003. As and a Most Valuable Rower Award has done so with a combination of Director of Recruiting, he tripled recipient. He was an accomplished walk-ons and recruits. The team en- the size of the varsity squad, and sculler with Riverside Boat Club vironment is one of high challenge he coached his crews to some of and Union Boat Club High Perfor- and high support, so that “anything the program’s fastest results in mance Camp and won a National is possible” becomes a reality and decades, including finishes ahead Club Championship with New not a pipe dream. Previn’s positive of Wisconsin, , and York Athletic Club. Shortly after energy, superb technical coaching Cornell. graduating, he trained with the skills, and experience bringing the U.S. National Team at the National best out of his athletes are the as- As a coach of juniors at Com- Center in Augusta, GA. sets needed to help bring the MIT munity Rowing, Row New York, openweight Engineers to the next and PCRA, Chandraratna helped level. We are very lucky to have his squads to achieve tremen- The MIT openweight women’s him! Dan Baker Cape Cod Rowing, Dan has held a diverse mix of jobs, including life By Tony Kilbridge coach at an equine therapy facility MIT crew was very pleased this and deputy sheriff in Barnstable past December to welcome Dan County. Dan is also an endurance Baker as our new part-time boat- athlete with an impressive racing man. Dan is a Cape Cod native, resume, including the Hawaii Iron- who was employed as a wood- man, road racing and cyclo-cross worker and head coach of Cape events. Dan’s excellent skills and Cod Rowing, Inc., before accept- cheerful personality have made ing the job with MIT. In addition him a great addition to the boat- to his long-time involvement with house. Team Culture words, the coaches consistently High Challenge, High Support: reflect back to their team a steady, Engineering a Culture of Success at MIT matter-of-fact picture of its accom- plishments, what is missing and By Holly Metcalf the mantra question, “What are you Both the Lightweight Women’s lia Booth] wanted to get us to take going to commit to individually and the Lightweight Men’s Crews, more ownership for individual and and as a team to move to the next coached by Claire Martin-Doyle team goals. We held more meetings level?” and Will Oliver respectively, have to establish them.” She pointed out had notable success this fall. While that the team “is pretty young. And The result: many miles rowed, it appears from the outside that look what we did this past fall!” sharpened focus on what is es- each team has its own identity and sential to individual improvement, thrives in its own individual way, We talked about the growth of the and, therefore, overall team im- both have prospered over the last team and what contributed to its provement. Lauren’s energy, posi- few years, growing in size and success. What Lauren chose to talk tive attitude, and belief in possibil- success. I interviewed a captain about was not the types of work- ity are palpable. Her coaches exude from each team to discuss what outs they are doing, the technical the same sensibilities. factors have led to their squad’s improvement. While on the sur- face the accounts seemed quite different, I started to contemplate the significance of the distinctions and how important it is for coaches and student-athletes to be allowed the time and freedom to establish their own identities, ceremony, and process.

Lightweight Women

Lauren Ayers, co-captain of the Lightweight Women’s team, sat down with me after her morning workout. She has been coming in every day along with fellow team- mates to put in extra aerobic work focus, or results in general—those Lauren sums it up succinctly and before her regular evening practice. were givens, but hardly the com- poignantly: “We belong in Division The first thing she shared with me plete list. She spoke again of Mar- I rowing, and we’ve earned the was how lucky she felt to be able to tin-Doyle and Booth’s leadership: right to compete against anybody.” row on the team and to be a part of “They never show worries about the speed the squad is enjoying af- speed. They coach us to focus on Lightweight Men ter following coach Martin-Doyle’s ourselves—we can’t do anything vision for the program. about other boats. The question Senior, captain, and four-year asked of us is what we’re going to rower, Stephen Freiberg, met with I asked Lauren how that leadership do to make ourselves faster. They me after his morning workout. played out in her opinion: “Claire pound into us ‘Don’t waste time on You can usually find him working and Amelia [Assistant Coach Ame- what can’t be changed!’” In other out down in the boat bays, getting Team Culture in two years, the effort seems to it, insisting that the team remain Challenge & Support be paying off. Much like Coach accountable throughout the season. Continued from p.3 Martin-Doyle, Oliver spent the last hours of mileage in during the long two years focusing primarily on The team has bought in and execut- winter months. individual and team improvement, ed. Their efforts led to a 5th place worrying less about the team’s finish at the Head of the Charles I asked Stephen about his team and performance against other squads this fall; they were 7 seconds off what he saw as the key elements and focusing more on its continued Princeton and Yale, and within 20 contributing to its success over the growth. seconds of Harvard’s winning time. last three seasons. Stephen pointed This was the first time the team had first and foremost to the growth of Only in the last year has that focus been within striking distance of the the program, the increase in num- shifted outward; Oliver began the winning crew. bers that has forced top-boat rowers summer by outlining the steps nec- Stephen and his teammates did not take this speed for granted. They saw it as an indicator that they were on the right track and have set out to meet their coach’s next challenge, achieving erg scores as a team that would reflect their com- mitment, strong culture, faith and competence.

At the end of our meeting, Stephen shares one of Oliver’s primary phi- losophies about speed and winning: it takes a whole team working to- gether and challenging one another to make one fast eight.

One thing that’s obvious from speaking to both athletes is how proud they are to be participating in the growth of their squads. While their perceptions of how their coaches operate might differ, they are fundamentally similar in their aspirations for personal improve- ment and accountability. It’s clear to respond to pressure from below essary for the team to be successful the identities that both teams have and elevated each individual’s within the EARC. Stephen walks developed didn’t emerge overnight, performance. No coincidence, this me through the program, begin- but have been nurtured for some growth is the product of a concen- ning with an emphasis on summer time. That they are seeing success trated effort by rowers and coaches fitness and progressing through the now is a testament, not just to these to create a more cohesive, focused season with a series of benchmark athletes and coaches, but also to the squad. goals and, finally, competitive end- program and community in which of-season fitness standards. Each they thrive. With squad size more than doubled step relies on the one that preceded Dock Rescue Sandy Hits MIT coaching staff, letting them know By Will Oliver that several pieces of the MIT dock When Hurricane Sandy arrived on had been spotted floating upstream. the East Coast, most of Boston, Coaches mobilized immediately to including MIT, hunkered down. investigate, and, indeed, one section At Pierce Boathouse, preparations of dock had broken free of its heavy included securing launches and mov- metal shackles. The docks were not ing anything that might get away free-floating, however, as, in the indoors. Something that no one middle of the night, storm raging, one expected to get away, however, was rower, John Kongoletos, ’14, had al- the dock itself. In the midst of the ready effected a rescue. Meeting the storm, students living in the dorms dock as it arrived at the upstream BU along Memorial Drive contacted the sailing pavilion, John lashed the sec- John Kongoletos, ‘14 tions, coaching launches and all, to the shore, by the time coaches arrived. The coaching staff is extremely grateful for John’s quick actions, which saved the dock and launches from almost certain damage and secured them until the storm passed, at which time they were returned, un- harmed, to Pierce Boathouse. Now in its third year of operation, the MIT Youth Rowing Camp offers a choice of two one-week day camps for high-school-age rowers, emphasizing sculling skills.

Teaching methods will include on-the-water coaching, video review, and tank demonstrations, with a high coach-to-athlete ratio to ensure that all campers receive lots of individual attention.

Session One: June 17 - June 21 Session Two: June 24 - June 28

Anyone interested in the program should visit http://www.mitathletics.com/sports/m-crew/CrewCamp2013 for more information. Florida Training van’s windows with paint pens, all Florida 2013 the while meticulously avoiding By Amelia Mockett ‘15 getting any “art” on the van’s crisp New Year’s Eve – a day in Ameri- white paint. Although the heavy- can culture typically associated weight men interpreted “van art” to with watching a couple of football mean “write various slogans on the games, snagging the best deals in sides of your van”, the rest of the post-Christmas retail sales, and teams got quite artistically creative. constantly caffeinating oneself in Multiple vans were decorated using anticipation of the push to stay an appropriate Van Gogh theme, awake until midnight. However, as with Starry Night represented with we all know, MIT Crew is any- surprising beauty (and frequency!). thing but typical. This year’s MIT As always, the end of the trip was Crew New Year’s Eve began on bittersweet – by day 10, we had airplanes, as 120-some rowers and gotten in some dozen or more prac- coaches arrived at Orlando Interna- tices, and had seen great improve- tional Airport in waves. As soon as ments in our technique and speed. we all had a chance to take off our Our catches were looking sharp, parkas and snow boots, and change our finishes connected, we had all into our shorts and flip flops, off we relearned how to feather and were went, sorted into vans to race to the just starting to turn our blisters into launch site. callouses! And yet, all good things The rest of the day was spent in must come to an end. With final a flurry of unloading and rigging stops at Ice Cream Junction (part boats, moving into hotel rooms, ice cream shop, part Asian food grocery shopping, and marveling store, part karaoke bar), I Dream at the existence of the sun. I was of Yogurt and Steak n’ Shake, we asleep by 8pm. 2013 happened headed back to the airport to return anyway. to Boston and resume our indoor This year’s trip was largely without training. Now that we’re all back in weather drama – no spontaneously Boston, digging out from the latest cold snaps, brutal rain storms, or winter storm and considering using blustering winds. However, on two flamethrowers to melt the Charles, mornings we arrived at the launch I’m sure I can speak for all of us: site to dense fog. The various re- Florida, take us back? Please? sponses that the teams and coaches had to the fog were all mercilessly parodied later in the week at skit night. As chairs of the Social Commit- tee, Coach Amelia and Coach Evan came up with a delightful new so- cial event this year – pizza and van art! For those of you who may not have caught the “van art” tide, the task is essentially this – to compete to see who can best decorate their Florida Training

get everyone back into the swing of squads from MIT, something we Florida 2013 things after taking the Holidays off unfortunately don’t do enough of By Ben Potash ‘14 at home with your family. on campus. We reminisce about our The Florida training trips are hands past trips all year and start looking down some of my favorite memo- It’s all about having fun, building forward to the next trip as soon as ries rowing at MIT. It’s a chance our speed, and building our sense the fall season starts. Not to men- to get away from all the stress of of camaraderie. Not only do we tion it’s the last nice weather we’ll classes and MIT and just focus on a have quality bonding events with have before returning to the fro- passion we all share, rowing. Flor- our own team, such as dinner and zen tundra that is a Boston winter. ida is the perfect way to kick-start karaoke, but we also have the op- What’s not to love? our winter training regiment and portunity to mingle with the other Fall Recap Heavyweight Men injuries, this group has the talent By Evan Thews-Wassell and the desire to be a competitive EARC and IRA crew. MIT’s heavyweight men entered the 2012 fall season with a young In addition to our usual EARC but hungry team. Of the twenty- competition, which will have us three athletes on the roster, seven traveling to Worcester and Princ- are freshmen, nine are sophomores, eton, we have added out-of-league six are juniors, and one is a senior. races against Bates, Boston Col- With the loss of only one senior lege, and DIII powerhouses Trinity from last year’s team, and the new and Williams College. We hope to ability to race freshmen in varsity see the friends, family, and alumni events, the team came together of MIT crew at the races. See you quickly and began to pick up speed in the spring! throughout the fall season.

After both the varsity and JV had mixed results at the Head of the Charles and Princeton Chase, Tech finished the fall season on a strong note at the Foot of the Charles with a top thirty finish by both varsity 4+’s.

The heavyweight men added a strong freshman class to a tight-knit group of varsity athletes this year. They are training hard through the winter months on the rowing machines and in the weight room. Assuming the absence of any major

vs. Bates & Home March 30 Alumni Cup vs. Holy Cross & Columbia Home April 6 Donahue Cup vs. Williams College & WPI Worcester, MA April 13 Compton Cup vs. Harvard & Princeton Princeton, NJ April 20 vs. Trinity Home April 28 Cochrane Cup vs. Wisconsin Home May 4 EARC Sprints Worcester, MA May 19 IRA National Championship (by invitation) Sacramento, CA May 31 - June 2 Fall Recap Lightweight Men in Weston, MA, stroked the eight; and sitting in the bow-seat was DC By Will Oliver & Zach Segal, captain in 2011-12 Danko, formerly of Ithaca, NY and Claire Martin-Doyle and originally from Los Altos, CA, Cascadilla Boat Club. Represent- On a crisp fall afternoon, the men’s rowed in the seven-seat; and Cam- ing the freshman class in six-seat, and women’s lightweight crews eron McAlpine, a Portland, OR na- Ijan Zhakiya came to MIT via opened the 2012-2013 racing sea- tive and two-time US World Trials Philips Academy, where he was a son with a pair of historic perfor- competitor, rowed in the four-seat. member of their NEIRA gold-med- mances at the 48th annual Head of All three rowers have competed as al-winning Varsity Eight in 2012. the Charles. members of the Tech Varsity Eight for the last three seasons. The lightweight men’s squad looks Led by senior coxswain Michael forward to opening the spring rac- Hwang, MIT (bow #14) began the Joining the crew’s seniors were ing season at home on Saturday, Men’s Lightweight Eight event four sophomores and a freshman. March 30th versus the University close to the rear of the field. Un- Sophomores Chris Schlaepfer of Pennsylvania and Delaware. deterred, the Engineers would and Peter Augusciak, both Seattle overtake the Harvard B entry and natives and graduates of Lake- come within striking distance of side School, sat five and two-seat Princeton B. Ultimately, MIT fin- respectively. Prior to coming to ished 5th overall, beating most of MIT, they both placed nationally its EARC competition (behind only at the USRowing Youth National Harvard, Princeton and Yale) and Championship and represented posting the team’s best results for the US at the CanAMex Regatta. the regatta in over 20 years. Another Seattle native, Brian Alvarez sat three-seat in the eight; Including Hwang, a graduate of he rowed for Sammamish in high Lakeside School and native of school and was a member of their Seattle, WA, four seniors led the crew’s gold-medal-winning four at crew. Captain Stephen Freiberg, Youth Nationals in 2011. Round- an alumnus of Wayland-Weston ing out the sophomore contingent

vs. Penn Home March 30 vs. Delaware Home March 30 Joy Cup vs. Yale with Georgetown New Haven, CT April 6 Biglin Bowl vs. Dartmouth & Harvard Hanover, NH April 13 Geiger Cup vs. Columbia & Cornell Ithaca, NY April 20 vs. Wisconsin Home May 4 Dad Vail Regatta , PA May 10-11 EARC Sprints Worcester, MA May 19 IRA National Championship (by invitation) Sacramento, CA May 31 - June 2 Fall Recap Lightweight Women School (PA), a multi-sport athlete Chen held her ground and mas- By Claire Martin-Doyle who won gold at Stotesbury and tered a difficult turn while pass- silver at Youth Nationals, and Anne ing Harvard-Radcliffe B between The Tech lightweight women’s Kim from Montclair High School Weeks and Anderson, arguably the crew turned in their best Head of (NJ), a multiple gold and silver most difficult line to navigate over the Charles performance since the medalist at Stotesbury over her the 3-mile course. program’s 2004 inception. In a stellar four-year high school row- very competitive field that included ing career. Three seniors anchored the crew: the top Division I schools in the Stroke Chandler Burfield first country, including the 2012 IRA The boat’s two sophomores in- stepped in a shell in the spring of National Champions, Tech’s strong cluded Amelia Mockett from Holy 2012. Burfield, a cross-country performance stood out. runner, who converted to rowing just last spring led the crew down The Engineers finished fifth over- the course at an aggressive 34 all, turning in a time of 17:50.8 to strokes per minute. Rounding out finish ahead of the Georgetown the lineup were Katie Inman, 2nd Hoyas and the Harvard-Radcliffe year co-captain from Indianapolis B entry. Tech was a gut-wrenching who has been a member of the var- half-second behind the Princeton sity eight since her freshman year Tigers over the 3-mile racecourse. at MIT, and Lauren Ayers, 2nd year co-captain, and a fourth-year rower The Engineers overall time was Names Academy (WA), where she who makes her third consecutive just 5.1 percent off the winning was a multiple-year competitor appearance in Tech’s Varsity Eight time. In the past nine years, the at US Youth Nationals, and Katie at Head of the Charles. closest MIT had been previously Gorick, a walk-on who began row- was 8.27% in 2010. ing in the fall of 2011. Both sopho- The lightweight women’s squad mores were members of Tech’s looks forward to opening the spring This year’s crew included three 2012 Varsity Eight. racing season on Saturday, March freshman: Ella Branch from St. 30th at home versus Boston Uni- Pauls’ School (NH), a varsity Junior Emily Chen, in her second versity and Harvard-Radcliffe. athlete in crew and cross-country, year steering the varsity, led her Madison Noteware from Baldwin crew relentlessly down the course.

Bean Pot Home March 30 Knecht Cup Cherry Hill, NJ April 13-14 vs. Stanford & Wisconsin Home April 20 Lightweight Invitational Home April 21 Muri Cup Home April 27 Dad Vail Regatta Philadelphia, PA May 10-11 IRA National Championship (by invitation) Sacramento, CA May 31 - June 2 Fall Recap Openweight Women walk-ons. dable opponents. The team is deter- mined to be ready. Already the top By Holly Metcalf The team was determined to con- eight athletes have surpassed last This past Fall was a key moment tinue the winning attitude and year’s V8 average 2k erg scores. in the new life of MIT’s women’s persistence of its graduated seniors The 2V8 is close to doing the same. varsity openweight rowing pro- and not look back. They developed The team’s attention to techni- gram: eight seniors graduated— surprising speed given their youth cal detail has been exceptional— key contributors to the growth and, in spite of a thirty-second knowing that their youth requires it of the program, producing a 2nd penalty during the Championship if they hope to see wins this spring. place finish in the V8 at the Patriot 8 race at the Head of the Charles, League championship and a 5th finished ahead of programs like the MIT/BC Cup place finish in the grand finals at University of Tennessee. The team The team’s next race will challenge Sprints; a young team left to fill entered winter training determined all to prove their desire to win: the their shoes. to exceed their fitness goals and MIT/BC cup race. MIT is unde- reach the next level of technical feated, but Boston College will be Three juniors, three sophomores, competence. looking for their first win. one freshman, and one senior sit in the V8. The team overall is com- Spring Racing Patriot League Championship prised of a good-sized sophomore Bean Pot has joined the class, strong juniors, three seniors, The team faces off with Radcliffe, Patriot League, bringing a whole and several strong recruited fresh- Boston University, Boston College other level of speed to the mix. Our men joined by a large group of and , formi- last race of the year, the Patriot League Championships will offer the team a final opportunity of rac- ing to the max.

A great Spring racing schedule; a team settled into it’s 2013 iden- tity, ready to challenge itself and opponents. The student-athletes have taken their fitness and mental attitude to the next level, and are looking forward to testing their speed.

Beanpot vs. BC, BU, Northeastern, & Radcliffe Home March 23 vs. Boston College Home April 6 George Washington Invitational Washington, DC April 12-13 vs. UMass Home April 20 Patriot League Championships Cherry Hill, NJ April 28 EAWRC Sprints Cherry Hill, NJ May 5 Head Coach, Heavyweight Men Tony Kilbridge Assistant Coach, Heavyweight Men Evan Thews-Wassell

Head Coach, Lightweight Men Will Oliver Assistant Coach, Lightweight Men Jeff Forrester

Head Coach, Openweight Women Holly Metcalf Assistant Coach, Openweight Women Previn Chandraratna

Head Coach, Lightweight Women Claire Martin-Doyle Assistant Coach, Lightweight Women Amelia Booth

Photos by DSPics, MIT Parents, & Coaching Staff Edited by Will Oliver