Winter 2011 - MIT Crew Alumni Association

Winter 2011
Squaring
the blade
A Newsletter for MIT Crew Alumni
Director’s Message
by Tony Kilbridge
February is an in-between time at
Pierce Boathouse. Our fall head
races are long past, we are back
from our winter training trip, the
Charles is frozen thick, and there
are weeks to go before our first
spring race. Our present is a daily
cycle of ergs and weights familiar
to anyone who ever pulled an oar
for a college north of the frost line.
The work is vital, but not particularly exciting. Rather than publish
months-old head race results or
describe winter training, we have
tried with this issue of STB to bring
you stories of some of our more
interesting recent experiences, and
profiles of some of the fascinating
people who make up MIT crew.
New lightweight men’s coach,
Will Oliver
Our January training trip to Cocoa
Beach, Florida, is an annual highlight. This year we include firstperson accounts of the trip from
two athletes: Andrew Yang (’13)
and Katie Inman (‘13).
There are only 19 undergraduate
women at MIT who study nuclear
engineering, and three of them are
on our lightweight women’s team.
For this issue, their coach, Claire
Martin-Doyle, interviewed Lauren
Ayers (’12), Lizzy Wei (’12), and
Sara Ferry (’11) about their marriage of college crew and nuclear
engineering (only at MIT!).
We have two new coaches in the
boathouse, in the persons of Will
Oliver (men’s varsity lightweight
coach) and Jeff Iqbal (men’s freshman lightweight coach). Will was
my assistant at the University of
Virginia before serving three years
as head coach of that program and
one year as an assistant at Georgetown. He has settled easily into
his new role, and his all-flannel
wardrobe, which he has worn since
the ‘90s, is finally sweeping the
country (see any menswear catalog). Jeff is an MIT crew legacy,
like Flounder in Animal House,
only more handsome and presumably a better crew coach. Both of
Jeff’s parents rowed at MIT, and he
has been around MIT crew since
childhood. Jeff rowed lightweight
for Tech, graduating in 2008. He
served two years as a volunteer assistant with the lightweights before
being hired full time this fall. Jeff
is universally popular with the
coaching staff and his athletes.
We have also provided our spring
race schedules in this issue. These
are necessarily somewhat tentative,
so you should check our official
web site (www.mitathletics.com),
and, if in doubt, email the coach
before making plans to see a race.
As always, I encourage you to
support MIT crew by attending
races, following our blog (mitrowing.tumblr.com), and, of course,
sending money. You should also
feel free to contact me any time at
[email protected]. Go Tech!
Director’s Message
1
New Coaches
2
Recruiting Report
3
Nuclear Science
4
Florida Reflections
6
Spring Schedules
9
staff changes
New Coaches
By Tony Kilbridge
At the end of last summer, varsity
lightweight coach Ted Benford
left MIT to become associate head
coach of Northeastern men’s crew,
and freshman lightweight coach
Andy Hilton left to become men’s
freshman heavyweight coach at
Dartmouth, his alma mater. In
August I announced the hiring of
Will Oliver as varsity lightweight
coach and Jeff Iqbal as freshman
lightweight coach.
Will Oliver is a 2004 graduate of
the University of Virginia, where
he was a team captain and threeyear first-boat rower. After college he spent one season coaching
prep school boys at the Bryanston
School in Dorset, England. Oli-
ver returned to his alma mater as
the men’s freshman coach for
one year before being named the
Cavaliers’ head coach. During his
three-year tenure as head coach
Oliver’s crews finished as high
as 15th nationally. Immediately
before coming to MIT Oliver spent
one year as an assistant coach with
the Georgetown University heavyweight men’s crew.
Jeff Iqbal started coaching at MIT
in 2008 as a volunteer assistant
to the lightweight program. He
coached the junior varsity and second freshman boats over the next
two years, with his JV four placing
first at the Eastern Sprints in 2009.
days in the coach’s launch watching practices. He first sat in a boat
to cox at age 5 and first rowed at
age 9. Iqbal rowed for four years
in high school, first at the St. Louis
Rowing Club, then for The Shipley School in Philadelphia, and
was bow seat in the Shipley Junior
Eight that earned a gold medal at
the Scholastic National Championships in 2003. Iqbal rowed
lightweight at MIT for four years,
during which time the program saw
first its lowest point in 2006, with
only seven varsity oarsmen on the
team, and then the beginning of a
resurgence in the squad that continues to build in size and momentum
to this day.
Iqbal was raised in a rowing family. With two MIT crew alumni as
parents, he spent many of his early
Iqbal graduated from MIT in 2008
with an S.B. in Aeronautics & Astronautics.
Please save the date for a celebratory reception held by the MIT Athletic Department (DAPER):
Sunday, April 10, 2011, 11am-1pm at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
This event will be held in conjunction with the MIT 150th Convocation, and will specifically highlight varsity
sports with significant milestones, including the 100th anniversary of the crew program.
2
Recruiting
Recruiting Report
By Evan Thews-Wassell
Since coming to MIT I have
stressed repeatedly the importance
of recruiting top high school rowers. I thought our alums might
be curious as to what our recruiting efforts actually involve, so I
asked freshman heavyweight coach
Evan Thews-Wassell to submit this
description.
-- Tony
Five years ago there was a significant change in our coaching staff.
It was evident to this new staff
that efforts to attract our country’s
top junior rowers needed to be
increased. High level recruiting on
a national level is never easy, and
the plan for each program is always
changing and adapting. However,
in just a few years there have been
significant changes and additions
to our recruiting process. These efforts have been successful not only
in increasing the number of experienced rowers who join the team,
but also in spreading the name of
MIT Crew to coaches and athletes
who previously were unaware of
our existence.
Over the past few years our coaches have made numerous trips to
high schools, clubs, and races in
order to meet athletes and establish
relationships with junior coaches.
Some of the cities visited, to name
a few, are: San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Austin,
and Washington, D.C. The summer
months are particularly important
for recruiting, as our coaches are
able to participate in college fairs
held at large races such as Scholastic Nationals and the USRowing
Club Nationals.
In addition to broadening our reach
throughout the country, we have
increased our efforts to encourage
potential recruits to visit MIT and
experience campus life. During the
fall semester we designate specific
weekends for potential recruits to
visit MIT for a three-day period.
While on campus they are housed
by current rowers, attend classes,
and view varsity practices. The
opportunity to experience the academic, social, and athletic side of
MIT first-hand is incredibly valuable to the recruits. Along with
these “unofficial visits” we have recently been granted permission by
our administration to offer “official
visits” to our top recruits. Having
athletes come on an “official visit”
allows us to assist them financially
with their travel to campus as well
as some of their expenses during
their stay. The ability to offer the
same recruiting benefits as our
competitors helps us to attract the
best junior rowers in the country.
Last year alone, we had more than
125 potential recruits visit campus.
We still have a lot to do on the
recruiting front to be on the same
level as the best teams in our
league. However, the strides that
we have made in the past few years
have been significant. Five years
ago there were only ten recruited
athletes competing on the crew.
Currently there are 53. We still
need more, but the increase is a significant trend in the right direction.
With continued hard work from the
coaching staff and your support in
the process, we are confident that
these positive trends will continue.
More recruits means faster boats,
which ultimately means more wins,
and that is something we can all
appreciate.
This summer the first-ever MIT Youth Sculling Camp offers a choice of two one-week day camps for highschool-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 (1-to-4 or better) to ensure that all campers receive lots of individual attention.
Session One is June 27 - July 1; Session Two is July 11 - July 15.
Anyone interested in the program should visit mitclinic.shutterfly.com for more information.
3
interviews
Lightweight Women
Pulled to Nuclear
Science
By Claire Martin-Doyle
Nuclear Science and Engineering, better known as Course 22, is
one of the smallest departments at
MIT, with just 44 undergraduates,
19 of whom are women. On the
MIT lightweight women’s crew
we are lucky to have three of these
women. I sat down with Sara Ferry
(’11), Lizzy Wei (’12), and Lauren Ayers (’12) to find out more
about how they became interested
in nuclear science, their current
research, how rowing has helped
them outside the boathouse, and
how they balance the many challenges of MIT.
Name: Sara Ferry
Hometown: Hanson, MA
High School: Whitman Hanson
Regional High School
When you did you first become
interested in Nuclear Science &
Engineering?
When I was accepted to MIT I had
planned on majoring in chemical
engineering, but as I began looking
at the other majors, nuclear science
and engineering seemed to stand
out. It combined interesting physics with challenging engineering
problems, and I was attracted to the
clean-energy aspect of it.
What’s the primary area of your
research?
I work at the H. H. Uhlig Corrosion
Laboratory, where we develop and
study materials for advanced nucle-
ar applications. For example, the
project I’ve been involved with the
most involved developing and producing a corrosion-resistant steel
composite for use in future leadbismuth cooled reactors. I love the
materials engineering side of the
nuclear field, since as reactors grow
more advanced, the science of the
materials used to construct them
has to keep up, or those reactors
can never become reality.
Looking back, what are the three
main things you get out of rowing?
I love that no matter how busy
things get with school, there are
a few hours every day that I am
going to be able to spend with my
friends doing something we like
doing. I like being in such good
From left to right: Sara Ferry (‘11), Lizzy Wei (‘12), Lauren Ayers (‘12)
4
Continued on p.5
interviews
Nuclear Science
Continued from p.4
physical shape, and also like that
crew more or less forces you to eat
well and get sleep, which generally
makes for a much healthier semester overall. The times we’ve spent
together as a team when we’re not
rowing – whether it’s dinner, traveling to a race, or hanging out in
Florida watching TV – are some of
my favorite memories from MIT.
How hard is to for you to manage
your studies, research, and workouts?
At this point I’ve been a student
at MIT for more than three and
a half years, so juggling everything honestly doesn’t feel hard
anymore – it just feels normal. It
definitely gets stressful sometimes,
and it takes a lot of discipline to get
everything done, especially on days
when I’d rather just sleep in and be
lazy, but it’s all been worth it, and I
wouldn’t do anything differently if
I could go back.
Have you had any interesting summer jobs or experiences?
I spent one summer doing research
at MIT, and the next two summers
in France: during the first I studied
nanotechnology at the CEA Grenoble; during the second I lived in
Paris and worked at Areva Nuclear
Power, where I helped develop
software for a new reactor. I’m
heading back to Paris this summer
to work at Le Laboratoire, which
develops novel products and hosts
exhibitions that explore the interfaces between art and science. I’m
definitely looking forward to going
back.
Name: Lauren Ayers
Hometown: Portland, ME
High School: Phillips Exeter
Academy
Can you name some factors which
led you to become a NS&E major?
Aside from the subject, the small
department – the fact that I know
most of the other students and professors in the department. Course
22 is also really great with getting
students into research; there are a
lot of interesting UROP and internship opportunities.
What do you envision yourself doing in your career?
I’d like to do something that
involves some hands-on work. I
had the opportunity to visit Oak
Ridge National Lab this summer
(when I was there for USRowing
Club Nationals, in fact!) and it
only strengthened the idea that I’d
like to someday work in a national
lab… doing exactly what, I don’t
know yet, but I would like to continue in nuclear materials, which is
my current branch of research.
What was the primary reason you
decided to join the crew?
I learned freshman year that I really enjoy the sport, but I disliked
watching the workouts happen
instead of doing them. I think the
real pull was that it was very teamoriented; in high school I generally
cared very little about how my
cross country or track team placed,
and was very focused on my own
individual races; in crew, we all
work hard because we want our
boats to be fast, which brings us
together.
How do you think your experience
on the crew will help you after
you’ve graduated from MIT?
Crew has taught me to be less
afraid of failure. It used to be a
constant fear of mine, and it’s not
anymore – but not because I’m
now satisfied with failure. It’s
because I am less afraid than I
was when I first started rowing to
go out a little harder than I think I
should in the beginning of a piece
or set goals that seem out of reach,
and it carries over outside of crew.
I think this will continue to help me
be more confident in myself and
the things I can do; I think it’s also
given me a willingness to work
harder for what I want to accomplish, which I know will help me
post-MIT, both in my career and
my personal life.
Name: Lizzy (Elizabeth, but no
one calls me that) Wei
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
High School: Sycamore HS
Can you name some factors, which
led you to become a NS&E major?
I’ve always been attracted to the
math and the detail involved in
engineering, so I knew I wanted to
study something from the School
of Engineering at MIT, but also
needed it to be applicable to medicine in some way, which Nuclear
Science is through things like
imaging, CT scans, and nuclear
medicine. I also liked that NS&E
exposes me to many different
fields, such as chemistry, mathematics, and physics, and requires
me to take difficult classes in all
those areas. It seemed like a good
challenge to take on!
Continued on p.6
5
florida
Heavyweight Men
By Andrew Yang ‘13
Shells slice through calm waters,
the red sky providing a stunning
backdrop to another day of perfect
rowing. After boats dock, the team
gathers in a moment of kumbaya,
singing the praises of hakuna matata. This is Florida, our refuge from
the apocalyptic cold of Boston—
or at least its romantic caricature.
The realities of MIT crew’s winter
training trip to Florida embodied
a more toughening philosophy:
callused hands, turbulent water,
and the absence of manatees. That
is not to say good, hard rowing
could not be done. Our aching
bodies would protest such a notion.
Indeed, when compared to last
winter’s iceberg dodging relays, the
conditions allotted ample time to
hone blade technique and prepare
for the rigors of spring racing.
A typical training day begins with
the obnoxious wailing of alarm
clocks, several in symphony, yanking us from our slumber to the
bounties of a hearty bagel, waffle,
and fruit breakfast. Breakfast is, as
we say, the most important meal of
the day. As 7:00 arrives, just over
a dozen of us filter into our fleet
of twelve-passenger vans. Every
day we seek and enjoy each other’s
company enough to occupy the
same one or two vans, cultivating a
homely locker room aroma. But to
our credit, we epitomize exquisite
Continued on p.7
Continued on p.7
Nuclear Science
Continued from p.5
What’s the primary area of your
research?
Radiation imaging and cancer treatment.
What do you envision yourself doing in your career?
I want to be a practicing doctor,
perhaps in radiology or radiation
oncology.
Have you had any interesting summer jobs or experiences?
I got to work in different research
labs at the University of Cincinnati.
In particular, this past summer I got
to work in an MRI imaging lab; I
also got to experience Cincinnati’s
boat club, where I met and rowed
with new people.
Looking back, what are the three
main things you get out of rowing?
Three things I “get out of” rowing
stand out to me. First, the irreplaceable friendships I form with my
crewmates and coaches. Second,
just the experience of being out
on the gorgeous Charles River.
Though I’m rowing hard, it’s a
time for me to clear my mind from
all the stress of school and remember how blessed I am to have these
opportunities at all. Finally, the
intense physical workouts of course
have instrumental value.
6
How do you think your experience
on the crew will help you after
you’ve graduated from MIT?
Crew has helped to create in me
certain virtues that I will continue
to bring to other things after I
graduate, especially discipline and
learning my role within a team and
performing it well. I’ve learned
how much of a difference it makes
to have your teammates and coxswains encouraging you, and to do
the same for others. Our coaches
stress positive attitudes, good
sportsmanship, and accountability,
all of which I think are important
disciplines to practice far beyond
MIT.
Florida
Heavyweight Men
Continued from p.6
musical taste by following a proud,
new tradition: turn on the radio;
flip through every single station for
Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”;
blast and sing-along to “Teenage
Dream”; repeat until destination.
At our rowing site we gather inside
a squash court and begin our dynamic warm-up, a series of extreme
yoga power moves, before hitting
the water. It’s a strange feeling
to be on that water, to at once feel
so isolated by endless flanking
blue and yet surrounded by calls
for power-tens, stroke shifts, and
straight steering. Our two eights
race, interpreting stroke and power
ratings creatively— because if it’s
worth winning, it’s worth cheating to do so. Through a series of
sprints, AT work, and steady-state
pieces the team comes together: our
blades coordinate in a dance, bodies shift in synchrony, and the boat
progresses from gradual inundating
to a more graceful gliding.
There is a thrill to the calm, an
exhilaration breathed from the
tranquil wetland air. Despite our
flooded shells, bloody oar handles,
and lactic acid drowned bodies, a
hypnotizing surrealism envelopes
us and all of existence are but a
blade slapping the shell along and
its passing whoosh. It’s a rowing
world out there, something hard to
come by on the busy Charles. We
meander through the network of
swamps and rivers, rowing through
rain, shine, and dolphins before
finding ourselves back on shore:
back to television marathons, free
time, and reality.
In that free time we provide an
7
economic boon to the local dining
community, feasting at restaurants
like Waffle House, Steak ‘n Shake,
and Olive Garden. After all, we
reason, it’s always breakfast—the
most important meal of the day—
somewhere in the world. We meet
several alumni before thoroughly
embarrassing ourselves in the
team’s annual skit night. Looking back, though injuries and the
occasional thunderstorm intervened with some of our plans, we
emerged fitter, tougher, and perhaps most importantly, as a team.
Through the midnight shenanigans
and competitive rowing, our time
in Florida forged a sense of unity
indispensable to a successful crew.
So while we may not be singing
hakuna matata with our ergs in
the spring, we certainly will share
moments of kumbaya— especially
during post-row sing-a-thons. Just
not to Katy Perry.
Florida
Lightweight Women
By Katie Inman ‘13
As we set off from the Orlando
International Airport, spirits were
high. So far the forecast had nothing below 65 for the next few days
and it was beautiful and sunny
already. Amid constant reminders
that this could be a repeat of last
year (where temperatures plummeted to 32 degrees some mornings),
everyone headed to the site to
unload the trailer and rig the boats
before we could head back to the
hotel. After rigging, a large grocery shopping trip, and a lot of chit
chat about how incredible it was to
be in warm weather at the end of
December, we headed to bed eager
for the first day back on the water.
The sun rose the next day as we
arrived at the launch site where the
heavyweight men’s coach, Tony
Kilbridge, gave a “stirring” ad-
dress with the usual reminders to
stay safe, do the stingray shuffle to
avoid getting stung, and keep an
eye on the blisters we were to most
certain get. Following the pep talk
the lightweight women geared up
for a quick run test and some solid
steady state rowing.
The week was divided into roughly
two parts: four to five practices in
the pairs with the other rowers in
an eight, and then switch. We were
told the week would be tough but
we would come back to MIT refreshed and ready to hit the ground
running (or rather, hit the ergs
rowing) in preparation for spring
season. We had some incredible
days on the water. We made great
strides in technique and definitely
got a lot of miles in. I think by
day three most of the girls couldn’t
even stand up we were so sore- but
the thought of returning indoors
kept us motivated (as well as the
8
perfect weather we were having!).
Apart from all the practicing, we
celebrated New Year’s Eve with
pizza by the pool and s’mores on
the grill. Another evening was
spent at a nearby Italian restaurant
where we had a team dinner. Other
nights were spent with a secretSanta exchange and skit preparation. As a side note, our skit turned
out wonderfully; it was a parody
of the popular viral video called
“Harry Potter Puppet Pals” with
the names switched with rowing
coaches at MIT.
Now that we’re home I know we’re
all missing the warm sun as the
temperatures drop below zero and
the ice layer on the Charles seems
to be getting thicker by the day.
Nevertheless, we’ve kept up the
momentum and we’re all thankful
for the fantastic time we had this
year in Florida.
race schedules
Alumni Cup vs. Columbia & Holy Cross
Home
April 2
Donahue Cup vs. Williams & WPI
Worcester, MA
April 9
Compton Cup vs. Harvard & Princeton
Princeton, NJ
April 16
Home
April 23
Cochrane Cup vs. Wisconsin & Dartmouth
Hanover, NH
April 30
EARC Sprints
Worcester, MA
May 15
IRA National Championship (by invitation)
Cherry Hill, NJ
June 2-4
Murtaugh Cup vs. Navy & Princeton
Princeton, NJ
March 26
Joy Cup vs. Yale & Georgetown
New Haven, CT
April 9
Home
April 16
Pelham, NY
April 23
Philadelphia, PA
April 30
EARC Sprints
Worcester, MA
May 15
IRA National Championship (by invitation)
Cherry Hill, NJ
June 2-4
vs. Colgate
Biglin Bowl vs. Dartmouth & Harvard
Geiger Cup vs. Cornell, Columbia, & Georgetown
vs. Pennsylvania & Delaware
9
race schedules
vs. Boston College
Home
George Washington Invitational
Washington, DC
April 3
April 9-10
vs. Holy Cross
Worcester, MA
April 16
Patriot League Championship
Worcester, MA
April 24
Home
April 30
EAWRC Sprints
Cherry Hill, NJ
May 15
NCAA National Championship (by invitation)
Sacramento, CA
May 27-29
Home
March 26
Beanpot Regatta
vs. Radcliffe & Tulsa
vs. Princeton & Bucknell
Princeton, NJ
April 2
Knecht Cup
Cherry Hill, NJ
April 9-10
vs. Buffalo & Simmons
Home
April 16
vs. Stanford
Home
April 17
vs. Wisconsin
Madison, WI
April 23
Home
April 30
EAWRC Sprints
Cherry Hill, NJ
May 15
IRA National Championship (by invitation)
Cherry Hill, NJ
June 2-4
Muri Cup vs. Radcliffe
10
Varsity Heavyweight Men
Freshman Heavyweight Men
Photos by DSPics & Coaching Staff
Tony Kilbridge
Evan Thews-Wassell
Varsity Lightweight Men
Freshman Lightweight Men
Will Oliver
Jeff Iqbal
Varsity Openweight Women
Novice Openweight Women
Holly Metcalf
Aaron Benson
Varsity Lightweight Women
Novice Lightweight Women
Claire Martin-Doyle
Amelia Booth
11
Edited by Aaron Benson