Culture of crew

By Tom Schreier

In her second year as the head coach of the women's crew team, Anne Kennedy is looking to develop a winning culture by raising expectations of what it means to be a Division I rower at Santa Clara.

"I will make cuts with anyone who I do not think has the capacity to be a Division I athlete," says Kennedy, who believes that rowing was more of a glorified club sport before she arrived on campus in 2009. "This year it was 'Come and try, I'll take anybody'...but I've decided there needs to be a standard of performance for both returning athletes and for kids who want to walk on."

Before coming to Santa Clara, Kennedy was an assistant coach at UC Berkeley, who were crowned Pac-10 Champions in 2008. A walk-on rower at Dartmouth her freshman year, Kennedy received All-American accolades and was named team captain before graduating in 2007. She was a two-time member of the U-23 U.S. National team and she medaled both years, receiving gold in 2006 and bronze in 2007.

During this time she developed an understanding of the correlation between high expectations and extraordinary results.

"I'm trying to raise the standard," says Kennedy. "Right now we're pretty much at the bottom. This team (consists) entirely of walk-ons who do not take themselves seriously as athletes sometimes."

Jennifer Bullian, a senior from Sacramento, has seen a dramatic change in attitude among the rowers and is excited about where the program is heading.

"In the past our old coach tried to convince everyone to stay, even if they weren't serious about it," says Bullian, who is graduating next year and will not be able to see the end result of Kennedy's work. "We've done a good job telling people there's a standard you have to meet and it's not just (a club sport)."

The rowers must awake before sunrise during the week for practice, which begins at 5:45 a.m. Bullian insists that it is not "so bad once you get used to it," and that she feels much more productive during the day after getting a good workout in during the morning.

"We have to get there early because the water is a lot calmer and it makes it a lot easier to row on," she says.

"I honestly think it maximizes productivity," says Kennedy, who speaks from personal experience. "They can get their workout done and they can go to class, do their work in the afternoon and they can work a job if they need to."

In addition to experiencing an increase in productivity, many rowers, including Bullian and Kennedy, feel that rowing has enriched their college experience and made them feel more accomplished at the end of the day.

"Whenever I'm doing sports it just gives you another thing to focus on. You're not focused on how you look or what you're dressed as," says Bullian, who joins her teammates in the boathouse dressed in sweats every morning during the week. "It just gives you something a little more important to focus on and gives you something to work toward."

"Having a team of like-minded women around you and all working towards that same goal, becoming better at something than you've ever been, having that way to identify...gave me so much confidence," says Kennedy. "All that I knew were women who were empowered by this pursuit and these goals and just kicking our own asses and supporting each other in that way."

The undersized team, which consists of 15 women, is six short of the 23 required to compete in the NCAA. This lack of depth means that some of the women are asked to row in multiple events.

"It's really exhausting to race 2000 meters in an eight (person boat) and in a four you have half as many people, so it's a little more physically demanding," says Bullian. "(With) the training that we do...you feel really prepared to go more than 2000 meters so you know you are capable of going for another race."

The next stop for Santa Clara is the WCC Championship which begins April 30.

"What's awesome about WCCs that it is just one race," says Kennedy. "You know that you've got this one shot. We've trained so hard and we've raced multiple times, weekend after weekend, so really being able to bring that intensity you know that you can just empty it out."

Contact Tom Schreier at tschreier@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.