The second interview in our HC Summer Rowers series is with Coach Nicholas Zinter, '05. Nick spent his summer as a member of the coaching staff at Penn AC, overseeing the U23/Intermediate Men's Program. In previous summers, he coached in his hometown of Buffalo at West Side Rowing Club (WSRC). Click below to read the full interview!
Adam: How did you end up at Penn AC for the summer?
Nick: My primary interest heading into the summer was to coach at a program where I was going to learn. I wanted to develop my skills as a coach primarily through working with other well-respected coaches. After interviewing with Penn AC's Director of the Summer Racing Program, Coach Patrick Rufo, he asked me to be the Men's U23 Assistant Coach and I accepted. Spending the summer away from Buffalo, my hometown, was a really good experience for me. I met a ton of good coaches, good people and the overall Philadelphia experience was great.
Adam: You've done summer coaching in the past at West Side Rowing Club. What were the differences between Penn AC and WSRC?
Nick: Honestly, there are plenty of similarities between WSRC and Penn AC. Both are extremely proud of their "blue collar" history and attitude. Both places are thriving with legendary coaches and board members who have made it their personal mission to keep their boathouses operating with the same focus, mission and objectives that have governed WSRC and Penn AC since their founding. Some of the differences are economic. The numbers of athletes participating in the Penn AC Gold program (ed. note – Penn AC Gold is the high school program for boys and girls) are overwhelming.
Adam: Tell me a bit about the coaching staff you worked with and the athletes you were coaching.
Nick: The Head U23 Coach was Khaled Senad, the head coach at Colgate University. Coach Senad has spent several summers at Penn AC and works with the best U23 athletes with hopes of taking a 4+ to the Under 23 World Championships. I learned an incredible amount from Coach Senad. He holds his athletes to a world class standard and I gained a bit of my edge back as a coach through working with him. Dameon Engblom was hired as the Head Intermediate Coach for the summer. Coach Engblom works during the academic year as the head coach for the Oakland Strokes. Coach Engblom and I got along great from day one. We fell right into a good stride with each other. He was very intense and extremely knowledgeable. We shared opinions and ideas and he was appreciative of my perspective. We worked with roughly 27 Intermediate/U23 athletes. The athletes' level of talent was extremely broad from world class to the summer of a first year rower. The athletes came from a wide range of college programs, and had an equally sweeping goals for themselves.
Adam: What was the focus for you over the summer, in terms of what one skill did you focus on with the athletes? What was your focus with respect to making yourself a better coach?
Nick: As quickly as the summer comes and goes Coach Engblom and myself really tried to slow the program down into a microcosm of the rowing year. We rowed mixed 8s for a great while, focusing on aerobic base and developing accuracy of the bladework. As the summer progressed so did the training and the expectation of speed. My main focus for the athletes was simple: working hard, having a fun summer, and winning races. Becoming a better coach was one of my main goals for the summer. Working with and listening to Coach Senad and Coach Engblom all summer long made my summer entirely worthwhile. I felt like much of what I believed in and practiced as a coach was strengthened and I picked up so much from the other coaches on and off the water. I am certainly going to take this experience back to Holy Cross.
Adam: How did you measure the success of the summer? Athletes improving their technique? Getting faster? Winning certain events/trophies?
Nick: The benchmark for success this summer was complex. For some athletes it was making a boat they didn't believe they had a shot at. For others it was making finals and winning medals at various regattas. For our top athletes it was very straightforward; the goals were to win the Intermediate 8+ and 4+ at U.S. Club Nationals and the U-23 8+ and 4- at Canadian Henley (ed. note: they won the Int 8+ at Club Nationals and the U-23 8+ and 4- at Canadian Henley, and got silver and bronze in the Int 4+ at Club Nationals). For each athlete, it was important to realize that no individual goal or boat was more or less important than anyone else's. Within the unique sport of rowing, it is a team, but really its a selection process. During that process, it's important to keep everyone on the same page to make it happen. My favorite moment of the summer was having two eights in the final of Club Nationals and finishing 1st and 3rd. Watching total team success is so much more enjoyable.
Adam: You and Al Monte have started to develop a bit of a rivalry over the past few years as freshman coaches at HC and Bucknell, right? How was it to coach against him again this summer?
Nick: I can't tell you enough how much respect I have for Al Monte as a coach. The positive effect he has on rowing programs everywhere he goes is unparalleled. He's done great things with the freshman at Bucknell and will continue to do so as the new Head Coach of the Bucknell rowing program. As good of friends as we are, we are incredibly competitive on and off the water with each other. When I found out I was coaching at Penn AC and he was coaching at Vesper, I knew it was going to be an interesting summer especially since I was living with him. Al takes his job very seriously, and it was an honor to compete against him in a very unique way. It was fun to add to the storied Vesper/Penn AC rivalry.
Adam: How are you feeling as you prepare for your third year at HC as the frosh coach? What can we expect from the freshman and varsity team this year?
Coming back for my third year as the freshman coach is exciting. This year's group of freshman are some of the most talented recruits Holy Cross Rowing has ever had. However, with that talent comes great expectation and responsibility. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done this year in order to even have the possibility of achieving what they are capable of. Every year the standards continue to rise, and I have high hopes for this year's group, both freshman and varsity, to elevate HC to the next level. The team is the deepest it's been in quite sometime and definitely has a huge challenge in front of them. It will be interesting to see how the year progresses.
Adam: When will we get to see another Monte/Zinter show down? Next summer?
Nick: It's always possible, but I don't foresee one coming. In terms of next summer, Al and I are looking to collaborate for the first time and run a program together. I can't disclose where or with who, but it's being discussed.
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