Carnegie Mellon crew is pleased to announce that Lee Kulinna will take

over as Head Coach of the Carnegie Mellon Rowing Club starting this fall.

Coach Kulinna has an extensive background as both a rower and coach. He

began his rowing career at Marietta College (Class of '91) where he won

two National Championships in the coxed pair. He continued on to Seattle,

WA, where he rowed for Frank Cunningham and Bill Tytus at Lake Washington

Rowing Club, and Charley McIntyre at the Pocock Rowing Center. While

rowing in Seattle, Lee was also Head Coach of the Bush School's crew team.

When he returned to his native Pittsburgh, he spent two years as the Head

Men's Coach at the University of Pittsburgh (00-02), before moving to

Carnegie Mellon to spend two years working with Donald Webber Plank as the

Novice Coach (02-04). Coach Kulinna moved to Philadelphia to pursue his

Ed.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. While there he rowed for the

prestigious Malta Boat Club and coached the St. Francis Xavier Middle

School beginners program at Malta (06-07). Coach Kulinna spent a very

successful year as our Novice Coach this past year, and we look forward to

having him at the helm of our team.

We recently sat down with Coach Kulinna to ask him some questions about

his new position. Here are his responses.

What made you start coaching?

I started just after college when I was in Seattle going to graduate

school. My dream in college was to teach English at a prep school and

coach the rowing team. When I arrived in Seattle I was fortunate to row

under coaches like Frank Cunningham, Bill Tytus, and Charley McIntyre.

Coaching high school students was an amazing way to process the coaching I

was receiving from my coaches. Rowing was the most fun I had encountered. I

really enjoyed the complex nature of the sport and enjoyed sharing with

motivated students.

What made you choose CMU?

Certainly this second time around it is the caliber of student attending CMU.

Attending graduate school in Philadelphia gave me a new perspective on who

attends CMU. While in graduate school I began to study the support system

needed to succeed in school. Although I studied support in the context of

urban school failure, I became engaged by the how well CMU students manage

to find support and be successful. Presently, I am very interested in how

teams function as support for academic success in demanding schools with

highly motivated students like those at CMU.

What impression did you gain of the current program during this past year

as the freshman/novice coach?

I very much enjoyed the sense of community within the team. Some of my

favorite memories were sharing yoga on Fridays and rowing together in my

single with novices in pairs over spring break. I could tell that the team

was interested in trying to understand rowing and the nuances of the

stroke that propel boats. There was certainly a high degree of engagement

around reading about rowing and really trying to deepen the level of daily

practice.

What goals do you have for the program?

I would love to build on the energy of the summer and get rowers focused

on the joy of the sport, which to me is pushing yourself with your

friends. I see a steady group of women in town who are really going after

water time. I am excited to see how the team can engage the readings I

gave the team last year and enjoy practice more because we have a deeper

understanding of the stroke. Hopefully, we can apply this understanding to

propelling boats faster than most so the rowers can understand the feeling

of accomplishment that comes with Dad Vail medal.

Feel free to email vp@tartancrew.org with any questions. To make a

contribution to Tartan Crew go to www.tartancrew.org/donate. Thanks!

As the 2010 school year wound down, the CMU Rowing team got pumped up for the 2010 Dad Vails National Championship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sending a wide fleet of boats, the rowers of CMU could not have been more prepared for the final race of the season. They trained all year. In the winter, they spent countless hours on the ergs increasing their speed, gaining strength, and preparing for the spring. After a week of all-day training over spring break at camp Bob Cooper, the team went back to the Allegheny to master their technique, come together as a unified boat, and learn to drop the hammer. All of this hard work showed at Dad Vails.

The novice women’s 4, stroked by freshman Nicole Dimascio, only started rowing over spring break, however they put up a fantastic fight, placing fourth out of fifth with a time of 8:55.715. The novice men’s 4 stepped up and brought their best game to Philly, solidly placing second in the first heats with a time of 7:22.289, only 3 seconds behind Drexel University in first place. Freshman Brendan White pushed his boat on to semi-finals, where they placed fifth with a much-improved time of 7:02.366.

The varsity team also put up a good fight against fierce competition. Seniors Megan Larcom and Alyssa Fogel rowed their final race of their collegiate career as a pair. In the first heats, they placed second with a time of 8:10.745. Moving on the semi-finals, Megan and Alyssa showed their strength again with a great time of 8:06.587, giving them a spot in the finals. In the finals, the two seniors gave it all they got, placing a solid fourth with a fantastic time of 8:27.238.

The varsity women’s 4, stroked by Junior Emily Lesinski, fought hard in the first heats, placing second with a time of 7:36.803. Moving on to the semi-finals, the women put up a great fight with a fourth place time of 7:40.942. Finally, the varsity men’s 4, led by Junior Jonah Coste, put up a respectable time of 6:44.035 for fourth place.

Overall, CMU Rowing did a fantastic job. All of the hard work of each individual, dedicated rower showed at the race. Looking toward the future, CMU Crew looks to keep up its excellence and perform as well, if not better, in the seasons to come.

The 2010 Spring racing season has been filled with great success for the CMU Rowing Team. Starting at the Marietta Invitational Regatta on April 3rd, gold place medals for both the novice men and the varsity women give the team a fantastic start to the season. The follow weekend at Knecht Cup in Camden NJ on April 10th, the team continued its success story. The novice men's A four made it all the way to the grand final heat, the varsity men's 4 finished 3rd in the final heat, the varsity women's A four placed second overall in their division, while the varsity women's B 4 secured third in the petite final heat.

The next two weeks, the team pushed themselves as hard as they could to prepare for the Governor's Cup in Charleston WV on April 24th. Both the novice and varsity team's worked tirelessly to perfect their technique and get as strong as possible. Their hard work paid off when the team competed at the Governor's Cup. With the novice men's 8 finishing second in their heat, the successes of the day were just getting started. With almost perfect weather and flat water to race on, the team had no reason to make excuses, and so none were made. Senior Alyssa Fogel finished first in the women's single race, pulling out may boat lengths ahead of her opponents. More results for this race will be discussed when the official race results are posted.

With just a week left before the prestigious Dad Vails National Championships in Philadelphia PA, the team has once again stepped up the intensity of their training. The novices have really taken to heart what novice coach Lee Kulinna has taught are the 3 most important words in rowing: harmony, balance, and rhythm. The novices have raised the bar at every practice, focusing on working together as a boat, maintaining balance within the boat, and remaining calm so the boat can work as one.

Hopefully the hard work of both the novice and varsity will pay off with great success at Dad Vails next week.

The CMU Crew team starts off the spring racing season strong with numerous successes over the past two weekends. At the Marietta Invitational on April 3rd, the men's novice 4 took 1st place with a fantastic time of 6 minutes and 11 seconds. The women's varsity 4 also took first with a great time of 6 minutes and 50 seconds. The men's varsity 4 took a respectable second with a time of 6 minutes and 37 seconds. At Murphy Cup on April 3rd, seniors Megan Larcom and Alyssa Fogel showed the competition their toughness with a fantastic first place time of 8 minutes and 13 seconds.

At Knecht Cup on April 10-11th, CMU pulled off some amazing races. The men's novice A 4 took second place in the first rounds, and made it all the way to the grand finals, where, against tough competition, they took a respectable 6th place with a time of 7 minutes and 37.3 seconds. The women's varsity A and B four both did very well, and the A four placed 2nd in the grand finals with a great time of 8 minutes and 13.63 seconds, and the B four placed 3rd in the petite finals with a still respectable time of 8 minutes and 38.15 seconds. Finally, the varsity men's four took 3rd in the grand finals with a fantastic time of 7 minutes flat. Up against tough competition from crews like Marietta College, Drexel University, Lehigh University, and Rutgers University, just a few among many other competitors, CMU proved that while it may be a small team, it sure isn't going to accept defeat without a fight. All of their hard training through the winter and two workouts a day paid off for the medaling boats.

As the CMU Rowing team comes back from spring break, they reflect back on a fantastic and productive winter training season. Long, grueling hours were put on the erg machines, many tall building's staircases were trudged up and down, and diets were refined as the Crew team pushed themselves harder that ever to get into the best shape for the spring racing season. The 2010 annual rose sale was a great success, selling almost 1000 roses to love-struck undergraduates, romantic graduate students, and even professors.

At the Pittsburgh Indoor Sprints, CMU's hard training showed with many top 3 finishes and a first place victory in the 500m 6 person sprints. Additionally, CMU put up a fight against the University of Pittsburgh's rowing team at its self-hosted Heart Attack Indoor Sprints on February 27th.

Over spring break, the CMU Rowing Team travelled down to Camp Bob Cooper in Summerton, South Carolina for a week of intense training on the water. Every day, rowers would get dressed and then 'eat, sleep, and row', words found verbatim on the camp's t-shirt. With picture perfect weather, sparkling sunsets, and amazing water, the CMU Rowing team spent all week refining their rowing technique, working together as a crew, and mastering the three core rowing fundamentals as preached by rowing legend George Pocock; balance, harmony, and rhythm. Freshman Russell Kirmayer commented afterward on the experience: "Rowing everyday was an amazing experience. My favorite memory was rowing a pair in the evening and using the sunset as my point. I really feel like all my hard work during the winter months were rewarded with day after day of fantastic rowing." Now back in Pittsburgh, the team is finding their fifth gear with their first race at the UAA'S just a little under two weeks away. Combining their training from the winter months and their experience during spring break, the team is expecting a great spring season. Hopefully, all their hard work will pay off with victories this season.