By: Mark Zimmaro
PHILADELPHIA- Another crisp wind sliced through the trees and the chopping oars sent chilly Schuylkill River water splashing up into the boat.
It is raw April days like these when crew members are reminded of just how cold the open water can be off the banks of Boathouse Row in Philadelphia.
There is also no place they would rather be.
For the members of the Episcopal Academy crew team, and young rowers everywhere, it has been an especially challenging year of ‘all work and no play’ as the global pandemic stripped the team of a season in 2020 after just a couple of afternoons of practice out on the river last spring.
What transpired over the next 12 months were many grueling virtual workouts to keep both body and mind in shape for what, at the time, might have seemed like a slight chance of a return to racing.
No boats, no oars, no finish lines, and no medals. Lots of sweat in the meantime.
Episcopal Academy 2020-21 Varsity Crew Team practicing on the Schuylkill River. (Photo/Mark Zimmaro for PSD).
“Every day, I sent out a workout to the team,” said Molly Konopka, Episcopal’s head coach for the last 25 years. “And they all had Google sheets and they did the workout and put down what they did and how they did it and they wrote down if there were any extra things that they did. And they all did extra things.”
Konopka, a Buffalo native and a University of Pennsylvania graduate who coached at St. Joseph’s and Fordham Universities before landing as a Latin teacher at Episcopal, said she was able to keep the program’s training regimen afloat by assigning running, swimming, biking and aerobics tasks to more than 50 student athletes. If an athlete owned an ergometer, part of their workout would be designated to pulling on the electronic rowing machine as well.
Konopka also got creative with entering the team in virtual races where erg scores would be calculated and averaged to simulate a total boat score.
Episcopal Academy coach Molly Konopka drives the launch and gives instructions to her team during practice on the Schulkill River 4/23. (Photo/Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
“It was fun for them to do, knowing on a Friday they would have to submit a score,” Konopka said. “It gave them something to look forward to. But rowing last weekend against other crews was just so exciting. You sort of forget how hard it is.”
It is also challenging to stay focused on the main goal when it seemed so far away. But they did. Emphatically.
“We had to keep each other accountable,” said senior Peter Woodville. “Even if we were down in our own basements and not interacting with each other every day, we had to know that this hard work was eventually going to pay off, especially in a sport like rowing where there is a lot of delayed gratification, just knowing that every single hard stroke was going to make us better than the next crew. A lot of people used the pandemic as an excuse, but we used it as an opportunity to get better.”
Woodville and Arya Venugopalan are the two captains of the boys’ team and are seated on the varsity four. They are joined by juniors Will Konopka and Christian Mandeville and are coxswained by senior Hollis Dupont. The crew finished second in the 2nd Manny Flick/Horvat Series by just a half a second on April 18. It was the team’s first competition of the year.
EA Boys Varsity 4 listed in alphabetical order: Will Konopka, Christian Mandeville, Arya Venugopalan, Peter Woodville and coxswain Hollis Dupont practicing on the Schuylkill River. (Photo/Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
Water splashes up as EA senior Arya Venugopalan takes cues during practice from coxswain Hollis Dupont. (Photo/Mark Zimmaro for PSD).
“It wasn’t a bad first outing but lots to work on,” Venugopalan admitted. “But we’re really excited to get after it this year. We decided when our season got cancelled last year that we are going to do everything we can to win everything on the river this year.”
The girls’ side of the team is already seeing the fruits of their labor. The quad of Margot Leroux (Princeton Univ. commit), Mary Grace Konopka (George Washington Univ. commit), Lily Haupt and Caden Collins won their first race on April 18 and followed with another first-place finish on April 25, shaving a dozen seconds off their time from a week ago with a mark of 5:08.07.
The girls credit their early success to their offseason workouts and the chemistry between the four teammates. Leroux, Haupt and Konopka are all seniors and were joined by sophomore Collins, who fit in seamlessly.
Episcopal Academy Girls' varsity squad listed in alphabetical order: Caden Collins, Lilly Haupt, Margot Leroux and Mary Grace Konopka in sync during practice along Boathouse Row. (Photo/Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
“Lily, Mary Grace and I have been rowing together since freshman year,” said Leroux. “We’ve always loved rowing together and we’re all great friends. Caden is a sophomore so she’s new this year but she’s been fitting in really nicely to this boat. We’re lucky to have her. It’s great when you’re in a boat with your three greatest friends and out on the water together.”
EA sophomore Caden Collins preps her oars before practice. (Photo/Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
EA senior Margot Leroux takes a few hard strokes during practice. (Photo/Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
In 2019, Episcopal Academy won three medals in the Philadelphia City Championships and another at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta while qualifying four boats at Nationals. A strong 2021 team believes it can meet lofty expectations. A 12-month long off-season of pushing their limits will certainly help.
“A lot of (our success) is because we all work hard and all work together,” said Haupt.
“Nobody is going to slack off just because they’re not feeling great. I think Mrs. ‘K’ brings that attitude to show up no matter how you feel. We all have those bad days but those are the days that really count.”
A silhouette of EA senior Margot Leroux captures the feeling of a long day along the picturesque backdrop of the Schulykill River. (Photo/Mark Zimmerman for PSD)