Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/200019
Under the Dome Five Questions With … Rowing Head Coach Martin Stone Since being named Notre Dame's first-ever rowing head coach in October 1997, Martin Stone has guided the program to six NCAA appearances overall and an unprecedented 10 consecutive Big East championships (2004-13). Five Irish boats captured grand final gold in 2013 and scored 151 team points, the most in the history of the regatta. This season, the Irish saw each of their entries claim top-10 finishes at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta on the Charles River Oct. 21 in Boston. basketball are. How do you get your name out there? Stone: "We just do our thing. We know that we're here to try to teach life lessons through our sport and to the athletes involved. "If we happen to get our name out there in the media, that's great, but it's about what we are doing on a daily basis with our student-athletes. We put all of our energies into that. It's all about going as fast as we possibly can." ▼ Blue & Gold Illustrated: AcaBlue & Gold Illustrated: How demic success has characterized have you been able to build the your teams. Why is that so? rowing program to what it is Stone: "There's not a lot of today? professional rowing so you need Stone: "The framework on Stone led the Irish to 10 consecu‑ to do well in school so you can how to build a program was tive Big East titles from 2004‑13 do well in your careers. More imalready in place here. I didn't and six NCAA appearances overall. portantly, we have really smart have to reinvent the wheel. We photo courtesy Notre Dame Media relations kids rowing on the rowing team. had enough successful programs that had started "We recruit very smart women who are ambirecently [at Notre Dame]. Soccer was one of them, tious academically. We do whatever we can that just before us was women's lacrosse, so there rowing does not interfere with their academics." were some guidelines. "And if you go way back to when Knute Rockne Blue & Gold Illustrated: How do you recruit rowgot football going, some of those same things still ers in Notre Dame? hold true today, so just followed those guidelines." Stone: "There's multiple tracks. There's the traditional track that they row in high school, so they Blue & Gold Illustrated: What type of training contact us or we find them through watching them and hours do Irish rowers put on a weekly basis? race. Then rowing is still kind of old-school in that Stone: "I would say 16-18 hours a week that is we have a strong walk-on program where we can actually training time. Six a days a week, we are try- teach the sport. ing to squeeze in nine to 10 workouts in that time." "In someone's first year, they can come in and learn the basics and continue to develop and get Blue & Gold Illustrated: Rowing isn't in the fore- faster as they matriculate through." front of the media like sports such as football and — Staci Gasser Click here to listen to Blue & Gold Illustrated's complete interview with Stone.