Women's Rowing—announced as Cabrini's 18th Division III sport in November 2015—officially joined the Cabrini Athletics family in fall 2016. But despite the program's youth, women's rowing has experience at the helm.
Head Coach Janit Gorka knows rowing, boasting a career that includes coaching and administrative experience in Division I, II, and III athletic departments, as well as working as a reporter and photographer for row2K.com, the world's most heavily trafficked rowing website.
Just a few months before the Cabrini rowers took to the Schuylkill River, we caught up with Coach Gorka about Cabrini, the expectations of a new sport, and the rest of the league.
What has surprised you about Cabrini since you have been here?
What has surprised me most is how welcoming the Cabrini community has been. When you go someplace new, people always talk about family, but it’s not just talk here. It really feels very much like a family.
Can you give a short primer about the sport and the events for those who might not know much about rowing?
Rowing involves synchronization with the members of the crew, which—though it looks easy when done well—is very difficult. We race mostly in eights (eight-person shells or boats, each about 60 feet long). Cabrini will race a varsity eight, a second varsity eight (or 2V8), and possibly a four (a four-person shell or boat) and a novice eight (or an eight-person boat upon which the entire crew is made up of first-year rowers).
Our NCAA competitive season is in the spring, during which we race buoyed 2,000-meter courses that are in straight lanes. The race course in the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia allows spectators in the grandstands a fairly clear view of the last half of the race, and with six lanes (similar to swimming or track and field), the finishes can be really exciting.
In the fall, we will compete in head races, which are longer races (about 3 miles long, following the path of the river, which is not always straight).
How are preparations going for the inaugural season of Cabrini rowing?
Things are going well. Our student-athletes are working out on their own over the summer, so hopefully we can ramp up pretty quickly in the fall.
We have a new boat—a brand new eight—sitting on a rack at the boathouse at the Whitemarsh Boat Club (WBC) of the Hines Rowing Center in Conshohocken, PA. I am in the process of ordering more equipment and hiring an assistant coach.
We have meetings set for the beginning of the semester, then we will order uniforms and be ready to go!
What can fans expect from the Cabrini rowing team?
Fans can expect to see some great athletes—many new to the sport—giving it their all on the river. Overall, I’d say that we are a lighter crew compared to many teams, in terms of weight, but I have always felt that the strength-to-weight ratio can be an important part of the speed of the boat.
Cabrini was recently accepted as a member of the Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference (MARC). Can you give a quick scouting report about the league?
Washington College has always been a strong program with Head Coach Mike Davenport at the helm, but his departure for U.S. Rowing means that the program will have new leadership. Marietta College (Ohio) peaked at the right time last year, earning a medal at the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate regatta in the country. Franklin & Marshall also looked strong last season.
Truth be told, the MARC has some tremendous coaches, so each season is a blank slate. Although Cabrini is a first-year program, we expect to compete with the other nine established teams in the league.