Upset! US Men Win 'Hardest Rowing Regatta in the World'

http://www.row2k.com/events/features/2018/614/Upset--US-Men-Win--Hardest-Rowing-Regatta-in-the-World-/ 

Worlds Sunday: Gold for US Women's Eight, Disappointment For the Men

http://www.row2k.com/worlds/features/2018/6627/Sunday-Worlds--Gold-for-US-Women-s-Eight--Disappointment-For-the-Men/

2018 World Championships: Men's 8+ wins Heat 1

Row2k Article featuring Julian Venonsky and the Men's Senior 8+ at the 2018 World Championships: http://www.row2k.com/worlds/features/2018/6559/Dialing-into-The-Wins/ 

Video of race here

Julian Venonsky - World Rowing Championships Silver Medalist: The Path to the Podium

Julian Venonsky's Record

Malvern Prep

Rowed all four years in high school, graduated 2012

Junior LWT 2X City Champs

Senior LWT 4x National Scholastic Gold medal

University of California

Coxed all four years in college, graduated 2016

Freshman year coxed the Freshman 8+, winning a silver medal at the PAC-12 Championships and a bronze medal in the Open 4+ at IRAs

Sophomore year coxed the 2V8+, winning a gold medal at the PAC-12 Championships, a gold medal at IRAs, and the Ladies Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta

Junior year coxed the V8+, winning a silver medal at the PAC-12 Championships and at the IRAs

Senior year coxed the V8+, winning a gold medal at the PAC-12 Championships and at the IRAs

2017 US National Team

Coxed the men's 8+ to a silver medal at the World Championships

It started at Malvern Prep, a private boys' school just outside of Philadelphia, on a sixth grade tour. Julian Venonsky, the 2017 U.S. men's national team coxswain, saw the rowing tanks and knew he wanted to row. As an 85-pound high school freshman he rowed in the freshman quad. Head coach Craig Hoffman didn't really notice him that year but when Venonsky returned the following year-as a 5' 5", 95-pound sophomore who could beat all the other sophomores in the single-Hoffman took notice. He told Venonsky, "Stop beating all the sophomores. I don't want them to quit." From then on, Venonsky rowed in the Malvern varsity boats, always in the bow.

At Malvern, the coaching staff focuses on sculling, with all of the rowers being taught to work hard, to train consistently, and to learn how to win. Malvern Prep rowers row in singles every fall and each rower learns how to steer. "In our team boats, the bowman steers the boat and makes the calls," Hoffman explains. "This accelerates the learning process in the boat. Bow [seat] is very important. He can win or lose races." Hoffman describes Venonsky as "smart, aggressive and determined."

After graduating from high school, Venonsky was accepted at Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California. He chose California and was determined to be a coxswain there. "Getting accepted to Cal was a terrific opportunity to cox," says Venonsky. "No one expected me to be a coxswain·. Our frosh team had a Facebook page and everyone saw pictures of me rowing. I was a rower."

At Cal, Venonsky was learning to think outside the box and to give clear and easily digestible commands. As a sophomore under coach Scott Franzin, Venonsky steered the second varsity eight (2V8+) to victories in the PAC-12, the IRAs and the Ladies Challenge Plate at the Henley Royal Regatta. In his junior and senior years at Cal, Venonsky was the coxswain of the varsity eight under coach Mike Teti. Venonsky explains coxing for Coach Teti this way, "Mike Teti is very open with his criticism. Be open and absorb what he says. Ingrain it into your brain."

Venonsky values the openness Teti had with him while he was at Cal. "Coaches should be open in their discussions with their coxswains, and coxswains should not be afraid to ask questions. 'Why are we doing this drill?' Ask your coach to explain it." For Venonsky, coxed for his college coach again in the lead-up to the

2017 World Championships (Mike Teti became the national team coach in 2017), steering is the most important thing. "It just has to be there," he says. "Time in the boat-in the seat-is the most important thing." Venonsky concluded his senior year at Cal with varsity eight wins at both the PAC-12 championships and the IRA National Championships.

After graduating from Cal with a degree in Art History and Italian in 2016, Venonsky went to work at Paddle8, a New York auction house, and took a sabbatic from rowing. After a year, however, he wanted to be back in the coxswain's seat. He-along with three other coxswains-tried out for the U.S. national team. "By the third or fourth practice, all of the oarsmen had a great deal of confidence in Julian," said national team coach Mike Teti. Teti was preparing the national team for the 2017 FISA World Championships. "He allows the coach to coach. He's not a textbook coxswain. He's a part of the crew."

Teti reflects on the coxswain that Venonsky had become. "He was a competitive rower, so he understands the mindset of the athletes in the race and can communicate the plan concisely and in a way that gives them confidence that he is in complete control of the situation."

Teti knows that a rower who can focus on rowing-knowing the coxswain is positioning the crew precisely where they need to be on the course-is critical for success. "Julian has his own style and is very unassuming." Teti goes on, "Julian's a good person. He tells the truth, he tells the oarsmen exactly where they are because he has confidence in them. In a race, things are going very fast-the boat is going down the course at 25 miles an hour-and he has the ability to slow things down. He made a great call in the semi-finals [at the 2017 FISA World Championships] at the 750 to get the rhythm to enable us to get a better lane in the final." Teti talks freely, remembering the World Championship races. "In the final, he calmed things down early and then started the lift early when he saw the Italian threat. He made the difference between silver and fourth place."

As the men's team was preparing for the world championships last summer, in their last weeks of training, Venonsky recalls that not many people outside of the boat had high expectations for them at the World Championships. "Mike Teti told us, 'It only matters what the ten of us think We know what we can do and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."' When the U.S. men's eight stood on the podium at the 2017 World Championships-with silver medals around their necks-they proved that, indeed, it didn't matter what anyone else thought. They knew their abilities. They knew what they could do. They proved that slowing things downfinding the rhythm-is what can make a boat go fast. For Venonsky, it's confidence that brings that rhythm: the confidence in your crew on the path to the podium.

Malvern Rowing featured in 2015 Malvern Magazine

To view the magazine, click here

Malvern Prep 2018/2019 Team Cleaning the Melton Rowing Center

Recap of 2017/18

Malvern Rowing had a good year winning the Horvat Point Trophy 🏆 for most wins and points during the Manny Flick Regatta Series. 

The Freshman Quad, Junior Quad, Varsity Lightweight Quad, Varsity Double, and Varsity Heavyweight Quad had
successful Spring seasons. 

2018 Freshman Class

Freshman Quad winning Philadelphia City Championships

The Varsity Heavyweight Quad won the Flick Series, Cooper Cup, City Championships, USRowing Mid Atlantic Regionals, Stotesbury Regatta, and Scholastic Rowing National Championship for the second consecutive year. 

Five Malvern graduating Seniors will row next year for Cornell University (2), Dartmouth College (2), and George Washington University. 

Congratulations to the 2017/2018 team

Navy Day Regatta 2017

Malvern Rowing had a good day, racing three miles twice in the Varsity Single and Varsity Quad within 45 minutes. Malvern rowers finished 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th, and 12th out of 38 entries. Malvern finished 2nd and 12th out of 30 entries in the Varsity Quad event. Malvern Rowing travels next week to Boston for the Head of the Charles Regatta.

Six Malvern Rowers Selected for the first-ever Youth Regional Challenge

“The Youth Regional Challenge serves two purposes. First, for the first time ever we are bringing together each region’s top developmental junior athletes, coxswains and their coaches for friendly, yet high level competition,” stated Steve Hargis, USRowing’s U19 Development Coach. “Second, this event provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to see a World Championship up close and personal from the water side…not just sitting in the stands!”

http://www.usrowing.org/news/2017/09/15/announcing-team-youth-regional-challenge/

Julian Venonsky '12 Selected for 2017 U.S. Men's Eight

http://www.row2k.com/worlds/features.cfm?ID=3903

A Message from Junior Captain: Drew Brady

"My name is Drew Brady and I am a junior captain of the Malvern rowing team. I wanted to reach out to you guys to let know of an opportunity to participate in an incredibly rewarding sport this winter/spring. Many of you might think you need previous experience to excel in a sport like rowing but that is far from the truth. I personally had never rowed before freshman year and have had great success even earning a varsity letter my freshman year after only one year of rowing. No matter what grade you are in you can make an immediate and significant positive impact on this team. We have just started our winter training on campus in the tanks everyday after school 3-5:30 and Saturday afternoons. There are no tryouts or cuts, all of you are welcome to come by the tanks and practice with the team to see if it's something you would like to stick with. If any of you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to send me an email or come by and ask me at the tanks after school. I hope you all really consider joining this incredibly successful team and getting a chance to win a national championship with us this spring."

As you can read the Crew team can provide an opportunity that most teams cannot.  It provides an opportunity for everyone.  It also can provide travel (team just returned from Italy and heads to England this summer) and National recognition - the team has everything to offer.  I would strongly encourage a student to take a chance and try the team. Attached below are some past achievements:

Philadelphia Youth Regatta

Malvern Rowers competing for the CRC at the Philadelphia Youth Regatta, winning the Bennie points trophy 

"My Middle School Experience with Rowing"

Malvern Rowing featured in an article written by Malvern middle schooler, Ian Lebano '21.

https://www.malvernprep.org/page/news-detail?pk=894877&fromId=212976

Malvern A loses at Henley

Malvern A lost on Thursday to Gloucester BC in a well-rowed race. 

Malvern B Loses at Henley, Malvern A races again in Second Round

Malvern B lost today to a crew from Ireland in a hard fought race.

Malvern A races again Thursday at 3:20 pm against Gloucester BC in the second round.

Stonehenge, Henley, and Windsor Castle

Malvern B begins racing Wednesday after qualifying, Malvern A was seeded, begins racing Thursday.

Henley Fawley Challenge Cup Training Update

The Malvern A Quad has been seeded, B and C Quads will race in the qualifiers Friday June 23rd at 7:00 PM. There are 55 Quads in the event.

Malvern was also featured in a Row2k article along with the other American crews racing at HRR:
http://www.row2k.com/henley/features.cfm?ID=1301&site=henley