Send UMass Rowing to the Henley Women's Regatta!

From the Captains:

Hello Friends of UMass Rowing –

Our names are Leah Hitchcock and Nicole DeStefano, and we are the current captains of the University of Massachusetts Rowing Team. If you’ve made it to this page, you’ll know that our goal is to compete at this summer’s Women’s Henley Regatta. Our goal wouldn’t be possible without supporters such as yourselves.

Over our past four years here, we have seen a tremendous growth in our team. Our recent successes started two years ago when we won our Atlantic 10 conference and headed out to Indianapolis for NCAA’s. Since then we’ve only gotten faster. Last year, we had a repeat championship performance at the A10s and once again made it to NCAA’s. This year looking ahead we’re hoping to maintain our A10 reign and push ourselves further in NCAA’s.

We don’t want to stop there. We’re not looking to settle for anything less than greatness for our team, and the chance to compete on an international level will give us the opportunity to do so. As a team, we’ve stepped up our training performance; we’ve worked tirelessly and wholeheartedly for this once in a lifetime chance. It’s not something our team would let go to waste.

As seniors and captains, it’s been our goal to leave a legacy behind for future UMass Rowers to hold onto. Our alumni have been some of our biggest role models we’ve looked to, and the kind of excellence they have accomplished in our team’s history is something Henley will allow us as current athletes to achieve. Our head coach Jim Dietz is a prime example of this greatness. Recently inducted into the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Hall of Fame, he expects high caliber rowing and pushes us to our limits.

So check out our page, explore and please help us send our girls to England. All of us at UMass Women’s Rowing thank you for your time and your support.

Sincerely,

Leah Hitchcock and Nicole DeStefano

From the Coaches:

To add the Women’s Henley Regatta to our schedule (this year, and once every four years in the future) would be an unparalleled leap in furthering the mission of our program. Providing our women with the opportunity to compete for a position in a crew that will face-off on an international stage would create a healthy mental, physical, and emotional challenge to every member of the team. The personal growth that comes from such a test would be undeniable, and the resulting trip overseas would be a fantastic reward for those who made the commitment to push themselves to reach their highest level. Our goal this year is to begin a tradition of UMass crews competing in the Women’s Henley Regatta every four years so that every rower that passes through this program has the opportunity to compete in this prestigious event.

We are asking for your help in making this trip a reality for our 2016 crew!

The goals of this program which would be immediately impacted by offering this opportunity to athletes include:

1. To continue the tradition of athletic and personal excellence of our student-athletes.
2. To aide in the program’s ability to remain competitive in recruiting top caliber athletes who share our vision of excellence.
3. To further the athletic and personal growth of our current-student athletes.
4. To provide our student athletes with the highest quality student-athlete experience available.

Best,

2016 UMass Women's Rowing Coaches