Temple University Athletics
From the Jersey Shore to the Schuylkill River: Temple Rowers Gel as a Team
4.5.16 | Men's Crew, Women's Rowing
Temple crew senior Nick Matousch showed restrained excitement ahead of the Owls' first official competition of the 2016 season. The Murphy Cup races would be his first chance to row with the varsity four boat, a seat he has fought for since arriving on North Broad. Matousch, who hails from Ocean City, N.J. is part of a talented and deep senior class for Temple this season.
Matousch is not alone with his Jersey Shore roots. Both the men's and women's teams features members from high schools in Atlantic and Cape May counties. While the Philadelphia and South Jersey suburbs provide more student-athletes to the Temple program, the Jersey Shore contingent has gelled and provided a strong foundation for this year.
On the women's side, senior coxswain Kelsey Franks joined the program from Mainland Regional High School, just outside Atlantic City. She got involved early in rowing, as many do at "the Shore." "South Jersey and rowing go hand in hand. When you're 12 years old, you get in a boat. My parents plopped me in a summer program. I started rowing then I switched to coxing. You row for the summers then you get to high school and you jump in a varsity boat."
Franks' smaller size makes her a perfect fit for the coxswain role, calling the cadence and keeping everyone working together, referring to herself as "the little girl who bosses the big girls around." She heads the varsity eight women's boat and takes great pride in her contributions. "You have very different girls who are all very powerful. Getting them all in the same mindset with the same goal, saying 'Hey we might all be different but we have the same goal. Let's do this thing thing together.'"
Senior Hunter Devine also joined Temple from Mainland Regional, following the path of youth programs to varsity competition. Temple has seen on-campus recruiting for the team jump in recent years as well. Devine notes the sport's popularity might stem from curiosity and accessibility. "Our team doubled its' roster size. More general-body students can join the team, try out. You really can't do that with other sports. More people are more interested because it's more accessible."
Devine is also one of many college rowers who lifeguards at the Jersey Shore beaches over the summer. He has spent the past five summers watching the waters in Ocean City and competes in the annual lifeguard races. There are some differences sculling a boat across the Schuylkill with seven other people versus trying to paddle out in a two-man lifeboat in the ocean. "The fundamentals are still the same. You're still trying to have a nice catch. The body swing is a little more pronounced in the lifeguard boat. There's more chop out there (on the ocean)."
Matousch is from Ocean City, just south of Mainland. He got his start as a kayaker on the back bays of the barrier island resort. He went to a rowing camp in middle school and didn't quite get what he expected. "I thought, I might as well try it. I went to this at the high school; it was not kayaking but I found out I liked it better. My neighbors had a rowing machine, an ERG machine, at their house. I did it for workouts in middle school and early high school."
Matousch noted the Philadelphia rowing community is much larger than what he experienced in Ocean City. However, he suggested the influx of college rowers to Shore high schools as coaches has seen the sport grow in his area. "The older coaches that are in charge of the programs down there, they were rowers in big cities like Philadelphia. Everyone went from the big city and retired down there, they thought, 'Oh might as well make a rowing team.' Everyone found a love of the sport. Everyone loved seeing the lifeguard competitions. Everyone wanted to row the back bays and explore."
The senior class that will row their final spring at Temple has created quite a legacy on both the men's and women's teams. Those from "the Shore" have even helped the program recruit more student-athletes from their area, like freshman Jenna Rosado who came to Temple from Mainland.
With shore communities well represented on both the men's and women's rosters, Devine admitted that rivalries from high school days sometimes spill into training sessions. "When we first get here and find out what high schools we're all from, of course there's that rivalry and some sass of who's better in high school and all that. However, you eventually bond with your teammates, doing some of those grueling workouts. You always come together, you always want to win. You definitely carry that tradition of South Jersey rowing with you but we always seem to come together at Temple."
Though the graduates from different high schools, Jersey Shore and Philadelphia, may enter as rivals, Matousch explained that their love of the sport has made them gel as Owls. "All the South Jersey kids and all the Philly kids slugged it out in high school, but we're coming together now as one team. We had a big thing freshman year where our recruiting class seemed like it was a bunch of different high schools trying to find their way. But now wventually, everyone came together and it's been really great."
Franks and the women's rowing team will race this weekend in Mercer, N.J. at the Knecht Cup, while Matousch, Devine and the men's crew team will next race on April 16 at the SIRA Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Matousch is not alone with his Jersey Shore roots. Both the men's and women's teams features members from high schools in Atlantic and Cape May counties. While the Philadelphia and South Jersey suburbs provide more student-athletes to the Temple program, the Jersey Shore contingent has gelled and provided a strong foundation for this year.
On the women's side, senior coxswain Kelsey Franks joined the program from Mainland Regional High School, just outside Atlantic City. She got involved early in rowing, as many do at "the Shore." "South Jersey and rowing go hand in hand. When you're 12 years old, you get in a boat. My parents plopped me in a summer program. I started rowing then I switched to coxing. You row for the summers then you get to high school and you jump in a varsity boat."
Franks' smaller size makes her a perfect fit for the coxswain role, calling the cadence and keeping everyone working together, referring to herself as "the little girl who bosses the big girls around." She heads the varsity eight women's boat and takes great pride in her contributions. "You have very different girls who are all very powerful. Getting them all in the same mindset with the same goal, saying 'Hey we might all be different but we have the same goal. Let's do this thing thing together.'"
Senior Hunter Devine also joined Temple from Mainland Regional, following the path of youth programs to varsity competition. Temple has seen on-campus recruiting for the team jump in recent years as well. Devine notes the sport's popularity might stem from curiosity and accessibility. "Our team doubled its' roster size. More general-body students can join the team, try out. You really can't do that with other sports. More people are more interested because it's more accessible."
Devine is also one of many college rowers who lifeguards at the Jersey Shore beaches over the summer. He has spent the past five summers watching the waters in Ocean City and competes in the annual lifeguard races. There are some differences sculling a boat across the Schuylkill with seven other people versus trying to paddle out in a two-man lifeboat in the ocean. "The fundamentals are still the same. You're still trying to have a nice catch. The body swing is a little more pronounced in the lifeguard boat. There's more chop out there (on the ocean)."
Matousch is from Ocean City, just south of Mainland. He got his start as a kayaker on the back bays of the barrier island resort. He went to a rowing camp in middle school and didn't quite get what he expected. "I thought, I might as well try it. I went to this at the high school; it was not kayaking but I found out I liked it better. My neighbors had a rowing machine, an ERG machine, at their house. I did it for workouts in middle school and early high school."
Matousch noted the Philadelphia rowing community is much larger than what he experienced in Ocean City. However, he suggested the influx of college rowers to Shore high schools as coaches has seen the sport grow in his area. "The older coaches that are in charge of the programs down there, they were rowers in big cities like Philadelphia. Everyone went from the big city and retired down there, they thought, 'Oh might as well make a rowing team.' Everyone found a love of the sport. Everyone loved seeing the lifeguard competitions. Everyone wanted to row the back bays and explore."
The senior class that will row their final spring at Temple has created quite a legacy on both the men's and women's teams. Those from "the Shore" have even helped the program recruit more student-athletes from their area, like freshman Jenna Rosado who came to Temple from Mainland.
With shore communities well represented on both the men's and women's rosters, Devine admitted that rivalries from high school days sometimes spill into training sessions. "When we first get here and find out what high schools we're all from, of course there's that rivalry and some sass of who's better in high school and all that. However, you eventually bond with your teammates, doing some of those grueling workouts. You always come together, you always want to win. You definitely carry that tradition of South Jersey rowing with you but we always seem to come together at Temple."
Though the graduates from different high schools, Jersey Shore and Philadelphia, may enter as rivals, Matousch explained that their love of the sport has made them gel as Owls. "All the South Jersey kids and all the Philly kids slugged it out in high school, but we're coming together now as one team. We had a big thing freshman year where our recruiting class seemed like it was a bunch of different high schools trying to find their way. But now wventually, everyone came together and it's been really great."
Franks and the women's rowing team will race this weekend in Mercer, N.J. at the Knecht Cup, while Matousch, Devine and the men's crew team will next race on April 16 at the SIRA Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Rowing
/ Women's Rowing
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