Local Oarsmen Reaches High Heights

Jackie Jankowski didn’t start rowing since the summer after seventh grade, but ever since, she hasn’t been able to put her paddles down.

Jankowski, a senior captain of the Holy Cross women’s rowing team, is a 2007 graduate of , where she rowed for seven years under coaches Jason Abraham and Pam Krause.

“It’s just the ultimate team sport,” said Jankowski about rowing. “A lot of other people say I play softball, I play basketball, and that’s a team sport. This is really different in that you actually couldn’t do anything without the other people that are in that boat with you.”

Jankowski enjoyed success as a member of the Colonials’ rowing team during her high school years. She was a member of the varsity eight that came in second in the 2006 Mass. Public Championship, earning the team a first-place trophy.

In addition, Jankowski rowed with the second varsity eight team that finished second in the 2005 Lowell Invitational Regatta and placed first at the 2006 Quinsigamond Cup and third in the 2007 Simsbury Invitational.

As if that weren’t enough, Jankowski was also a member of the first novice eight team that finished first in the 2003 Mass. And New Hampshire Championships and was in the varsity four boat that placed third in the 2005 Mass. Public Championship.

“The Shrewsbury program is actually very competitive,” Jankowski said. “When I was there, [I learned] the basics for the techniques that I had was very good when I got into college.”

“Rowing is so much a mindset as much as it’s a physical activity, so just knowing the intensity that I was going to need to bring on the water to be successful really gave me an advantage when I got to college.”

Jankowski participates in both fall and spring rowing for Holy Cross. In the fall, the races are long-distance (6 kilometers), while the races are only 2,000 meters in the spring.

“It’s much less intense because you don’t necessarily have boats around you the entire race,” she said about fall rowing.

In the spring, the shorter races begin under the I-290 bridge and end just before the Route 9 bridge connecting Shrewsbury and Worcester, making for a completely different environment.

“That’s an intense experience like nothing you’ve ever seen before in your life,” Jankowski said. “We all start together in a line, and as soon as they start everyone just flies off the starting line, and it’s a dogfight to the end.”

Jankowski has helped lead the Crusaders to several solid finishes this season, as Holy Cross placed first out of 39 boats in the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, fourth out of six in the Patriot League Championship and fourth out of 25 in the New England Championship.

Unlike many team sports, the offseason preparation is the toughest part, according to Jankowski.

“Most people look at the offseason as the toughest part of rowing, because there really is no offseason for us,” Jankowski said. “In the fall and spring, we really need to focus on getting our rowing technique down as much as possible.”

“It’s really in the offseason in the winter that we do everything we can to build up our strength to maximum capacity.”

As a senior, Jankowski’s time on the Holy Cross rowing team is coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean that she’s done with the sport forever.

“I think I definitely plan on doing it in some capacity,” she said. “I’m sure I’m going to have a big gaping hole when I leave Holy Cross, but I definitely think I’m going to take a little break first because my body could use a rest.”

Even though her competitive rowing days will soon be behind her, Jankowski is grateful for the lessons she’s learned from the sport and will never forget them.

“Definitely intensity and a drive that you don’t see anywhere else,” said Jankowski about what she’s picked up from rowing. “I’ve been pushed to the wall, and I’ve pushed myself so far beyond any capacity that I thought I could have.”

 “You may fail along the way, [but] as long as you learn from the experience, you know what you can do better the next time,” said Jankowski, who plans on applying to medical school after college. “Especially in medical school, it’s going to be helpful having that focus and the willingness to take to take a risk and have a bigger payoff.”