Name: Natalie Mastracci
Year: Junior
Home Town: Thorold, ON
High School: Denis Morris High School
Sports Played in High School: Basketball 2003-‘07, Rowing ‘07
2K erg PR: 6:54.7
6K erg PR: 22:07.7
Favorite Workout: 2km test.
Describe your high school rowing experience:
Basketball had been the main focus of my life. From childhood I played throughout the year on different levels of teams with the hope of getting a scholarship. My mom and dad worked tirelessly with me in the gym perfecting my basketball skills. Whether it was passing me the ball or putting a hand in my face so I could practice shooting under pressure, they worked just as hard as I did at my goal. In my last year of high school I decided to start cross-training for basketball in the morning with the Rowing team. My parents noticed that in only a few weeks I had already put more of my heart into Rowing than I had in the last eighteen years with Basketball. Most of my best friends were on the team so it made the extra work fun. Eventually the girls convinced me to actually join the team. My parents, an unwavering pillar of support, quickly switched gears and bought me an erg. I went to work trying to catch up to the rest of the team. I was absolutely terrible when I started, but my friends were always willing to help me and they made all the difference.
We worked hard. High schools in the city of Saint Catharines are very competitive with Rowing because we have a premier training facility, the Henley, and a top-notch club, St. Catharines Rowing Club (SCRC), right down the street at our disposal. The coaches at SCRC like Kathy and Dave Boyse, Brian Dell and countless others who pour their soul into the kids they coach, made us want to work hard to make them proud. It’s that supportive, caring atmosphere that fosters my true love for Rowing and made me want to put in extra hours of hard work. When you have friends and teammates like Kristin Falovo (Louisville), Laura Cowal (Michigan State), Courtney Wilson (Brock University) and Rachel Flynn (U of Western Ontario) you know who you’re working so hard for, and why you want to work harder.
How did you end up at Syracuse?
It was a ten second conversation that I’ll never forget. A month into my rowing career, at the Ontario erg competition, I had just finished pulling my 2km and taken no more than five steps away from the erg when I see this tiny, blond woman running up to me. My parents were coming over to congratulate me on my new PR and she elbowed through them to say, “My name is Sarah Cannon, would you like to row at Syracuse?” Still out of breath, I nodded my head furiously. My dad translated, “Yes”, Sarah Cannon said, “awesome” and that was about it.
Outside of rowing, what is appealing about Syracuse University?
The resources at this school are incredible, not only in available equipment, texts and technology but in the standard of educators. I’ve had the privilege of experiencing both the Biochemistry and English department here at Syracuse and I have yet to meet a professor who wasn’t incredibly knowledgeable, inspiring and readily available to help any student. Some of the people here who have truly influenced my life and pushed my academic limits are Bruce Smith, Jolynn Parker, Patricia Roylance, Patricia Moody and Kevin Morrison. Each of these professors has a knowledge base that is unparallel but it is their willingness to pass on that knowledge, the high standard they have for their students and the energy they bring to the classroom every day that makes them invaluable.
Coach Sanford has made some changes in the program this year. How has the team responded to them?
Coach Sanford has always been a woman who demands every last ounce of effort from her girls. That hasn’t changed. We still get shouts from the coach boat: “This is not full pressure, I want FULL pressure” now and again, to keep us honest. But one area she wants us to improve in this year is our mental game and personally I think our team is putting in a good effort to change. Each of us has taken an honest, intrinsic look at the things that can slow anyone down: pain, self-doubt, fear; and decided that these words will no longer be a part of our vocabulary. This year it is not only about pushing ourselves individually, but as a collective. More now than ever we look to each other for motivation. You find that the best reason to pull at that full pressure Coach wants us at is sitting right next to you pulling her hardest as well. It seems that Coach’s increased workload is not only conditioning our bodies, but our team attitude, and bringing us closer together through shared labor.
Describe your summer rowing experiences. How does your participation on the Canadian Under 23 Team make Syracuse University faster?
These past two summers have been the most life-altering few months of my life. Being on the National Team has showed me the amount of work and drive it takes to compete at a high level, how to be proud of what you’ve done even when you don’t meet your goal and forced me to mature as an athlete. It’s easy to talk about the physical and mental demands of being on a high-performance team but it is much harder to do in practice. The difference between boats is seconds. When one stroke can make or break a race you realize how important it is to have discipline in practice. In 2008, my second year of rowing, our Canadian 8+ only had two girls with prior National Team experience while most of the other countries had almost their entire boat return to compete. At the final in Brandenburg we were solidly in 5th place through the majority of the race. With 200m left in the race our Coxie said that we were a length down on Germany. All eight of us jumped together on those words and managed to walk through the host country’s boat and claim fourth by 0.24 seconds. What’s 0.24 seconds? It’s nothing. Comparing that Canadian and German boat statistically, we Canadians might not have come out on top. This is why we race, because sometimes it takes a little more than erg scores and technique to do well. It is this ‘little more’, the x-factor, that Coach Sanford wants us to have this year and if it was possible for our Canadian boat, it is entirely possible for our Syracuse team to achieve it.
How has rowing at Syracuse helped you to achieve some of your national team goals?
The training facilities at this school, I believe, are some of the best in the country. The indoor tank we have allows for on-the-water simulation during the winter months we’re forced inside by the snow. As someone who started late in rowing I had a lot of catching up to do and this tank allowed me to just sit for hours working on technique.
Above all, though, Kris Sanford has been nothing but supportive from the day I haphazardly stumbled into her office with the bright idea that I was going to try out for the National Team. She’s always willing to lend advice when I have a question about proper training and nutrition; and seems to know when to let me go nuts with training pretending I’m not human and when to put my feet back on the ground.
What are your rowing goals both at Syracuse and internationally?
By May 2011 I would like to see Syracuse restored to its place as top 6 in the Nation at NCAAs. It happened once before in 2001 and there’s no doubt in my mind we can achieve it again. Personally, I’d like to have the chance to compete and medal at a few Olympic Games. It’s definitely a long commitment and maybe even a little outrageous to have as a goal but it’s something to work toward. Who knows what will happen until you try.
What do you want to be doing 20 years from now?
Like most kids in undergrad I find it hard to say what I’ll be doing even 5 years from now let alone imagining myself as a 40-year-old. I plan to go on to graduate school in English—hopefully some career will result from that. I also plan on still being involved with rowing at St. Catharines Rowing Club so I can help maintain the amazing family atmosphere that continues to propel my love of this sport. In addition, I hope that I will make Canada proud with whatever success I may be fortunate enough to help the National Team achieve in rowing.
But whatever happens in the future, I want to be able to look over my shoulder at an NCAA medal and come back to Syracuse as an Alumni and watch the women’s rowing team continue to ascend to new heights.
