Look! It’s Alex Gabitzer saying Hello! She rowed on the women’s crew team for 5 semesters before graduating in 2016 with a degree in French! A Terp at heart, she went back to UMD and earned a Masters in Public Policy. Today she lives and works in D.C..

Alex says joining crew is “a great way to meet amazing people and participate in challenging and rewarding sport.” Her advice to incoming novices: “Power through and don’t rush the slide.”

• Officer positions: Vice President and President
• Side: Port and star
• Favorite memory: Team sleepovers before regattas!
• Least favorite workout: Anything on the erg

Another Terp! It’s Hannah Grabner and… a very BIG bird! Hannah rowed at Maryland for 5 semesters before graduating in May 2019 with a degree in Environmental Science and Technology. We love seeing women in STEM! Today you can find her working at the National Aquarium as an animal trainer.

When asked about her time on the team she said, “The crew team gave me an amazing opportunity to bond with some pretty cool and goofy girls, they became my best friends (tends to happen when you spend every morning together) and that meant the world to me coming into college as a freshman. Crew gave me a place where I belonged.” To our incoming novices, here are some words of wisdom: “The mornings can be hard but don’t forget to look around and remember that every person standing with you is just as tired, just as sore, and just as cranky. Take it easy on one another, encourage instead of criticize and have fun. Why else would you join a club sport if you didn’t want to have fun?”

• Side: Port but also tried rowing starboard
• Favorite memory: “It has to be either winning 1st place at Rockett’s Landing Collegiate Regatta in Richmond, VA orrrr the amazing sunrises we’d see during practice”
• Least favorite workout: “The 2k tests we’d have to do for what felt like every week during sprint season”

Meet Audrey Glendenning! This bisweptual rower served as Social Media chair, Secretary, AND President during her 5 semesters with UMD Women’s Crew. After graduating in May 2020 with a degree in Environmental Science and Policy, Audrey hopes to get a job doing what she loves, protecting the environment!

This Terp says you should join the team “to make amazing friends! My best friends for life are from this team.” Finally, her advice to our baby novs is this: “Erging will get easier! I promise!”

• Favorite memory: Getting a medal at MARCS!
• Least favorite workout: “DEFINITELY erging a 6k”

Guess who it is!! Former Coach Maggie Switzer all the way from Peru!! Maggie has been involved with rowing for years! She first started in 2008 with Dayton Boat Club as a freshman in high school and has loved it ever since. During the four years she rowed in high school she earned a spot to row at Youth Nationals and was recruited to row at Mercyhurst University. Maggie rowed at the NCAA Championships all four years of her college career and even placed 2nd/National Runner-Up in the 8+ and as an overall team in 2015. Her other accolades include placing 2nd at Head of the Charles in 2015 rowing an 8+, 2nd at Club Nationals in 2014 rowing a 4+, and 2nd at the Dad Vail Regatta in 2015 rowing an 8+. During her final year at Mercyhurst, Maggie served as Captain of the Women’s Team and upon graduating in 2016, she moved to College Park where she worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer and coached our very own Women’s Club Crew Team for the Spring and Fall seasons of 2017. In March 2018, our honorary Terp departed for Peru to work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the health sector.

Maggie loves rowing because she’s always met very passionate, dedicated, and kind people. “Some of my best friends in my life came from rowing, and I've found that with the sport I have always encountered good people. It's the ultimate team sport and some days it's definitely "type 2" fun, which takes a special breed of human to partake. I like this breed of human.” She says that you should join our team because along the way you’ll gain more grit and meet genuine, lifelong friends and mentors.

• Favorite memory: The first regatta of the spring season in 2017. “I had been coaching the team for about four months, so I had gotten to know the women pretty well. They organized the first regatta as "family day" and used the opportunity to invite their families and friends to partake and enjoy the sport. A lot of parents and family members came to support the athletes and I really enjoyed meeting the parents and families of the women I'd gotten to know. I still remember the kindness of the parents I'd met and I won't forget how special it was to see how much they supported their athletes.”
• Advice for incoming novices: “Take one day at a time. Crew/rowing can be stressful at the beginning, there's a lot to memorize and a lot of weird vocabulary. (I cried after my first day of rowing practice in 2008, it was so scary, I didn't understand anything, I thought I was terrible). Don't be afraid to ask questions and take in as much as you can. Put 100% of your effort into your workouts and try to learn every skill you can: there are so many ways to be an asset to the team, whether it's strapping down boats, learning to be a coxswain, or fixing the launch engine. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there! Also: Breathe! You'll get the hang of it...eventually.”

Jen Hopkins here! This bisweptual Terp rowed and coxed for UMD Women’s Crew for 6 semesters, serving as both Treasurer and Vice President. She graduated from UMD in December 2017 with a degree in Government and Politics and is currently in her second year at St. John’s Law in New York. Over the summer she will be working as an associate at ollmuth Maher & Deutsch.

Jen says you should join our team because “it’s such a great way to make new friends and learn about a great sport. Plus you get to see some awesome sun rises every morning. Rowing definitely made my college experience way better.” While she hasn’t rowed since she studied at UMD, she misses it very much. We miss you too Jen! Her advice to novices: “Just work hard, and have fun! And also dress in many layers!”

• Favorite memory: Arranging the purchase of the Oz, and then surprising Coach Jess of the name. “She was shocked and so so happy that we named a boat after her - it was very sweet.”
• Least favorite workout: “Definitely a 6k!”

Laila Rizk is back to say Hello! She rowed for UMD for 4 semesters before graduating a year early in 2018 with her degree in Psychology. And you’ll never guess! In addition to working at the Bankruptcy Assistance Project at Legal Services NYC, Laila is also a second year student at St. John’s University School of Law! Watch out New York the Terps are taking over!

Here is what Laila has to say about why she loves rowing: “The crew team is a great way to meet new people and stay in shape. I loved that we got to travel (it’s good to get off campus once in a while). I grew up on the beach so being able to be on the water every morning gave me an energy boost, despite the difficulty of waking up for practice.” Her advice to our incoming novs, Laila says not to let the early mornings scare you. “Think of crew as all the above benefits PLUS teaching you a way to stay in shape for the rest of your life. Crew, while fun, is still tough. That is what makes the experience so rewarding though. Crew made me physically and mentally strong, which proved extremely useful in a high-stress academic environment post-grad.”

• Side: Primarily port but also rowed star
• Favorite memory: “When one of my teammates caught an ejector crab but the 8 pulled it together and we still completed the race!”
• Least favorite workout: “Timed erg workouts- tough”

It’s Kerry Kalinoski checking in! This rower had been on the team for four semesters and served as Fundraising Chair before graduating in May 2019. As a Civil Engineering graduate, she is working as a highway designer in Philadelphia. Another super cool thing is that she is currently competing as a powerlifter! What a way to stay strong after college!

Kerry loves crew because it is “a great way to get in shape and meet new fun people.” She does advise novices, however, to “prioritize school then crew!”

• Side: bisweptual
• Least favorite workout: 2k

Sabrina de la Vega’s back! This former Maryland rower worked on Capital Hill after graduating in 2018 with a degree in History and Global Poverty. She is now earning her Master’s in Public Policy at the University of Chicago and even though she hasn’t rowed since college she hopes to get back into it sometime soon!

Sabrina served as both equipment manager and secretary during her 4 semesters on the team and says that you should join because it gives you “a real sense of community and friendship at such a large institution. I would not have had the same incredible experience at UMD if it were not for my involvement with crew.” To our incoming novices, Sabrina’s biggest piece of advice is, “Stick with it even when it gets hard. It’s easy to start crew and then get to winter indoor season and get discouraged. But I promise that if you have the bandwidth and are healthy and able, you won’t regret sticking with it through the hard times in the winter.”

• Side: Starboard and coxswain
• Favorite memory: “Meeting my best friends (shout out to former presidents Emmie and Audrey) and when my boat got 3rd place at the MARC regatta”
• Least favorite workout: “When Maggie made me count the burpees while we would do them so I would have extra torture”