By Austin Overmann
Cornell Athletic Communications

ITHACA, N.Y. – In rowing, the role of coxswain often comes with immense complexities, but the job of the coxswain is of the utmost importance if a crew is to succeed. While oarsmen propel the boat forward, it's the coxswain that's in charge. A good coxswain is the commander of the boat. They help to set the pace with audible commands carefully delivered in the rhythm of the rowing.
 
As a leader both on and off the water, there are many skills that translate from within the boat into the real world. A coxswain must communicate with their team both tactfully and confidently.
 
Within the Cornell Men's Lightweight Rowing program today, there are currently four women honing their skills for race day. The female coxswains before them helped break down those barriers. Dating back to 1991, the impact of women on the lightweight program spans three decades.
 
Alumnae Nadine Gelberg '91, Emily (Baines) Heidt '07 and Katie (Falb) DeNitto '15 each played a key role in the program's storied history and continue to leave their mark on the program today. All three find skills they learned as a coxswain beneficial in their professional careers.
 
Gelberg was a trailblazer for the program in 1991 when she became the second female coxswain to join the lightweight rowing program and the first to take to the water in competition. The Philadelphia native spent three seasons on the women's rowing team at Cornell prior to joining the lightweight crew.
 
This wasn't Gelberg's first experience in a men's boat however. Growing up in the City of Brotherly Love, Gelberg trained as a coxswain on Boathouse Row, an historic national landmark that features 15 rowing clubs along the Schuylkill River. There, she trained with men's crews prior to sitting in a boat with the Cornell lightweights.
 
At the time, Gelberg didn't think using a female coxswain in a men's boat would ever become the norm.
 
"Coxswain wasn't as respected of a position, there weren't any clinics or coxswain specific coaching," Gelberg said. "I thought it would happen when necessary, but it wouldn't be part of the norm."
 
After receiving her Ph.D. from Penn State in 1997, Gelberg helped launch the sports and entertainment division at Harris Interactive where she served as Executive Director. At Harris Interactive, Gelberg led market research analysis on how people engage with sports and was front-facing with a list of clients that included the International Olympic Committee. Gelberg currently serves as President of Devigi, a fitness apparel brand based out of her hometown.
 
As a coxswain, Gelberg learned how to lead a group and the importance of communicating concisely. Those skills made her great as an executive and as a coxswain.
 
"Coxswains have half a second to say something, there's no time to be verbose," Gelberg said. "As a coxswain you need to have the confidence to engage at that level and be able to communicate clearly and succinctly."

Having calmness in unexpected situations and confidence in your voice are two skills that Heidt maintains from her time as a coxswain.
 
After competing throughout high school, Heidt initially had no plans of continuing in college. An invitation to practice from her now husband, Greg Heidt, got her foot in the door with the lightweight program and the rest was history.
 
Under former Head Coach Todd Kennett (now the Spirit of '57 Director of Rowing and Head Coach of Heavyweight Rowing), Heidt was the top coxswain for a crew that won consecutive Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship titles in 2006 and 2007.
 
Heidt helped the team battle through adversity on the water in 2006 en route to IRA gold. Her experience at IRA's in 2006 taught her to prepare for the unexpected.
 
"That was the year when a thunderstorm rolled through," Heidt said. "We launched and were going through our warmups when the thunderstorm forced us off the water. We were thrown into a situation we weren't expecting. Once we got back on the water we all felt very calm and things clicked into place for us."
 
Her time spent on the launch with Kennett helped Heidt find her voice.
 
"That's where I learned to always have an opinion," Heidt said. "I went out three times a week to sit in the launch with coach Kennett and that was where I really had to see things that needed to be improved upon. My opinion was always heard and he helped me feel confident. That helped me going into my first job and paved the way for me to have a voice in the room."
 
The leadership qualities Heidt gained during her time at Cornell taught her about motivation as well. Not everyone is motivated by the same things. As a coxswain you need to tap into what you know is going to motivate someone at exactly the right moment.
 
Working as the Director of Public Relations for real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson, Heidt uses the experience as a coxswain to her advantage.
 
"It's interesting because I work in a male dominated industry right now," Heidt said. "Finding my voice was the biggest challenge. I gained the confidence to call guys out when needed and learned to provide guidance in the right way."
 
As a professional in the primarily male finance industry, DeNitto's experience as a member of the lightweight rowing program provided her the confidence to assert her perspective and at times, stand her ground. Working in a multi-purpose role, DeNitto is involved with investment research.
 
"It can be a positive thing to have women involved with a male dominated sport because it adds a different perspective to the team dynamic," DeNitto said. "For myself it helped me learn to stand my ground and assert my opinions and beliefs, which after graduation has been helpful for me in my career. I learned a lot of skills being on a men's team when it comes to being able to have the respect and gather the attention of the men in the room."
 
Similar to Gelberg, DeNitto started as a coxswain early on and spent most of her high school rowing career as a coxswain on a youth men's team. Knowing she wanted to continue with the sport in college, DeNitto had two things on her recruiting checklist – good academics and a program that cared about the coxswain position.
 
That's where Chris Kerber, the Henry E. Bartels '48 Head Coach of Men's Lightweight Rowing stepped in.
 
"I could tell that the coaches cared about the coxswains and their development," DeNitto said. "At Cornell there was much more of an emphasis on training the coxswains and integrating them within the team, which was important to me when I was looking at programs."
 
A two-year letter winner, DeNitto served as the varsity eight coxswain during Cornell's back-to-back undefeated seasons in 2014 and 2015, directing the crew to a pair of both EARC league and IRA national championship titles.
 
DeNitto's seven years of coxswain experience made her a valuable asset to the program. After she took a class revolving around training sessions for new employees in Cornell's Industrial and Labor Relations school, DeNitto was approached by Kerber to create a training guide for the program's future coxswains.
 
Her coxswain training guide, which includes maps of the courses, drawings of the most efficient race routes, landmarks to look for, and audio recordings, is one of two legacies that DeNitto leaves behind within the program. She also left behind a vast set of tools and wrenches that she accumulated over the years, which are still used in Cornell's Collyer Boathouse today.
 
"The year after I graduated, one of the rowers reached out and thanked me for pulling together all of the materials since it was helpful to the new coxswains," DeNitto said. "It's a cool legacy to be a part of."
 
While the Cornell lightweight program has a long legacy of winning, with eight IRA championships, it hopes to have similar legacy of empowering young women. Thanks to those before them, the four women currently on the roster are set up for success.
 
"A coxswain plays a major factor in the success of a crew; they steer the boat, run effective practices and call the shots on race day, at times needing to go off script," said Chris Kerber, the Henry E. Bartels '48 Head Coach of Men's Lightweight Rowing. "For lightweight rowing, the level of detail required to prepare and race is definitely unique.To succeed, the person in the driver's seat needs to work with and through 'ramped up' human dynamics in a complex mix of athletic and personality challenges toward succeeding in the 'no gimmes' racing, that defines our league. Each year the coxswain cohort works with a different set of elite 'weight to strength' athletes. These characteristics that define our league competition require an expansion of the coxswain's craft. Emotional intellect and tenacity pave the way for the Big Red coxswains to grow and deliver. We have consistently seen that coxswains who are female reliably lead and succeed in these roles."