MSU Crew Selects Novice Coach
7/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
July 23, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich.- Michigan State women's crew selected Christiina Tymoszewicz (pronounced, tim-oh-SHAVE-itch) as novice coach, head coach Matt Weise announced Friday, July 23.
Former novice coach Stacey Rippetoe takes on the role of assistant coach to the varsity squad in 2004-05. Rippetoe will work closely with Weise, who took his post in June after seven years as assistant coach to the program.
"We are really excited to have Tymoszewicz join the program," Weise said. "We were looking for someone who had Division I rowing experience, as well as some novice coaching experience, and she is a great fit. I think that she has the right personality to make the novices work really hard, while keeping it fun. And those are the two goals that I really have for the novices."
"I am thrilled about the opportunity to be with such a strong Division I program," said Tymoszewicz. "This team has been represented at the NCAA Championships seven years in a row! I have been so impressed by everyone at Michigan State since I arrived in East Lansing. People have shown me that Michigan State is serious about athletics and dedicated to making sure that they continue to move in the right direction."
"I am excited to work with both Rippetoe and Weise," Tymoszewicz said. "They have a lot to teach me and I hope that I can bring some of my experiences to them too. We are going to have a great time learning from each other and really continuing to build upon this program. I know that (former head coach) Bebe Bryans and Weise have done a great job elevating this program to the elite status it enjoys today and I am really excited to be a part of that."
"I am looking forward to having a good, solid group of novices who are going to want to stick with the sport," Tymoszewicz said of her role with the team. "I want a strong group of novices who are really going to be pullers, who really work hard on the water. That way, hopefully, by that next year, they can really contribute to the varsity squad. I want a group of novices who have positive attitudes and who are going to mesh well with the team. The novices really are the base of the team and the foundation for its future."
Tymoszewicz comes to MSU with 12 years of rowing experience under her belt and is certified in US Rowing Coaching Levels I and II.
Since August 2002, she served as assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at Marietta College, where she coached novices, collaborated with the head coach to develop workouts, organized regattas and directed all facets of recruiting.
"We expect that she will be able to help with the recruiting on campus because she has the depth of experience and the right ideas to find recruits and to keep people who are interested," Weise said.
"It's exciting, because crew is a sport that some people do not even know about when they come into college," Tymoszewicz said. "It is something that a person with no previous experience can excel at. I think that it is fantastic to have the opportunity to walk on to a sport in college and to be great at it."
Tymoszewicz also dedicated time to coaching at Boston University's Holly Hatton Racing Camp, as well as coaching a two-week children's summer rowing camp at Marietta, both in July 2003.
Before that, Tymoszewicz served as junior women's coach at St. Catharines Rowing Club in St. Catharines, Ontario, as well as a rowing school instructor for the club. She also assisted the novice coach at her alma mater, Northeastern, from Sept. 2001-June 2002.
As a four-year letterwinner at Northeastern, Tymoszewicz earned NCAA First-Team All-American honors, First-Team All-New England honors and was named both "most valuable" and "most inspirational" rower on her team. Tymoszewicz also rowed for the Canadian Junior National Team in 1996, representing Canada at the Junior World Championship in Scotland.
The St. Catharines, Ontario native earned her B.S. in human services from Northeastern in 2002 and went on to earn her M.A. in education from Marietta in 2004.