Jill Kintner

Name
Mark Flickinger (aka Flick)

Age
28

Occupation
I row first. Currently, we practice 1-3 times a day, 7 days a week. In my spare time, I work for a biotech company called Medarex Inc. We do cancer and autoimmune disease drugs, and I help to bring them to the market.

Tell us some things normal people wouldn't know about rowing?
Rowing races are 6 lanes wide and 2000m long.
It takes us around 6 minutes to race (faster for more people, slower for less people).
Boats are 1 person, 2 people, 4 people, and 8 people.
There are two disciplines: sweep rowing (one oar per person) and sculling (2 oars per person).
I row in the Men's Quad (4 person sculling boat)
A set of Croker sculling blades (what I use) is about $600.
A Men's Single boat costs up to $12,000 and a Men's Eight costs up to $45,000.

How many of you went to Ivy League schools??
Of the 10 guys here right now, only 2 of us went to Ivy Schools (Princeton and Brown).

What about the Girls??
There are 24 girls here, and 12 of them went to an Ivy League school

How many rowers are at this training center??
There are 10 in our group, but all told, there are about 50 athletes here.

Is it the best place to be for what you want to achieve??
Yes. The best rowers are here.

Is the structure very strict?
The fact that it’s a team event makes it strict. When it’s time for practice, you best be there or else no one can train. Outside of that, we can do what we want.

How many people are in your boat??
I raced the Quad last year (4 people). We train in 2 and 4 person boats and have qualified both for the Olympics

Are you guys close friends?? Seems like you all get along and have fun.
Yeah. It’s a great group to train with

Is it more challenging to be a 4 man boat than a two man??
No. Each is competitive and has it’s own unique challenges

Does it matter where you sit?
Yes. There is a method to the order of the boat, mainly who rows well in front of or behind whom.

Is the goal to be in the 1 man??
Not in the US. We qualified the double and the quad, so those two are the goal.

What do you guys talk about when you row? Quantum physics and shit?
We don't talk much while we row. Mainly just focusing on making the boat go fast together. We sometimes chat when we stop, and that can be intelligent, stupid, frustration, yelling, or just breathing hard. Off the water, we talk about all sorts of shit, including quantum physics (rarely) and what you would do if dollar bills tasted like bacon (often).

Did you want to go to Princeton growing up?
No, not really. I didn’t decide until Spring of my senior year in high school. My brother was there, and I thought about not going just to be different, but I couldn’t. I really liked the school.

What was it like at Princeton?
Princeton was cool. I loved it there. Not too big, not as stuffy as people think.

Was it hard to manage the academics with sport??
A little bit. The academic schedule allows a break in the day for practice, so that helped. I had to study late into the night a lot though.

How often do you have to practice?
Currently, we are practicing 3 times a day.

What is the main thing you work on?
Right now, we’re focusing a lot on the front end of the stroke (when the blades go in the water). There is a lot of technique involved, and we’re always trying to improve that as a group.

How does someone get involved with this kind of sport??
The sport is growing rapidly at the high school and college level. Of course, you need to have water where you go to school. I started as a freshman in college. I wanted to try out for the basketball team at Princeton, but the rowing guys kept hounding me to give the sport a try. Finally, to get them off my back, I tried it. That was 10 years ago.

What is the international scene like??
Rowing is pretty popular around the world. Poland is at the head of the class for the Men's Quad, but strong countries are Great Britain, Germany, New Zealand, and the USA

What type of body do most of the top guys have?? Ie tall? Short? , lanky , massive backs? Big arms?? Lean? Fat? Describe the perfect body type.
Rowers at this level are tall, lean, and have good physiology. Most of our work comes from the legs. It provides a longer arc through the water

Why do you row?
I row because I love the competition and I love that it's the ultimate team sport. It's very pure. You line up at one end, and whoever gets to the other end first, wins. There are no real superstars here.

What do you want to do with it long term?
I've done a lot with the sport. It's taken me to great places (and many airports). I'd like to race at my peak, perform well, and give back to the sport where I can. I think it's a great sport and I love to see more kids getting involved in it.

Are you in peak form of your life heading into the Olympics?
Yes. There is a little more to go, but I'm better than I've been.

Will this be your first chance at the Olympics??
No. I tried out for the '04 games and didn't make it.

What happened that you missed the last games??
I didn't row fast enough.

What does it take to row at your level, are you guys nationally funded? Have sponsors?? Pay your own way?
We don't have sponsors, although you can earn a small monthly stipend based on performance. Other than, sometimes you have to give things up to chase a dream.

Does the top rower in the world make bank??
Yeah. In some other countries, you can make a handsome living, and then some.

In Europe is rowing a big deal??
Yup. Much bigger than here.

Does that make you angry that the coverage is so weak here??
Not really. That's not why we row.

What do you want to do after rowing and the Olympics this year??
Take a break. Maybe retire. Head back to school? I'm planning on competing in a few other sporting events over the next couple years.

What do you know about BMX??
Only what you've told me. It seems like a lot of fun. And now I'm hooked.

Here's a picture series from one of our races at Worlds last summer. We had to finish in the top 2 to advance to the Semis and we were in third with 500m to go. We had to row through the Canadians (red and white) in the last couple of meters to qualify. It was a wild race. We came in second, 0.2 sec behind Belarus and 0.1 sec ahead of Canada.