Elena Gutowski is currently a sophomore here at Mendham High School. Gutowski may not be a school athlete, but she takes part in Crew on the Mountain Lakes Rowing Team on Lake Apacon.
Gutowski started the sport her freshman year. She began the sport because her “sister’s friend

was a rower and convinced” her to try the sport. She explains that she likes the competitive nature of the sport along with the social skills required. Gutowski tells that for rowing “you… need to have really strong like social skills” and abilities to work together with the other people on the team. She also tells that being close to the other people on the team is important for success because when one person is off from everyone else it throws off the whole team.

Gutowski tells that her favorite thing about Crew and what keeps her going on with the sport is “how addicted you become to working with other people and striving to do your best every day.” She loves the teamwork and communication required for the sport.
Gutowski’s personal biggest accomplishment in the sport was “finding the courage to switch over from rowing [herself] to being a boys coxswain in the fall.” A coxswain is a person who sits in the front of the boat and has to coordinate the rhythm of the rowers. In order to become a coxswain, Gutowski had to leave everything that she already knew to try something completely new, but she feels “it worked out for the best.”

For meets, Gutowski explains that “you have to be really prepared for anything” and putting others ahead of yourself. This type of mindset is not only for meets but for practices as well. Gutowski and her team have “practice every day, rain or shine,” inside when it rains. When it is raining they use machines called ergometers. These machines measure the energy used during a period of physical exercise. Gutowski and her team are currently preparing for the Mid Atlantic Regionals coming up this Saturday. After regionals, the team will go onto “nationals if any of [their] boats qualify” this Saturday.
Best of luck to Elena Gutowski and her team at Mid Atlantic Regionals this weekend!