Heartbreak struck the varsity eight Port Rowing boat two years ago.
“We missed out on qualifying for nationals — we missed it by 0.158 seconds,” senior four-seat man Tilden Vaezi told The Post.
Vaezi and the other seven members of his racing shell took their narrow miss to heart — especially on behalf of the 2023 seniors — and bought into upping their game for the North Shore club, which is composed of about 100 young athletes.
Vaezi’s four boat made it to nationals last year, finishing 20th.
And now, Vaezi and his guys are among a team-record 46 boys and girls — nearly double last year’s total — that the elite program is sending to nine events at the Youth National Championships, which begin June 12 in Sarasota, Fla.
“I think it just shows how much everyone wants it. … You spend roughly an average of three hours a day, six days a week here,” said Vaezi, a Brown commit who lauded the freshmen on this year’s team.
Energy from the record year is palpable from the second you enter Port Washington’s Hempstead Harbor boathouse for the club team that, while mostly made up of Paul D. Schriber High School students, also welcomes rowers from across Long Island from middle school up — even those whose schools have a program.
Tight-knit crew
“The environment definitely just brings up everybody’s confidence levels, for sure,” senior four-boat coxswain Tea Cotronis said.
Since middle school, she found a home with the team after feeling her small size was a disadvantage in volleyball and basketball.
Now, there’s no family she would rather try to win it all with.
“Knowing and trusting that your teammates are putting in as much hard work as you are makes it a lot easier to come to practice every day,” added Cotronis, who will row at the University of Wisconsin.
Adding to the 2025 excitement, the Port girls have an opposite case study: Garden City field hockey and lacrosse star Lauren Marino, who had never even picked up an oar until two years ago, is now a team leader.
After being swayed by friends to try an ergometer workout, Marino got immediately hooked despite “a terrible first week on the water.”
A few months later, she earned a spot in the 2024 nationals, rowing the two seat in a girls four shell.
“Then I was being recruited by a bunch of schools, and I ultimately chose Notre Dame,” the South Bend, Ind.-bound senior said. “It was all in a five-month time span, so it’s pretty crazy.”
Hell or high water
It’s no accident that Port athletes can shine so quickly in their tenure, girls head coach Pat Clary said.
They brave the elements in less-than-ideal practice waters and a beach he called “the crucible for coxswains” to launch out of.
“We have tough conditions out here on Hempstead Harbor. … It’s pretty choppy out there, and the kids show up every day. They work hard through it,” said the coach, who has a sarcastic “best water in America” flag in the Port boathouse.
Ultimately, though, it’s all been building character since the 40-degree practices in March, said Clary — who, along with boys head coach Aaron Bosgang, will be driving a trailer with all nine boats plus a few from a Westchester club while the team flies to Florida.
“Worst-case scenario, if the water is rough, we have teams that clutch their pearls and get nervous over a little bit of wake — and that’s just a Tuesday to us.”
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