Bucknell University Athletics
Women's Rowing's Nicole Vacas Competes at World Rowing Junior Championships
8/17/2015 9:54:00 AM | Women's Rowing
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Incoming Bucknell women's rowing freshman Nicole Vacas will begin her Bison career coming off an outstanding international rowing experience. The current resident of Norwalk, Connecticut, had the opportunity to represent her native Ecuador at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, earlier this month. Vacas competed in the single scull event.
Vacas, who finished 18th out of 22 boats overall, marked the first time Ecuador had a representative in any world rowing competition. She represented her home country with her father as her team manager, her brother as the federation representative, and her coach and his wife.
Competing in a FISA-sponsored Wintech boat with Concept 2 oars, Vacas rowed in four races. After finishing sixth in her heat, she was fourth of five boats in the repechage, beating Vietnam. Vacas then placed third of five in the semifinal, crossing the finish line ahead of rowers from the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. In the “C” final, Vacas was in sixth place, helping her to the 18th-place overall showing.
Read More About Nicole's Experience From Her Viewpoint Below:
“About three months ago, after qualifying for Junior Nationals, I decided to inquire about the possibility of rowing for the Ecuadorian National Team. I sent the National Team my erg scores and prior racing experience and they entered me in the women's single.
“Seeing the competition on the water was the most exciting experience because when competing in the United States you never see competitors from other countries. I looked at the oar rack and saw oars from seven different countries. On the water, you don't refer to people by name, but by their country. I could hear people asking each other if they knew what country 'ECU' was. No one had ever heard of Ecuador in the rowing world.
“It is always motivating going to a regatta where everyone is competitive and so dedicated to rowing, but at Worlds it was unreal. My dad said, 'I've never seen so many healthy, strong people in one place'. Everyone at Worlds shares the same passion for rowing. Rowing is their entire world. That is the one thing that brings all these people together. Rowing is strong enough to dedicate every waking hour to practicing and doing everything to be the best on race day.
“The last 500 meters of my final was so incredibly windy and I was taking in a lot of water, so I wasn't able to pull myself across the finish line at least three seconds faster to be 17th. The girl representing the United States flipped in the “B” final. Everyone was equally impacted by the strong winds.
“Rowing in Rio was probably the best experience in my life, and I made a lot of friends. Hopefully I can continue to represent Ecuador in other races. While in Rio, many people asked me what I was going to do this coming year and I told them I was recruited to Bucknell University. Most kids had never heard of the school, but I showed everyone what Bucknell was all about, and I made sure to wear my Bucknell hat at all times.”
Players Mentioned
