Zack Vlahandreas 4-Year Retrospective

My 4 years coxing for the SU Men’s Crew are almost over. My last fall race as a Syracuse Oarsmen, or as I like to say “coxman,” is over. I have experienced just about everything I could ever want when I called coach Stangel a week before decision day and told him I would see him that fall. Everything, somehow, has found a way to come full circle. Yet, there are still 7 highly anticipated months – including the racing season – that are yet to come.

It was September 12th, 2015, and I was fresh to campus and ambitious beyond belief. On that day was my first experience to be able to see what Syracuse rowing is all about. It was my first evening at the Evening at Ten Eyck event. I didn’t know who “Ten Eyck” was, who was going to be at this event, and what Coach Reischman had in store for me. As class day concluded that Saturday morning I was left watching from the shore having doubts about my initial impact on this team and on this campus. When Saturday morning had come to an end I was ready to go back to my dorm room and start on some homework; however, Coach Reischman pulled me aside and asked if I could come to the evening races that night to help cox. I responded: “Sure thing! … but I didn’t race or win this morning!” He then preceded to tell me, “That’s alright, I want you to cox one of the alumni boats this evening.” With joy I got on the bus back to campus to prepare myself for the evening.

Later that night when I came back to help, I was looking around wondering which boat, which guys, and the timing for all that was about to happen. I was walking around the Boathouse looking like a lost puppy until one of the alumni in my boat came up to me and made an effort to meet me – dressed in the most ridiculous outfit I have ever seen anyone row in which I later learned is his signature Ten Eyck style. From my memory, the words he spoke to me have stuck with me from that day until this day and I know they will until I graduate. It was this alumnus who was genuinely curious about how I liked college so far, how I have been transitioning, and how I’ve been able to appreciate all that’s around me. I responded, “Yes, of course! I love every day of it” and he was ecstatic to hear that the culture and passion of being Orange and being an Orange Oarsmen has not changed since he graduated.

As we were getting in the boat, he was making sure everyone knew who I was and to trust me down this 500-meter course that for these alumni felt like 2,000 meters. It was incredibly exhilarating to be in this position as a freshman. I had no idea who any of these people were, where they were from, or their careers here as oarsmen, but I knew we all wanted to win and that they wanted to live in the Orange moment again and reflect on their times here. We ended up losing. Knowing what that oarsmen said to me the 20 minutes leading up to this race stuck with me as we docked the boat. I got out of the boat and the first person I saw on the dock was no one I had met before (shocker). But he shook my hand as if he had known me my whole life. He shook my hand and started talking to me asking me how it was to be in his boat and how more specifically the coxswain seat felt. I still had no idea who this man was. And he left before I could ask him what his name was ….

As I sat down for dinner in the boat bay, ready to see what Ten Eyck night was all about I got tapped on the shoulder by an older alumnus who again, had no idea who he was, with a white beard, white hair, glasses, and hands bigger than Michael Jordan. He proceeded to tell me “You are in my seat” confused, I quickly apologized and offered to move and he said not to worry that he will find another seat. Thinking nothing of it I went forward and picked up an itinerary for the night. Looking through it I noticed someone familiar. The man that had come up to me on the dock as I was getting out of the boat was listed under the honorees: Joseph E. Peter. Then it hit me that the boat I was in had his name on the bow and it all came together. As he was giving his speech, the first line he spoke hit me to heart: “I was never a 1V guy. I was 3V for life and sometimes not even that. I graduated and went on to win so so many races and so so many medals and I said to myself ‘who’s the top coxswain now’ “ (laughs came from the whole Boathouse) and I thought back to that morning where I wasn’t selected as the top coxswain to be in my class day boat and I thought ‘this guy is pretty cool, I like this guy.’

* * * Freshman and sophomore year, I did not see much success in my coxing abilities, boat placement, or overall team and coaching staff chemistry. I didn’t get a chance to cox an IRA boat until my junior year. As Clemson training camp of junior year was winding down, the guys had to decide on who they wanted for the 3V.

I ended up winning the vote and got put in the boat for the spring season. We proceeded to go undefeated. The first undefeated cup season by a Syracuse crew in a long time. I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to the other coxswain and rowers that helped make this possible. We did not have a single race where the lineup was the same, and as coach Reischman has always preached to us, “We need to be able to handle adversity and race better than anyone else in that sweet Syracuse racing weather.” As we got 7th at Eastern Sprints and 10th at the IRA’s I have cherished every single one of those finish line crossings. It was even more special to me taking the boat out of the water each race and putting it back on the racks for the summer in June seeing the Joseph E. Peter name on the bow. His fighting spirit crossed the finish line with us for every race and I could not be prouder to have coxed that boat throughout the season last spring. Like I mentioned earlier, as my ‘full circle’ has continued, I got promoted to be the Advertising Manager at The Daily Orange newspaper, and the first client I got on my first day on the job was none other than Joey’s son John Peter. We have become incredible business partners thus far, and I will on occasion go in and see how he is doing and tell him about the stories from practice coxing the Joey Peter boat. His father will

continue to be one of the Orange Oarsman (coxman) alumni who I will continue to look up to as a role model and the kind of alumni I aspire to be – even though I can never come close.

* * * It was September 15th, 2018 and I was attending my last Evening at Ten Eyck event as an undergrad coxman. It was on this day that the new Museum of the Boathouse was completed (in the balcony area) and displayed in such a simple way that you can now walk in there and soak in Syracuse Rowing history in just a couple minutes. It is a pretty cool recruiting tool as well. It was on this day that I really started my last fall season. And, it was on this day that what the alumnus that told me 3 years ago right outside the Boathouse in the same spot was where he got a boat dedicated to him under his name Jason Premo ’98. It was listening to Jason give his speech and pour his champagne that I saw the circle come close again as he talked so passionately about what Syracuse rowing did for him and how he hasn’t gone a day of his life after graduation without thinking about all the experiences, all the fun times, all the people that made his experience what it was. Additionally, on that day the famous Ozzie Street did not show up when it was time for the ’78 crew to go out for a row and Coach Reischman turned to me and said “Zack, grab your cox box. You’re coxing the ’78 crew.” I was speechless. I was about to cox an IRA Championship Crew and I had no idea what to even think. As I went through my usual routine, we shoved off the dock and started rowing down the canal. Suddenly, I heard a voice from the coaching launch give me instruction. It sounded familiar. As I turned around I noticed it was the same alumnus who’s seat I took 4 years ago on my first Evening at Ten Eyck – Coach Bill Sanford. I was taking it all in: The Championship Crew, the legendary coach, and the strokes I would remember forever.

* * * As I mentioned earlier, time is really running out. Graduating athletes think of the word ‘silence’ a lot after leaving the sport they love … though, I don’t think my life after rowing here will be silent at all. I think like those before me, coxing for Syracuse is something that can never leave you. Being a part of this team and culture for 4 years is something that doesn’t just go away. All the friends, practices, training trips, races, and jerseys won – never goes away – and I’m really happy about that.

Zack has thoroughly enjoyed his time at Syracuse. Immediately after Zack made his official visit, he knew that Syracuse was a perfect fit for him. It had everything he wanted in a school, and gave him an opportunity to continue his rowing career. In many ways, his collegiate rowing career has been similar to his high school career. There was a lot of potential for an exceptional college rowing experience, but there was also a lot of quality competition.

My wife, Evelyn, and I, and his three siblings of course miss Zack tremendously, but we all know that he is really happy at Syracuse. Over the past four years, we have seen many of his races and certainly we would have liked to have seen all of them, but many times it became a last minute decision because we were never 100% sure if he was racing until the day before the race. So we just tried to make family visits on race days and hoped that we got to see him compete.

Academically and athletically, we are very happy with Zack’s time at Syracuse. It is always a challenge balancing the academics, athletics and social aspects of college, but we are very proud of the way Zack has worked very hard to accomplish that. We are so very proud of Zack and we are looking forward to his senior season and graduation.

– Michael and Evelyn Vlahandreas, Winnetka, Illinois