Both boys crew coaches resigned over the summer, leaving the team suddenly searching for a new coach. They hired a professional athlete who is bringing changes to the team’s approach in practice and execution on the water.

Head coach Kirk Shipley hired Dusan Nikolic, who rowed for the Serbian national team and has previously coached other crew teams across the country.

Nikolic will be applying his own coaching style, changing the way practices and workouts are run.

“I would say [the practices] will be a lot more calculated, at least more openly calculated than in the past,” junior Baillie Olin said. “For example, he said he would talk to the team about what the goal of each workout would be, whether that’s to improve aerobic vs anaerobic capacity, and how the workout aims to achieve that.”

Nikolic also told the team he plans to incorporate different workout elements into the practice, as opposed to the previous coaches who mostly relied on rowing machines.

“He seems to be much more focused on developing us through more methods than just erging. He spoke about improving the way that we do everything, from stretching to time management,” junior Max Gordy said.

However, losing both coaches early in the season will pose a challenge for the team. The older rowers will have to adapt to a new coaching style after having trained with the same coaches for the past two years.

“I think it might kind of be a mental reset for the team,” Gordy said. “We will have to remake our normal practices and customs to fit within the new system.”

Despite the potential setback, rowers are still optimistic about the coming season, and hope they will improve under Nikolic.

“I’m looking forward to the coming fall season,” Olin said. “He’s had a very successful career, both rowing himself and coaching other programs, and I’m excited to see what that experience will bring to the table.”