  | Rowing has taken Julia Chilicki '94 all over the world and to the Olympics; now it has brought her back to Narrow River as head women's crew coach. | |||||
The Agony and the EcstasyShane Donaldson '99 After her first workout with the URI rowing team, Julia Chilicki '94 threw up, couldn't move her arms for a week, and couldn't sit comfortably for more than five days. She had found her sport. It all began during her freshman year. Chilicki, who came to URI with a swimming scholarship, was selling candy bars in her dorm to raise money for the swim team when she met Jason Gailes '92. It was only 8:15 p.m., but Gailes was ready for bed. "I remember thinking, 'this guy is a total dork,' but I also thought he must have been doing something important," Chilicki said. "It turned out he was on the rowing team and had to be on Narrow River by sunrise. We became friends, and I saw that he was an amazing athlete." Gailes convinced Chilicki to attempt the crew team triathlon, which began with rowing the equivalent of two miles on an erg in seven minutes. "I left the building and threw up in front of Keaney Gymnasium," Chilicki said. "I was a mess, but I was hooked. I thought we were going to do that each Saturday, but they only do that once a year. I had no idea it was going to be that difficult. I wrecked my body, but it was really fun." That workout changed Chilicki's life. Long before being named Rhode Island's head women's rowing coach in September 2000, she was an Olympian and a national champion. What started as a hobby quickly became a passion. By 1993 she was on the U.S. National Team, and in 1996 she made it to the Olympics in Atlanta as part of the U.S. quadruple sculls team. (Fellow competitor Jason Gailes, rowing with the U.S. men's quad, won a silver medal that year). Olympic competition had been a life-long goal for Chilicki. Any projects or reports she did growing up involved the Olympics, and she was determined to compete herself. Although she had been a high school record-holder, Chilicki knew swimming couldn't get her where she wanted to go, but she figured as a college freshman it was too late to start something new. "I thought I was too old," Chilicki said. "Now I realize there are so many athletes who do not reach their prime until their 20s and 30s, especially women." Chilicki also found that in some countries rowing was as big as baseball or football is in the U.S. All sports were well respected, not just the mainstream ones. She discovered exactly the environment she was looking for. "It was pretty cool to see that all athletes were seen as heroes," Chilicki said. "It was inspiring to be in an arena with hundreds of other amateurs. We were there because we loved sports. It had nothing to do with being a professional or trying to get paid through endorsements." While rowing didn't provide a financial boon, Chilicki experienced major success. She was a national champion in singles in 1998 and in quad for five years (1993-96, 1998). In 2000, Chilicki was chosen as one of the top 100 athletes of the century in her home state of Connecticut. "That one is still hard to believe," Chilicki said. "There are some big names and some world champions on that list. It means a lot to me because I wasn't a world champion, and yet they still chose me." Chilicki's competitive career ended when she just missed making the Olympic team in 2000. "It's still pretty tough for me to look back on my career, but I know that when I am older it will be such a treasure. Right now I still have the growing pains of knowing I'm not training anymore." Stepping away from racing was tough, but now she's back where it all started, running the very program that sent her around the world. "It's a little overwhelming, but I am ecstatic," Chilicki said. "Athletics saved me and pulled me up when I was feeling low. Once again the rewarding feeling of being involved with athletics is so special to me, especially coming back to my alma mater. I get to look into the eyes of these women who are on the team, and I know what they are going through." Chilicki is searching for the rabid com-petitor hungry for pain and success in the same way that she was. "I think most rowers have a little masochism in their veins," Chilicki said. "I get nervous because I have to look in their eyes and say, 'Can you go there? Can you handle the pain?' And there are always a couple of nutballs out there who just love the challenge." Passion can't be taught, but tradition can. To help coach her team as well as possible, Chilicki draws on what she learned from Coach Bob Gillette '89, M.B.A. '91, and sculling champions Jason Gailes and Brian Sweenor '90. "I try to carry on that pride we have always had in the program. I want my rowers to appreciate how hard you have to work for something that you really love," Chilicki said. "Nothing comes easy. I still run the stadiums and do the workouts with the team, and there is not a day that goes by that I don't remember all the people who were here before me." In addition to a career, Chilicki found love through rowing. She and husband, Cyrus Beasley, (they married in July) met while both were rookies with the U.S. National team in 1994. He represented Team USA as a single sculler from 1994-1996. His competitive career also ended last year, and the two have made Rhode Island their home. "My second home? Absolutely," Chilicki said. "When you are in college, and the years immediately following, you grow up so much as a person. There is so much character building because you hit the hard times, and you have to fend for yourself. I did all of that here. These are my stomping grounds." A former Good 5¢ Cigar sports writer, Shane Donaldson '99 is a reporter for the New England Patriots Football Weekly and for the team's Web site at Patriots.com. |
 |
