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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Tiger Lightweight Crew Coach Smith Leaving With Pride in What She Built
By Bill Alden
Unfortunately for the Princeton University crew program, women's lightweight head coach Heather Smith recently decided to head for the hills of the Adirondacks. But Smith, who led the Tigers to five national titles in seven seasons at the helm, is confident the program won't be left high and dry in her absence.
"I will remember the resources at the boathouse in terms of the equipment, athletes, and coaches," said Smith, who is moving to Saratoga Springs, N.Y. where her husband, Steve Toman, will be working in a new job with a medical communications company.
"All the people in the boathouse made it a great experience for me. The coming year will be great for the boathouse. It's a strong group and the new coach who replaces me will have a lot to work with."
Matching Smith's achievements will be a tall order for her successor. Becoming the program's first coach in 1997, the feisty Smith proceeded to build the Tiger women's lightweight team into a national power.
She guided Princeton to five-peat of national crowns as her rowers took the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) women's lightweight titles in each year from 1999-2003.
Last spring, the Tigers fell just short of a sixth straight national title as they placed second to powerful Wisconsin in the IRA championship race.
As she assessed her legacy at Princeton, Smith focused on her team carving out a place in the Tiger crew community rather than what it achieved on a national level.
"I hope I was able to put the women's lightweight team in a position where it added to the pre-existing excellence in the boathouse," asserted Smith, who also led her program to five Eastern Sprint titles.
"Other teams in the boathouse have done so many great things and have contributed so much. I hope that we became an additional attribute at the boathouse."
With Smith having led her boats to many great triumphs in her tenure, she said no single race or team stood out above the others. Instead, it was a general vision of a job well done that springs to her head when she looks back on her program's achievements.
"In my mind's eye, I look back and I can see rowers after they've done well in a race," said Smith, a star rower herself at Trinity (Conn.) College who won the school's scholar-athlete award.
"I wouldn't say that any particular races stand out. I just loved the look of exhilaration in the rowers' faces after they had accomplished something."
After being so immersed in her pioneering role in the Princeton boathouse community, Smith is ready to test other waters.
She has no firm plans at this point, other than to spend time with her husband and young son exploring the mountains and forests of the Adirondack area that they have escaped to over the years for recreation.
With a slight chuckle, Smith acknowledges that she may not be able to long resist the pull of her sport.
"There a lot of clubs and high school programs in the Albany, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs area," said Smith. "It would be interesting to see how other programs work."
Whether or not Smith returns to the sport, she is going to miss being on and around Lake Carnegie come next spring.
"I'm sad that I can't see my seniors through," said Smith, who admitted she didn't relish saying her final goodbye to her boathouse colleagues.
"The longer period of time that you work with an athlete, the more close you feel to her. I will miss being out on the water with the team and the interaction on a daily basis with the athletes and the other coaches."
And the members of the boathouse community will surely miss Smith.
