(Photo Courtesy of Princeton Crew/Tom Nowak) ROCKING ROBIN: Robin Prendes handles boat carrying duties after helping the Princeton University men’s lightweight crew to its second straight Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) title this past June. Last month, rising senior Prendes was on the medal stand again as he stroked the U.S. men’s lightweight four to bronze at the 2010 World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Brest, Belarus.

Waiting His Turn to Row for U-23 Squad, PU’s Prendes Takes Third at World Regatta

Bill Alden

In 2009, Robin Prendes couldn’t compete for the U.S. in the U-23 World Rowing Championships as he was busy helping the Princeton University men’s lightweight crew cap a perfect season with a title at the Henley Royal Regatta in England.

After helping the Tigers repeat as champions at the Eastern Sprints and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) regattas this season, Prendes was determined to go overseas this summer with the U.S. squad for the U-23 worlds in Brest, Belarus.

“I was in a good place,” said Prendes, reflecting on his mindset going into the U-23 tryout camp in Oklahoma City.

“When you do well in the regular season, that is a help. It was very competitive, with 12 guys going for the four. I had wanted to be in that four since Henley the year before. I was ecstatic to make it; I knew we had a chance to win a medal.”

With Prendes rowing in the stroke seat, the U.S. men’s lightweight four did end up medaling in Belarus last month, taking bronze behind winner Great Britain and runner-up Italy.

From the four’s first training session as a team, Prendes felt something special.

“On the first day on the boat, I felt a power,” recalled Prendes, a rising senior who was born in Cuba and then moved to Miami, Fla. as a child.

“We just needed to get technical stuff down. We had good speed compared to the boat the year before. It is difficult to know at that competition, you don’t know about the others. In our Eastern league, you have such good knowledge of opponents.”

The U.S. proved to be a formidable foe at the U-23 world regatta, winning its opening heat and then taking second in the semifinals.

But Prendes and his teammates knew they had to fine-tune things to have a shot at a medal.

“Coming into the final, we knew that other boats each had faster starts,” said Prendes. “We didn’t want to come off the line in sixth, that would be an uphill battle. We came off second; we had a very good start.”

Building on that good start, the U.S. came agonizingly close to taking silver. “Halfway through the race, the three top boats were together ahead of the others,” added Prendes.

“Great Britain had the fastest boat on the day. We passed Italy and had a ¾ length lead on them. They passed us in the last 100 meters for second. In a race like that, it was bittersweet because you feel like second was taken from you. You are still happy to get a medal.”

For Prendes, getting a medal at a world competition is sweet considering that he struggled with rowing when he initially took up the sport in 2001 with the American Barge Club in Miami.

“At first, I didn’t know what to think of it,” said Prendes, who was encouraged by his father to take up the sport.

“I just went on weekends at first but I started going more because I wanted to get the hang of it. I went at my own pace at first; I didn’t compete.”

It didn’t take long, however, for Prendes to become a top competitor as he won the junior double sculls, took second in the junior single sculls, and placed third in the junior quadruple sculls at the 2005 USRowing National Championships.

It was on one of his trips to the nationals that Prendes came on the radar of the Princeton lightweight program and then-head coach Greg Hughes.

“I stayed with a family friend and he showed me around the Princeton boathouse,” said Prendes. “Greg [Hughes] was not there but an assistant passed my name on to him. Greg showed a lot of interest after that, I liked him. The campus was beautiful, I was there in mid-July and fell in love with it.”

Upon arriving at Princeton
in 2007, Prendes had to balance his love of rowing with his classroom commitments.

“The toughest part was the academics; I went to public school and I didn’t have to work too hard for grades,” said Prendes.

“I rowed in all my spare time. I did more rowing in my junior and senior years of high school than in freshman year at Princeton. I had to spend a lot more time on the books. Little by little, I developed time management.”

It didn’t take long for Prendes to ascend to the Tiger lightweight varsity boat. As a sophomore, he helped Princeton produce a season for the ages as the top boat went undefeated on the way to winning the Eastern Sprints, the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) titles, and taking the Temple Challenge Cup.

“What stood out was that in order to be a fast boat, everyone had to be outstanding,” said Prendes, in reflecting on the 2008-09 campaign.

“You couldn’t have two or three good guys and be fast. The older guys were motivated by the losses the year before. We had eight guys who worked hard the entire season. The seniors led by example. The coaches put me in the stroke seat in a head race that fall; I knew I couldn’t let them down.”

Prendes and his teammates weren’t afraid of a letdown this year even with the departure of the seniors and a change in leadership which saw Marty Crotty take over as head coach after Hughes took the post as PU men’s heavyweight head coach.

“Regardless of who coached us, we wanted to build on what we had done the year before,” said
Prendes.

“A couple of guys were left out from that boat and they were motivated. We had four coming back. Things came together. Marty couldn’t have handled it better. He is a good motivator and technically he is very good as well.”

As he heads into his senior season in a few weeks, Prendes is motivated to go out with a bang.

“Every year is difficult, we have to work hard,” said Prendes, who augmented his preparation for his senior year by recently competing in China with a Princeton men’s eight.

“If we do that, we can do well. We have a good amount of guys coming back. In the last two years, we have set a high bar. All I ask is that we be in position to be competitive and then it is all up to us.”

And after earning bronze at the U-23 regatta, Prendes has shown that he can compete with the best in the world.

Return to Previous Sports Story | Return to Top | Go to Next Sports Story