John Jay grad Poydar wins junior national rowing title

Felix Poydar, fourth from left, and teammates rest after finishing a race.

Poydar celebrates with his team after winning the Junior National rowing championship.

By JIM MACLEAN

It all started with an injury, and recent John Jay graduate Felix Poydar certainly made the most out of that injury, turning it into a passion for a new sport and a new opportunity for a collegiate athletic career.

Poydar had been a member of the John Jay track and field team, but in his sophomore season he suffered an injury and was looking for a way to keep in shape without running.

He turned to a rowing machine, and he found a new passion. Three years later, it paid off as he turned to rowing and earned a Junior National championship with his RowAmerica Rye club team. Now, he is headed off to college and will compete with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology crew team.

“I had been running track, but I got injured so I started using a rowing machine and decided I liked it and joined a rowing club,” explained Poydar. “I guess it was pretty much right from the start that I liked it and I was competitive with it right away, continuously wanting to get better and liking it more and more.”

His college choice was easy, based on academics he wanted to go to MIT to study mechanical engineering and ocean engineering, and academics will come first despite being recruited and committing to compete for the crew team at MIT. A prestigious school and a prestigious program on the water racing in the Charles River in Boston, Poydar admits it is a surprising adventure considering he has only been racing and competing in rowing for three years.

He started out with the Norwalk River Rowing club as a sophomore, and by his senior year he was recruited to row with the RowAmerica Rye team. He knew what he was getting into, a new level of commitment as the Rye club takes it pretty seriously, they were two-time defending national champions heading into this summer aiming for a third-straight title.

The training schedule was intense and it was worth it, according to Poydar. He was hooked on the sport, and he admits it is hard to explain the fine points of rowing.

“Definitely takes a lot of team work, so many moving parts and you really have to work together as a team,” explained Poydar. “It’s bigger than yourself. Our coach was good at making sure the boat is not out of sync. The team is so competitive and you don’t want to be the one to throw it off, everyone is pretty motivated. It’s difficult to describe, but you have to feel the water, pushing the water the same as everyone else, all working together and you feel that surge. There is a lot of work to get that precision, but when you get it right and the boat’s going faster and faster, it’s a great feeling. Definitely an adventure.”

In the world of competitive rowing, the big goal and highlight of races is to be part of the “Eights,” an eight-man boat where teamwork is important.  He was in a four-man boat with his Norwalk club before being recruited and earning his spot with the eight-man boat for RowAmerica Rye.

“For American racing, the eights are the big goal and Rye took three teams to Nationals. Usually we train six days a week on the water, but leading up to nationals we had 10 practices a week. From spring to fall we are pretty much all the time on the water, and in winter we’re on rowing machines and lifting. It was worth it.”

At the Junior Nationals in Sarasota, Florida, Poydar admits it was a competitive atmosphere trying to defend their title against the best teams from around the country.

Heading into the competition RowAmerica Rye knew who their top competitors were, and one of the main title contenders looking to dethrone them was from California in the Marin Rowing Association team.

RowAmerica Rye got off to a rough start on the first day of the regatta, finishing third in the time trial, and the next day in the semifinals Marin beat them by about a second. That set the stage for the championship race and RowAmerica Rye knew it had to step up.

“The team to beat was Marin and we weren’t feeling too good about it after the semifinals,” admitted Poydar. “Our coaches had a big talk the night before and we had dinner right along the course and felt a lot of motivation. We got a good start, kept the lead and won by about a second.”

Poydar was exhausted, but he was able to celebrate with his teammates on the podium during the awards ceremony after all the races were finished.

“The worst part of a race is before the start, so much adrenaline and you’re really nervous. The middle is the most difficult because it starts to hurt pretty bad, but that last part was the best. Once you get ahead and gain that momentum, it’s adrenaline to push to the finish. I didn’t fully process the moment at the finish line. We were tired, but very happy. Then we definitely had fun on the podium.”

He admits his rowing obsession has taken him away from time with his John Jay classmates and former track teammates. His twin brother, William, continued to run with the track team, but Felix has no regrets as his hard work and dedication to rowing has helped prepare him for his next step at MIT.

“Definitely more for academics, but I’m excited to row in college and I’m excited to row in the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. Rowing is something I’ll be doing for the rest of my life, and for me it paid off.”