University of Delaware Athletics
The Breakthrough Year Of Izzy Weinfeld
5/8/2020 11:52:00 AM | Rowing
The cancellation of the NCAA's 2020 spring sports season due to the COVID-19 pandemic came abruptly for everybody, but the timing was particularly heartbreaking for Delaware rowing – everything was put on hold just two days before their spring season was set to begin.
Without a clean goodbye among the madness, head coach Kevin Gruber tried to give some closure through a letter to the team. In the letter, he expressed that he didn't have any regrets about the season. The Blue Hens had put in the work, and even though it was a premature end to the year, they could feel good about what they had accomplished.
A few weeks later, as the team had its banquet over Zoom, Gruber admitted that he actually did have one regret: senior Isadora Weinfeld, known to everybody as "Izzy", not being able to get one race in the Varsity 8 boat.
Weinfeld had always loved being on the water. She had done some sailing as a kid, but had never actually rowed or even seen a shell before college. But a group of friendly rowers at Club Sports Night during her freshman year (as she was on her way to sign up for club soccer) convinced her to attend an interest meeting, and Weinfeld eventually chose to become a Division I rower instead.
"I definitely made the right decision," Weinfeld said.
As a freshman on a deep squad during the 2016-17 season, Weinfeld was low on the pecking order, racing in novice boats. But a year later as a sophomore, she started to blossom into a legitimate rowing talent, rising to the Second Varsity 8 (the second-highest boat in terms of priority).
"She started to really take off her sophomore year, she really found some speed, made some huge fitness gains," Gruber said.
Weinfeld and her coaches expected the progress to continue the next season, but the fall of her junior year was quickly derailed. What started out as a sore throat and a fever quickly turned into a hospitalization for a brutal combination of mono, strep throat and acute bacterial infections.
Her physical recovery was long and difficult with antibiotics, steroids, and eventually a surgery. But the sickness also wreaked havoc on her life as a student-athlete. A nursing major, Weinfeld had to drop some classes and become a part-time student because she had missed so much class time at the beginning of the semester. She also had to step away from rowing for the fall.
"It was really tough, especially not having my support of going to practice every day," Weinfeld said. "That's such a big part of my schedule and my daily life, I really missed it a lot."
Weinfeld, never one to quit anything, worked diligently to get back in shape once she was past being sick, and by the end of her junior year was back to where she had been the previous year.
Wanting to see a jump in speed after a relatively slow 2018-19 season, Gruber challenged his team with lofty fitness goals heading into the 2019-20 campaign, Weinfeld's senior year. That's when she made her biggest leap forward as a rower.
"She did the work. She came in really fit and ready to go and then just continued on this steep incline through her senior year. By the end of the winter, we were wrapping up our fitness test and getting ready to head back outside for the real races. Her scores were just outrageous, she was jumping her way up our record boards," Gruber said. "She just kept getting better and better. She's had the eye of the tiger this whole senior year."
As the Blue Hens prepped for the spring of 2020, Weinfeld broke through and earned a spot in the crew for the Varsity 8, the program's flagship boat (the Varsity 8 race has the highest point value at championship races).
"It meant so much, and it's really emotional to think about because I didn't even really get to race," Weinfeld said. "[But] it was awesome. Even just the few weeks that we got on the water to practice before everything happened, it felt like it really clicked with the girls. The vibe of the whole team was awesome, but specifically in the varsity boat, I just loved everyone in that boat so much and it meant so much to me to finally get there."
Weinfeld was voted both Team MVP and Most Inspirational by her teammates, the first time the same rower has won both awards since Gruber took over as head coach in 2012.
"When your peers are saying you're the best athlete, and you're also the one who brings them up the most, that's a coach's dream," Gruber said.
While her teammates view her as somebody that brings them up, it was those same teammates that helped Weinfeld through the grief of losing her senior season.
"It was extremely disappointing, but it's really just been the support of the team that's gotten me through it; we still talk in our group chat," Weinfeld said.
Weinfeld will not be returning to Delaware for a potential extra season of eligibility because she already has her next step lined up: a perioperative fellowship at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Philadelphia set to begin in September.
"I've always been interested in the operating room and surgery," Weinfeld said. "Once I went to the information session for the fellowship, it really clicked and I was like 'wow, this is exactly where I want to be.'"
Just as her hard work on the water paid off with a spot in the Varsity 8 boat, this opportunity is the result of hard work within the nursing major. Eight-hour clinicals in the evenings meant getting homework done during the day after morning practices. In a poetic twist of fate, Weinfeld's last day of practice as a collegiate rower was the same day she brought clothes to change into so she could go straight to her interview for the fellowship.
Bryn Mawr Hospital is close to the Schuylkill River, and Weinfeld plans to join a rowing club and stay connected with the sport and the team. And even though she won't be on the roster anymore, Gruber plans to continue to use her to lift the Blue Hens up.
"She answered the call. She did it at a time when we really needed guys to get into that top level," Gruber said. "She proved you can not just get better, you can get a lot better if you work for it."
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Without a clean goodbye among the madness, head coach Kevin Gruber tried to give some closure through a letter to the team. In the letter, he expressed that he didn't have any regrets about the season. The Blue Hens had put in the work, and even though it was a premature end to the year, they could feel good about what they had accomplished.
A few weeks later, as the team had its banquet over Zoom, Gruber admitted that he actually did have one regret: senior Isadora Weinfeld, known to everybody as "Izzy", not being able to get one race in the Varsity 8 boat.
Weinfeld had always loved being on the water. She had done some sailing as a kid, but had never actually rowed or even seen a shell before college. But a group of friendly rowers at Club Sports Night during her freshman year (as she was on her way to sign up for club soccer) convinced her to attend an interest meeting, and Weinfeld eventually chose to become a Division I rower instead.
"I definitely made the right decision," Weinfeld said.
As a freshman on a deep squad during the 2016-17 season, Weinfeld was low on the pecking order, racing in novice boats. But a year later as a sophomore, she started to blossom into a legitimate rowing talent, rising to the Second Varsity 8 (the second-highest boat in terms of priority).
"She started to really take off her sophomore year, she really found some speed, made some huge fitness gains," Gruber said.
Weinfeld and her coaches expected the progress to continue the next season, but the fall of her junior year was quickly derailed. What started out as a sore throat and a fever quickly turned into a hospitalization for a brutal combination of mono, strep throat and acute bacterial infections.
Her physical recovery was long and difficult with antibiotics, steroids, and eventually a surgery. But the sickness also wreaked havoc on her life as a student-athlete. A nursing major, Weinfeld had to drop some classes and become a part-time student because she had missed so much class time at the beginning of the semester. She also had to step away from rowing for the fall.
"It was really tough, especially not having my support of going to practice every day," Weinfeld said. "That's such a big part of my schedule and my daily life, I really missed it a lot."
Weinfeld, never one to quit anything, worked diligently to get back in shape once she was past being sick, and by the end of her junior year was back to where she had been the previous year.
Wanting to see a jump in speed after a relatively slow 2018-19 season, Gruber challenged his team with lofty fitness goals heading into the 2019-20 campaign, Weinfeld's senior year. That's when she made her biggest leap forward as a rower.
"She did the work. She came in really fit and ready to go and then just continued on this steep incline through her senior year. By the end of the winter, we were wrapping up our fitness test and getting ready to head back outside for the real races. Her scores were just outrageous, she was jumping her way up our record boards," Gruber said. "She just kept getting better and better. She's had the eye of the tiger this whole senior year."
As the Blue Hens prepped for the spring of 2020, Weinfeld broke through and earned a spot in the crew for the Varsity 8, the program's flagship boat (the Varsity 8 race has the highest point value at championship races).
"It meant so much, and it's really emotional to think about because I didn't even really get to race," Weinfeld said. "[But] it was awesome. Even just the few weeks that we got on the water to practice before everything happened, it felt like it really clicked with the girls. The vibe of the whole team was awesome, but specifically in the varsity boat, I just loved everyone in that boat so much and it meant so much to me to finally get there."
Weinfeld was voted both Team MVP and Most Inspirational by her teammates, the first time the same rower has won both awards since Gruber took over as head coach in 2012.
"When your peers are saying you're the best athlete, and you're also the one who brings them up the most, that's a coach's dream," Gruber said.
While her teammates view her as somebody that brings them up, it was those same teammates that helped Weinfeld through the grief of losing her senior season.
"It was extremely disappointing, but it's really just been the support of the team that's gotten me through it; we still talk in our group chat," Weinfeld said.
Weinfeld will not be returning to Delaware for a potential extra season of eligibility because she already has her next step lined up: a perioperative fellowship at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Philadelphia set to begin in September.
"I've always been interested in the operating room and surgery," Weinfeld said. "Once I went to the information session for the fellowship, it really clicked and I was like 'wow, this is exactly where I want to be.'"
Just as her hard work on the water paid off with a spot in the Varsity 8 boat, this opportunity is the result of hard work within the nursing major. Eight-hour clinicals in the evenings meant getting homework done during the day after morning practices. In a poetic twist of fate, Weinfeld's last day of practice as a collegiate rower was the same day she brought clothes to change into so she could go straight to her interview for the fellowship.
Bryn Mawr Hospital is close to the Schuylkill River, and Weinfeld plans to join a rowing club and stay connected with the sport and the team. And even though she won't be on the roster anymore, Gruber plans to continue to use her to lift the Blue Hens up.
"She answered the call. She did it at a time when we really needed guys to get into that top level," Gruber said. "She proved you can not just get better, you can get a lot better if you work for it."
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