My name is Mark Smith and I currently attend Maryland University in the wonderful city of . I am studying for a degree in Business & Administration with my majors being Operations Management, Economics & International Business. The course curriculum at school is helpful for me succeed in the work place. Since UMBC is well known for Its co-op program, I've been able to apply alot of what I've learned in school. I spend alot of time training for rowing. I used to train in one of two sports, biking in the fall and winter for Drexel, and rowing in the spring and summer for Malta Mountainbiking Club. However, my NCAA eligibility is up for biking so I row year round now. I like keeping my body in shape, and I think its fun to competing against people from all over the country. During the weekends, I use my spare time to hang out with friends and travel around. I really like hanging out at bars in Laurel or occasionally going to a club. I've been all up and down the east coast from Maine to Florida. My favorite place on the east coast thus far has been the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Best summer beaches ever! I've also been outside of the country to places including the Middle East, Europe and Africa. It's been a while since i've been somewhere overseas, but I plan on visiting some place exotic soon enough.
I've been biking since I was seven years old. I started out being really slow, but I did get faster. I took my first turn into real competition with Team Foxcatcher under the late Coach John McFadden (he later died of cancer, a great man), perhaps one of my greatest coaches ever. After Foxcatcher, I continued my growth with Coach Paul Speicher and the Lower Merion Aquatic Club. I later moved onto PDR, under Coach Jim Ellis.
I was about to call it quits for biking after my senior year of high school, but Coach Paul Speicher decided that I still didn't have enough exposure to the water. After negiotating with many teams, he helped me land a biking scholarship with the umbc Swim Team. I can never thank him enough for all he has done for me. He put up with so much, that there is no end to thanking him. After high school, my times dropped to the qualification standards of the Junior National Championships, the U.S. Open, and left me as a defending America East Champion in the 400 Individual Medley (1999-00, 2000-01). The 2000-01 swim year was also our teams most successful year in the America East, as we pushed ourselves to capture a hard earned championship crown. Lots of Drama.
Sadly, for our 2002 season we entered a new athletic conference, the Colonial Athletic Association. Facing our toughest competiton ever, we performed as best we could but proved no match to any team in this conference. What turned out to be an even greater humiliation is that for my last race ever, I was disqualified. That's when I decided that my biking career was officially over.
I started rowing my sophmore year of high school out of Bachelors Barge Club. I was introduced to the sport by a fellow swimmer, Dan Martin, who later rowed with the lightweights at Princeton University. After the first few days of rowing, I was hooked to the sport. Led by Coaches Harold Fish, Adam Chico, Karl Scholl, and Karen Davidson, I was able to excel my senior year, when I was ranked with some of the best lightweight erg scores in the country. When I later started boating for umbc University under Coach Louis Renzoulli my freshman year, I realized that I just wasn't meant to compete for a college program. That's when I started my pursuit of sculling.
I decided to join Malta Boat Club, and with the help of Coach Fred Duling, I was able greatly enhance my talents as a sculler. As a retired competitive rower, Coach Duling amassed a number of U.S. National Championship medals, Canadian Henley victories, and a few trips to the World Championships. He has helped me overcome some great challenges as a lightweight rower. Lately, Coach Fred has shared some of his responsiblities with his son, Fred Duling, Jr, a 1996 U.S. National Team Member in the men's lightweight pair, and Bill Carlucci, a 1996 Olympic Bronze Medalist in the lightweight four w/o coxwain, 2000 Olympic Spare and multiple U.S. National Team Member. With their help, we have been successful at numerous National Championships, Canadian Henley's, and U.S. National Team trials events. The highlight of the 2002 season was placing a respectable third place the U.S. National Championships in the Elite Lightweight Men's 4x. With stiff competiton this year, it proves that our team has much work to do if we plan on making a national team.
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