Helps U.S. win junior world title
By: Justin Feil – Assistant Sports Editor
Paul Popescu was happy just to make the United States Junior National rowing team.
Winning the Junior World Championship gold last Sunday in Racice, Czech Republic, was a giant bonus for the Montgomery High School graduate.
"We had good speed in practice," said Popescu, who will be a freshman at Princeton University. "We all came to practice and gave everything we had every day. It didn’t start well at worlds, but in finals, it all came together." The American boat barely made the final. It failed to advance automatically out of its initial heat – won by eventual world runner-up Germany. In its repechage the next day, the U.S. was a little faster than it had been in its heat, but it still took second behind Romania. With it, the U.S. drew an outside lane as one of the final two boats to reach the grand final.
"We were seeded last or second to last," Popescu said. "I guess we had a little bit of an element of surprise."
Even the Americans weren’t immune to the surprise. After Germany got out to the lead in the first 500 meters, the U.S. moved ahead of it through the next 500 meters and kept the lead through the end of the 2,000-meter race.
"When our coxswain was saying we had 5 feet on Germany at 1,000," Popescu said, "I didn’t believe him."
But the U.S. boat put together its finest effort for the finals – the perfect time – to hold off Germany in the end for the gold medal. It was the biggest win in Popescu’s career. He rowed for four years with the Mercer Junior Rowing Club, the last three with its top boys varsity. He was part of the 12th-place eight at this spring’s Youth Nationals and a member of the eighth-place four plus coxswain in 2009.
"Before worlds, the biggest regatta I’d been a part of winning was the Bill Braxton Regatta," said Popescu of the fall 2009 race. "We never did that well at nationals. I got to be a part of a boat that performed excellently at worlds. That was unbelievable.
"Just having made the team, I saw that as a huge accomplishment," he added. "I’ve been trying for that team the past three years. I’ve been taking steps to get there."
Popescu had humble beginnings. He came to MJRC and found the perfect opportunity for him to get into a sport.
"Right when I started with Mercer, I was very, very unathletic," he said. "I was the kind of kid that would trip on his feet in the hallway."
After his freshman year with MJRC, however, he was hooked on crew. He spent the summer rowing in Canada.
"I did a lot of sculling, which we don’t do," Popescu said. "I got to go out in small boats and work on my technique."
He won a varsity spot when he returned as a sophomore, but going to his first identification camp was just as big. There, national team head coach Colin Campbell made the idea of joining the national team "plausible." The next year, he made the developmental camp.
"They trained us and showed us how to train harder," Popescu said. "They just showed us, here is how to train the next nine months. Coach Campbell said, don’t just try to focus on making the camp, making the boat, try to focus on making the boat go as fast as you can."
Popescu continued to push himself through every practice session. In mid-July, he was named to the junior national team.
"There was always self-motivation," Popescu said. "I would push a little harder on long erg workouts at times when the only benefit would be if I push a little harder, it would help me be a bit faster."
He kept that same idea in mind as he helped to try to push the U.S. boat to get faster daily. The Americans hadn’t been together as long as some international teams going into the worlds.
"We had to condense a lot into a short time," Popescu said. "We had to improve practice to practice or we wouldn’t have been able to race with those guys."
The United States maximized its speed at the perfect time to help Popescu finish his junior career in style. Next year, he will be eligible for the Under-23 team.
"Making the Under-23 team is a whole nother level," he said. "It’s back to the bottom of the barrel again. That is the eventual goal. I’ll see if I can peak again in two or three years and see if I can make that team. That seems pretty far off for me. Right now, it’s just about rowing with Princeton and improving as much as I can over the next few seasons.
"I’m still trying to relax a bit and recuperate," he added. "I know I can’t completely take this month off. I know this group of guys that are coming in this fall, they’re an accomplished group. I know I have to compete to get a spot in that (top freshman heavyweight) boat."
Paul Popescu won’t soon forget the ending of his scholastic career. Getting a spot in the junior national boat was pretty special, but winning a gold medal at the Junior World Championships was the culmination as he heads to Princeton for the next step.
Said Popescu: "It was everyone coming together and giving it everything at the right time."

