In its latest Meet TheMinutewomen feature, UMass profiles Berwyn native and co-captain of the UMass rowing team, Nicole Destefano.

Destefano demonstrated her sporting prowess when she graduated from Conestoga Senior High School four years ago as a three-sport athlete in rowing, basketball, and field hockey. Her sporting accomplishments ensured she got recruited by UMass, where she is currently majoring in biochemistry.

Her inaugural season saw Destefano compete as a member of the JV 8+, where she earned a bronze medal at the Yankee Cup. That accomplishment was followed by consecutive first place finishes against Holy Cross and UConn in head-to-head regattas. She has also represented UMass in three Head of the Charles appearances, including a second-place victory in the Club 8+ in her junior season, assisted the team reaffirm their Dad Vail Championship title in the spring of last year, and helped ensure UMass the Evelyn Bergman Trophy.

In the interview, Destefano talks about rowing and sport in general, her goals and preparations for the next season, and answers a myriad of fun questions about life and popular culture. Talking about her goals for the coming spring season, she says her priorities are the A-10 Championships and going to back NCAAs.

“I really want to go back to NCAAs and advance further than we have in the past. Just being there is great, but I think we can be better and I’m really excited to see that.“

Reflecting on the fall season, Destefano praises her team. “We had some really great results as far as racing is concerned, but we’re all just a giant family right now. I know people say that a lot, but I really do mean it,“ she also points out that “you can just feel everyone pulling for more than themselves, I think that’s incredibly important for a team.“

Before finishing her interview Destefano made sure to give a shout out to her parents as her biggest supporters saying “ they’ve come to pretty much every one of my regattas in the past eight years.“