Lake Phalen Rowing is training winners in the East Metro

The sleek boats glided effortlessly over the glassy surface of Gervais Lake. The young athletes smoothly pulled their oars, raising them and then dipping them, again and again, into the water.

From the shore, it seemed they made no sound. But ever since Lake Phalen Rowing’s founding during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 20-person program of 13- to 18-year-olds has made plenty of noise on the national youth rowing scene. Its U-16 quad boat just won a national championship, and another member was part of a national team that recently won gold and bronze medals in Mexico City.

Not bad for a program coached by a pair of volunteers and headquartered, at least temporarily, at a team member’s Little Canada lakefront home. Asked for the secret to Lake Phalen Rowing’s early success, co-founder and coach Mike DuPont credited the kids.

“They like to win,” he said. “All these kids are winners, both on the water and in life. Most are outstanding students. We take some of the old school and the new school, mix it together, and we have fun with it.”

Members pay $100 a month, DuPont said, but no one is turned away if they cannot pay. DuPont and fellow coach John Cavanaugh said their program is open to any young person in the metro area who’s willing to pull their weight ... er, oar.

Lake Phalen Rowing, which also has programs for adults and novices, recently moved from Lake Phalen, where it had no boathouse or facility of its own. Coaches say they’ll happily raise the money for a permanent facility if St. Paul officials give them a place to build it. But even without fancy digs, the kids come.

“You have to have athletes. Number one, if you don’t have athletes, you’re not going to go fast,” DuPont said. “But these kids have a special desire to win. And are we intense on the water? Yes, and we do a certain type of training out here that I don’t think you could do on the river.”

In his third year rowing, 15-year-old Andrew Vizecky was on a two-person boat in August that won gold and bronze medals at the CanAmMex International Regatta. Powerfully built — DuPont calls him Hercules — Vizecky was asked what makes him so good.

“I don’t truly know,” he said. “I guess part of it’s luck, part of it’s like genetics, and part of it’s just good, hard work.”

That includes hours and months spent training on a rowing machine in the winter.

“When you’re sitting there, looking at a wall, it’s very repetitive,” Vizecky said. “Yeah, you need dedication.”

Elena Metzger, 15, won a national championship after just one year of rowing. She comes from a long line of athletes and has been involved in school and club volleyball and strength training. Her mother thought that rowing would be a fun new option for her.

“Actually, I just got back from camping, and my mom was like, ‘Hey, one of your childhood friends is in this program who does rowing,’” Metzger said.

Carly Buzzell, 15, is also a member of the championship boat. Their willingness to practice six days a week sets them apart. she said.

“We’re here every day, and we’re getting on the water and we’re putting in meters, probably more than every other team in Minnesota,” she said. “And I think just getting together as a team is very important, even off the water.”

Monica Schmidt, 15, is the coxswain — the person who faces forward, steers the boat and coordinates the power and rhythm of the rowers. She doesn’t pull an oar but helps set strategy and motivates her teammates.

“You want your coxswain to be the lightest, and so I was kind of thrown in there because I was light,” she said. ”But I actually really enjoyed it,” she said. “I really like motivating people, yeah, especially during these intense, intense races.”

Rachel Brings, 15, is “the stroke.” What’s that? “Basically, it’s just the person that, like, sets the pace for the boat,” she said. “So you decide how fast we’re gonna go, and then everybody follows you.”

And how does she decide that? Schmidt will decide on the rate, she said, “and then we have to figure out what pace works best for us, depending on how hard we can pull at certain speeds.

“So we’ll do like a sprint at the beginning. ... settle in with a little bit of a slower rating throughout the middle, and then a sprint at the end.”

How did Brings find out about Lake Phalen Rowing? “My mom met Mike [DuPont] in a Costco parking lot,” she said.

In the little more than a year that GraceLy Cilley, 15, has been rowing with her quad team, she’s realized her contribution to the crew is as much camaraderie as how hard she can pull an oar.

“I guess I’m just believing in each other and taking deep breaths and just trusting each other and communicating and going over the plan,” she said.