As Anna Gambescia crossed the finish line of her final race with the St. Joseph University’s Varsity 8 rowing team, it was a bittersweet moment.
Gambescia and the Hawks were awarded bronze at the Atlantic 10 women’s rowing championship that took place at Fish Creek in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. It had been almost eight years since their last appearance on the podium.
“I knew that once we crossed that line, I was done in my career,” Gambescia said. “I was already crying before we crossed the line, but I never thought that we would be in the position that we were in. For our team, who have been just trying to get to top three in our first varsity boat for so long … it was not expected at all to beat the teams that we did. ”
After leading the Hawks all season as the team’s coxswain, she also earned a 2023 Atlantic 10 All-Conference second team selection. However, when she first found out, it took her by surprise.
At the award ceremony of the Atlantic 10 Championship, Gambescia, overwhelmed with excitement after earning the bronze medal, was taking a picture of the medal to send to her friend on St. Joseph’s men’s rowing team. In the process, her name was called when the Atlantic 10 All-Conference second team selections were being announced.
“I had no clue what was going [on],” Gambescia said. “I looked over at my best friend Ally and said ‘Ally what is this for?’ and she was already videoing me, cheering me on.”
It wasn’t until she was holding the award in her hand that she realized the honor she had been given.
“In no world was I expecting that because we have such a big conference,” Gambescia said. “It’s insane to be even recognized to represent the conference.”
Along with her coxswain prowess, she was also recognized for her academic achievements.
Gambescia was one of three Hawks named Scholar Athlete by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. For qualification, a student-athlete must be in at least their second year of eligibility, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher and have raced in 75% of their teams’ spring races or in an NCAA boat at the conference championship.
Since she embarked onto her first boat, all of her hard work has led to this.
Gambescia began rowing at the start of high school, where she attended Council Rock North. Aided by the influence of her dad – a former rower at Temple University – she decided to follow in his footsteps.
She discovered her passion at Swan Creek Rowing Club in Lambertville, N.J. With her club, she would frequent the Delaware River four times each week. At that time, she thought of rowing as an out-of-school activity that would keep her busy.
“It began as an extracurricular thing,” Gambescia said. “It wasn’t truly my life until I got into college.”
When the time came to search for colleges, she only looked at schools with rowing teams. After deciding between Temple and St. Joseph’s, she chose the Hawks because she felt wanted there.
But going from a club team to a collegiate team required sedulous work. However, the extra time helped her realize her love for the sport.
“I went from a club team to a collegiate team so it was so much more intense,” Gambescia said. “It was 10 practices a week rather than four. There was a lot of extra studying I had to do to understand what was going on. But once all that kind of became second nature to me, I feel like there was nothing better to me than when I was with a boat.”
The tasks for Gambescia as coxswain became especially challenging as she progressed to the collegiate level. Along with steering the boat using two strings on each side of her legs, Gambescia was the voice. It was crucial that she communicated effectively with her teammates about what she’s seeing and feeling.
“It’s a lot of multitasking and trying to find the right flow to the boat,” Gambescia said. “I have a notebook of my whole team. Every rower has their own page of what they’re working out and what they’re going through.
“She was a great leader, really committed to the sport and learning everything she could about it,” St. Joseph’s women’s rowing head coach Gerry Quinlan said. “She was basically an extension of the coaching staff. She was really knowledgeable on the technical aspects of our team.”
Despite having a year of eligibility left, Gambescia plans to set focus toward her career goals.
After graduating with bachelor’s degrees in elementary education and special education, she is currently pursuing her master’s degree and is taking summer courses at St. Joe’s.
“I want to focus on my teaching,” Gambescia said. “It was really hard to teach and be at practice and school at the same time. As much as rowing is my life, teaching is going to be my life next year.”
And although her collegiate career has come to an end, she is not ready to let go of rowing just yet. Gambescia is planning to help coach back where she first found her love for the sport — Swan Creek Rowing Club.
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