October 2022 - Esther Briz Zamorano

Esther Briz Zamorano (ESP) is making waves in the rowing world. Last year, a month after trying Coastal rowing for the first time, Esther teamed up with her longtime friend Ander Martin Domingo. They won gold at the 2021 World Rowing Coastal Championships and the 2021 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in the Mixed Double. They repeated that same feat earlier this month at the 2022 edition, and claimed the same title at the European level this past weekend in San Sebastian. After graduating from Stanford University in the spring, she is making rowing her full time job back in Spain – not to mention she has also recently been elected to the World Rowing Athletes’ Commission. She is our October 2022 Rower of the Month.

How was your 2022 season?

Esther Briz Zamorano: Oh, well, it depends. So I guess the Coastal rowing part was pretty good. Ander and I managed to win both titles again, so that’s awesome. But I also do flat water rowing. I missed out on the A-Final at the U23 World Champs in the Women’s Single Sculls by less than a second. So I won the B-Final, but I think I should have been a little bit higher than that.

You’ve just completed your last year in the Under 23 category, are you ready to go the the next level?

EBZ: Yes, and I just graduated from Stanford in June. So from now on, I will just be focusing on rowing and not on studying anymore. That is going to be a big change for me, I guess a big investment, too. So hopefully something good comes out of that.

In Coastal rowing, you and Ander won two gold medals last year at Worlds; one in the Endurance Format, and one at the Beach Sprint Finals. And then you repeated that achievement this year. Was defending those titles something that, with you being away for the majority of the year studying, you thought was achievable?

EBZ: It has to be the goal, right? You cannot not aim for something less than that. But in coastal rowing, where there are so many factors that you can’t control, especially with the waves, it’s just very unpredictable, and everyone is aware of that. But obviously we’re fighting for that gold. And it is the first time I’m just rowing and not studying at the same time. I spent the whole month of September doing coastal rowing.

You both competed this year at the U23 Champs?

EBZ: Yes, Ander was in the Men’s Quadruple Sculls.

How did you first get into rowing? Flat water and coastal?

EBZ: I started rowing 12 years ago, when I was 10 years old. I was a competitive swimmer, but it’s not the same kind of competitive level I’m at now. I was pretty good, but I think I needed a change. I knew I wanted to do something different, and try new things. My brother joined the rowing team because we belong to a sports club that comprises many different sports. So we were on the swimming team, and then he joined the rowing team with a friend. He didn’t even know what rowing was. And I didn’t know what rowing was a week before I started.

In Spain, in general, rowing is not the most popular sport. And where I am from, in Zaragoza, even less. It’s very cool to go to different places around the world and see how rowing is impactful. But for me, none of the members of my family rowed or had anything to do with the sport. So it was kind of like, let’s try this out. And then you start working out, and you started getting better and better, and you want to do more.

As for coastal rowing, in the autumn of 2021, I was planning on racing at the senior World Championships in China, but the event was cancelled because of COVID. So I needed to do something else. I had raced at the European U23s,  and I couldn’t race at the World U23s because I was working. I had an internship in Washington State. After the European U23s in Poland, I started doing coastal rowing. Ander and I had been friends for a while. He won the men’s double sculls in Hong Kong at the World Rowing Coastal Championships in 2019. And, it just worked. I went straight to Portugal, we had two really good Championships there. Then I went back to Stanford.

You just got into coastal rowing right before Portugal (the 2021 World Rowing Coastal Championships & Beach Sprint Finals) and it’s gone pretty well since – what was the key to your success?

EBZ: Actually, the first time I did coastal rowing was at the National trials in Spain in 2021. That was the weekend before the European U23s in Poland. And it just happened to be a Spanish Beach Sprints Championship. I mean, it just happened to be really, really close to the place that I was. So I was thinking, ‘I’ll just go, and if we don’t win, I’ll just do the endurance race.” And we qualified. The first endurance race, it was at the World Championships.

You have a couple world titles under your belt now. So do you consider yourself a coastal rower?

EBZ: I do, but I also consider myself a flat water rower. That’s what I do most of the time. You can combine both trainings well, like the erg or running or whatever. The kind of training that you would use for flat water rowing, you can apply that to coastal rowing, and you have to adjust sometimes. Obviously when you go to the water, the situation is not the same, but the workouts are pretty similar, and you need both aerobic and anaerobic capacities.

Do you have a good understanding of how the water works, such as the tides and how to ride a wave?

EBZ: You need to control that in coastal rowing. Well, I started rowing on a coastal river, so I had to learn very quickly with the tides. Because obviously, like the tides and waves, coastal rowing is a mix of rowing and surfing. So you need to get on the wave and stay there, which is the hard part.

Do you think some aspects of coastal rowing can help you in flat water rowing as well?

EBZ: Ultimately, you’re still rowing. So you need to place your blade into the water. There’s some leniency, but the basics, just applying power, that’s the same. You need to control your hands more in coastal rowing. You know the water is not going to be the same all the time, it’s going to change, a wave is going to come. If you miss a stroke, you can recover that pretty quickly. Whereas in flat water rowing, you’re just doing the same thing over and over again.

How do you see the future of coastal rowing?

EBZ: I think it’s looking pretty good. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to go, but there is a race in August in Bali (the 2023 ANOC World Beach Games). I wish I could go. In coastal, there are races in such different places, compared to flat water rowing. You have some places that you usually go to, and you kind of know what to expect. While in coastal rowing, it’s a bit more exotic. I went to Monaco last year, it was great. The environment, the atmosphere these events have, is different. And I think the rowing world is doing a pretty good job with giving coastal rowing more power. On TV, it’s fun and enjoyable to watch. It’s not just a race where maybe two, three boats are fighting with each other. It’s more fun to watch. There are some rowers who are really taking advantage of that, which is really, really cool for the sport.

What are you doing outside of rowing, now that you’re no longer a student?

EBZ: The thing I like to do the most is hanging out with friends, with people. I really enjoy the company of people I love and people who love me. But when you’re just rowing and not doing anything else, you’re dedicating a lot of time to the sport, and you still need a source of income. You still have to pay rent and you don’t have income, so that can be a little bit hard. So I’m also trying to find some partnerships. I’m interested in talking to anyone who could help me and willing to provide my best to continue competing at this level.

And what are your upcoming goals in rowing?

EBZ: I would say senior World Championships next year, as that is the qualifying event for the Olympics, and then obviously the Olympic Games in 2024. So we’ll see. But that’s the goal as of right now.

Do you have a favourite rowing location for flat water and / or coastal?

EBZ: Seville. I will say Seville because I have really good memories from there. The weather is usually good there, the water is very nice. I enjoy Seville a lot. For coastal rowing, I would say Torrevieja.

You were recently elected to the World Rowing Athletes’ Commission as be the coastal representative. What does this mean to you and what do you hope to bring to the Athletes’ Commission?

EBZ: I think it’s a very good opportunity to have a voice and while I haven’t been doing coastal rowing for ten years, I’ve done a lot of races and I’m in touch with a lot of people from different teams, people who also have more experience than me. And I think I can vocalise that, and put that into perspective, for someone who’s not from coastal rowing.

If you could give one piece of advice to somebody who’s starting rowing, what would it be?

EBZ: Be patient, enjoy the process. I think for rowing, you have a real learning curve – when you’re a beginner, you think, wow, this is so hard. And then you do two more days of training and you think “Oh, I can do it”. And then you’re starting your fifth day of training in a row. And so on… That’s the fun part, learning is hard, but learning is fun.

And do you have a most memorable piece of advice that’s been said to you in terms of rowing? Like a coach said something, it’s just stuck with you.

EBZ: My coach from home says ‘Paso corto, mirada larga‘. Small steps, but long term view. It meant look at what you’re doing here right now. You’re at this stage, but just keep in mind that the path is long, but there is a path.

Do you have a mentor or an athlete that you admire?

EBZ: I recently met Emma Twigg. She’s a pretty cool rower. I talked to her a little bit at the coastal champs, which was really awesome.

How was it to have a home event in Spain?

EBZ: My parents came, some friends came, the weather was nice. So I think it was a really enjoyable championship. It was fun, for sure.