Athletes of the Week: Adar Tulloch & Will Kalikman

Adar Tulloch and Will Kalikman are not only the captains of Big Red Boys’ Crew but also the backbones of their racing shell. This season, the captains combined their leadership skills with their admirable abilities to yank hard on their oar handles to win Exeter the number three seed going into the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Championships (NEIRAs) this Saturday. 

Both captains bring incredible individual skills to the team, and when combined, they create a remarkable set of boats. Head coach Albert Léger described Adar as “a beautiful magician,” while summarizing Kalikman in one word: “devotion.”

Kalikman first took to the waters in eighth grade when he and his family realized that his height might be an advantage in rowing. He learned fundamentals at his rowing club in San Francisco and brought them with him to Exeter to earn a spot on varsity his prep year. When he arrived at Exeter, Francis Baviera-Maloney, one of last year’s captains, helped Kalikman develop his passion for the sport and helped him improve a lot. “He encouraged me to work out during the winter and row for a competitive club team during the summer,” Kalikman said. 

Kalikman does not deny that rowing can sometimes “hurt a lot,” yet despite the physical and mental challenge, he loves rowing because “it is the ultimate team sport … No one superstar is going to make the whole boat amazing; rowing together and being on the same page is far more important than any individual’s talent.”

Senior and self-proclaimed assistant captain, Aaron Baez, describes Kalikman as the “second coach.” “He has astonishing rowing knowledge and shares it with the whole boat every day to make us all improve,” Baez said. Léger added that Kalikman is “a leader by example.” 

Kalikman was the only non-senior on Exeter’s boat at the Head of the Charles Regatta two years ago, where Exeter’s boat finished eighth out of over 80 boats from around the world. “Kalikman stepped up and showed great maturity and leadership ability because he got thrown into a tough position, and the boat ended up with an astonishing finish,” Léger said. 

Kalikman described this race as an unforgettable experience. “Despite it being incredibly physically unpleasant, passing crews flying down the Charles River will remain one of my all-time favorite experiences,” he said.

To Kalikman, being a captain means exactly what Léger praised him for. Kalikman values leading by example and says that he “puts everything into each practice, both on the erg and on the water.”

According to Léger, Kalikman has been “devoted to the sport since his prep year; he rows in the fall and spring, and in the winter he ergs. Then in the summer, he goes to very competitive racing camps.” Baez thinks that this devotion has rubbed off on the team because “he never skips a workout and is always bringing the team together to do extra workouts outside of practice.”

Two seats in front of Kalikman sits his fellow captain Adar Tulloch, who strokes the top Exeter boat. Unlike Kalikman, Tulloch had no prior rowing experience upon his arrival to crew tryouts his prep spring. He didn’t even know what sport he was going to do in the spring until an upper in his dorm suggested rowing to him and his friends. 

Tulloch remembers attending tryouts in the gym and “being confused on exactly what the ergometer machine had to do with the actual sport of rowing.” He doubted his future with the sport until he was put on boat five with a couple of his friends. The support he recieved from older rowers during his first season played a crucial role in his decision to continue with the sport. 

Aside from enjoying the closely-knit team that he calls his “brothers,” Tulloch loves to row simply because he loves to “go fast.” “The feeling of those first twenty strokes off a start, as we bolt through the water as if our legs might never get tired, never fails to provide elation,” Tulloch said.

Tulloch’s favorite rowing moment happened three weeks ago on Friday just before a regatta against Kent School, where the boat was sprinting down a stretch of open water dubbed “The Straight.” Suddenly, the weather changed. Rain began to pour, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed. 

“Somehow, the abrupt weather change seemed to energize all nine of us; I had never felt such a euphoric sense of in the moment, and I swear our boat attained that ‘next gear’ of raw, unleashed power that still vividly amazes me to this day,” Tulloch said. 

The biggest challenge for Tulloch throughout his rowing career has been stroking Exeter’s first boat. Being the stroke of a boat is an important responsibility as they set the tempo for the boat. “It’s easy to have a slight sense of self-doubt when a lot of people who sit right behind you are faster, heavier, taller, et cetera,” Tulloch said. 

However, he came to appreciate stroking the boat because he loves “feeling the power of the whole boat, coordinating it to form a beautiful ratio of power and recovery.” This realization helped Tulloch “overcome, and embrace, the duties that stroking a boat necessitates.”

Léger could not be more proud and impressed by Tulloch’s improvement in his four years. “There’s a saying in the crew team that when everything goes right, it’s like a symphony in motion, and I can’t think of a better expression for Adar, who’s such a beautiful magician and stroke of the first varsity boat,” Léger said. He continued that Tulloch “has a beautiful rhythm that is natural to him, and the guys just follow him like a symphony; it’s a beautiful symphony in motion to see that first boat go.” Many rowers feel this is a fitting description, as Tulloch is also known as a beautiful pianist, earning him the nickname “Piano Man.”

Baez noted the many times Tulloch encouraged him in moments when he wanted to give up. Indeed, Tulloch noted,“Yes, the erg workouts are going to be hard. But finishing it well, with 100 percent effort, is, in my opinion, one way to ‘lead’ a team.” 

Tulloch also values being very welcoming to the younger rowers, as he remembers that when he was a novice rower, many of the older rowers supported him through his first season and helped him find his love for the sport.

Both captains have been pivotal in sharing their knowledge of the sport with their teammates this season. Senior and self-proclaimed assistant captain, Charlie Brigham, said, “Will and Adar have taught me everything I know about rowing.”

Big Red Boys’ Crew has been extremely lucky to have Kalikman and Tulloch leading their team; one gives the boat valuable insights on how to improve specific things that the coaches can’t pick up from a launch boat. he other sets a perfect rhythm for the orchestra behind him that all follow in perfect harmony. These two captains are why Exeter will be in close competition for the New England title this coming Saturday.