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Joel Furtek came to Chapel Hill in July of 1997, charged with building UNC’s 28th varsity sport and determined not to wait patiently for the Tar Heels to appear on the national radar. In his first year as head coach, Carolina finished its season at the NCAA Championships and brought home a bronze medal in the 4+. Since then, the Tar Heel varsity eight has regularly appeared in the national top 25. “Joel has done a fabulous job of establishing our rowing program,” UNC athletic director Dick Baddour says. “The team represents Carolina especially well, from both an academic and an athletic standpoint.” Furtek was a standout soccer player at Notre Dame High in Utica, N.Y., and his rowing career began soon after he enrolled at Yale University in 1986. “I knew that my soccer career was complete, but I wanted to be a varsity athlete in college,” he says. “Little did I know the important role rowing would play in my education and in my life.” A four-year member of the Yale crew and a two-year letterman, he was the coxswain for the Bulldogs’ lightweight crew that went undefeated on its way to the 1990 national collegiate rowing championship and competed at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta in England. In his senior year, he was awarded the Henry Babcock Award for outstanding spirit. Furtek also coxed at the Kelly Challenge in Mandelieu, France, and at the U.S. National Team Selection Camp in 1993. He also has skulled and rowed competitively with the Rivanna Rowing Association in Charlottesville, Va. After earning a degree in history in 1990, Furtek spent two years working for the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1992, he returned to rowing as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia. Furtek coached the novice program at Virginia for four years, which included an undefeated Southern Champion crew in 1996 and Southern and Central championships in 1997. “I have been a coach, in one form or another, all my life,” he says. “The fact that I’m able to direct my efforts to the development of our student-athletes makes this the best job in the world. And, I get to wear sneakers to work every day.” Furtek is the director of Chapel Hill Rowing Camps, which have provided 300 high school athletes with a look at what college rowing is like. “Our camps are an extension of our program,” he says. “We use rowing as a vehicle for personal development, and it’s never too early to start that education.” Furtek also has amassed five years of graduate work in exercise physiology at the University of Virginia. Off the water, Furtek enjoys working on his collection of International Harvester trucks. “Joel’s International House of Pickups” includes eight models dating from 1960 to 1972. “Working with our student-athletes is an emotionally rewarding but often draining career,” Furtek says. “When I pull out the wrenches and work on my trucks, that’s my time to learn, to recharge my batteries, and to work in a world of concrete results.” His original condition 1960 B184 pickup recently placed second at the International Harvester Scout and Light Truck Nationals in Springfield, Ohio. Furtek shares his Chatham County homestead with his dog, Clay, whom he adopted from Chatham Animal Rescue and Education.
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