CARVER MEMORIES
 
WWU's Coon was 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year finalist
 
Rower earned accolades on and off water for Vikings
 
BELLINGHAM, Wash. --- On Oct. 17, 2010, Audrey Coon represented Western Washington University and Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the 20th Annual NCAA Woman of the Year Awards Banquet in Indianapolis, Ind. She was one of 30 finalists out of nearly 500 nominees, 10 coming from each of the NCAA's three divisions of competition.
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year award, one of the most prestigious the NCAA bestows, was established in 1991 to honor female student-athletes who have completed their eligibility, demonstrated academic  and athletics excellence while showing extraordinary community service. In the 28 years since it began no other Western female student-athlete has reached a higher level than Coon.
 
As a rower at WWU, Coon helped the Vikings to three consecutive national titles from 2007 to 2009 and was a first-team Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association All-American in 2009. During her three years seated in the varsity eight shell, Western did not lose to a non-Division I school. She was the team captain in 2009 and assistant captain in 2008.
 
Academically, Coon maintained a 3.96 (4.0 scale) grade point average, earning a degree in Spanish and Elementary Education and graduating Magna Cum Laude in December of 2009. Among her numerous academic awards, she twice earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America honors and was a three-time CoSIDA District 8 (includes Canada and states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington) Academic All-District selection.
 
Coon was Western's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2007, 2008 and 2009. And she shared the school's Female Athlete of the Year honor in 2009.
 
Throughout her Viking career, Coon was active in numerous community service and campus projects, serving on the WWU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and working on the WWU Women's Rowing Annual Food Drive.
 
Coon threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Seattle Mariners game on June 25, 2009, and received Faces in the Crowd recognition in the August 18, 2008, issue of Sports Illustrated.
 
Here is a video of the pregame celebration at the Mariners game:
 

Alaska Roots

Coon was born and raised on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. She attended Kenai Central High School in the coastal city of Kenai, population 7,000. There, she competed in cross country and track, each for two years, then added cross country skiing as a senior.
 
Other than an Introduction to Rowing class that she and her mother had taken one weekend during the summer of 2004, Coon had no rowing knowledge or experience in the sport prior to arriving at Western. Her home in Nikiski was located on a lake, but activity on it was limited unless you wanted to do something on ice.
 
Out of those beginnings came a rowing dynamo. Though just 5-foot-7 and 135 pounds, Coon packed heavyweight strength on a lightweight frame.
 
Decision For Western
 
Coon, a valedictorian in high school, was originally going to attend Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore. However, she also had applied to Western and soon realized the financial package she was going to receive there better suited her.
 
"And I knew Western had a rowing team and I liked the idea of maybe being an athlete in college," she said. "It was a pretty far-flung idea because I had never even met anyone who was an athlete in college. That sort of appealed to me, so I decided to make what seemed the more prudent choice and go to Western."
 
"My older sister had graduated from there a couple years prior. So, I knew about the school and had visited. For me it seemed like a good financial decision and I was excited to possibly dabble in rowing, and it was a great teacher's college. For me, it fit all the boxes."
 
Terminology Makes Difference
 
Rare is the freshman who comes to Western, or any college with a rowing program, having any real experience in the sport. Just a handful of high schools list rowing as an interscholastic sport and there are even less club sport opportunities for that age group.
 
But that two-day crash course in rowing with her mom proved to be a blessing for Coon.
 
"I remember walking on to the rowing team at Western," said Coon. "We had our information session and then I had gone out to our first practice where Karla (Landis), our assistant coach at that time, was talking about the equipment and specifically different kinds of oars. I distinctly remember her asking, 'Does anyone know what type of oar this is?' and I was like, 'That's a starboard oar,' and she was like, 'Do you have experience rowing?' and I said, 'Well, kind of,' and she was pleasantly surprised. After that I never rowed with the novice team again."
 
"It was a beautiful simple mistake because sure I had taken a Learn to Row course, but as soon as I got into a boat with the rest of these folks who had experience rowing it was like, 'Wow, I really have no idea what I'm doing.' So, it was an especially steep learning curve because I was among people who were so much better than me. But reflecting on that, it was awesome because I had to learn that much more quickly and that set the course for me to be able to row with the varsity team from then on. I didn't row with the any of the novices beyond that first day which was just a total trip. So it worked out pretty well."
 
The Grind
 
Thus began Coon's first year of rowing. Up every morning at 4 o'clock, carpool to practice at Lake Samish, work out on the water for two hours, attend classes, spend one hour in the afternoon either in the weight room or jogging, study and go to bed around 9 p.m. to be ready for the next day.
 
"I look back and say, 'How did I ever do that?'" Coon said. "I remember pushing out in the boat and our oars would literally break through the ice. There was like a thin sheet of ice on top of the water. We just had a ton of layers on and it was often raining. I remember during my freshman year that it rained 30 consecutive days and I just thought, 'My gosh, this is the hardest thing ever.'"
 
Did Coon ever think that rowing might not be the sport for her?
 
"Yes. I had second thoughts (that year)," she admitted. "The trouble is, if you've never rowed, you don't really know how much fun racing is until you've done it. And the rowing season is such delayed gratification, that if you don't know what you're looking forward to or you don't know what to expect, your freshman year can seem like an abomination. I mean there's nothing especially redeeming about the fall sport of rowing other than making friends and doing longer head races (time-trial competitions) among yourselves. But the races you're really training for aren't until spring season, and they are 2,000 meters and they are really, really fun."
 
"But my freshman year, I hadn't done anything other than school and rowing. My career at Western was really comprised of nothing much other than really focusing on school and being an athlete. And so I remember part way through my freshman year thinking this might be the end … And then spring came and my coach John Fuchs offered me a spring quarter scholarship, which I was so surprised by.
 
"Then racing season came and for me that was so much fun. I loved it. That sealed the deal and set the tone for the rest of my years. From then on, I never looked back."
 
Coon's freshman experience was not uncommon as she learned later while coaching collegiately. There she had to deal with people having second thoughts all the time.
 
"Retention is one of the trickiest things about recruiting in rowing." Coon said. "The attrition in the sport is just terrible. You can't get people to stick around if they don't buy in early on. And getting buy in in a sport like that is incredibly difficult."

 
Three Extraordinary Seasons
 
In 2007, Coon was one of two sophomore rowers in the varsity eight, occupying the No.2 seat. The Vikings won their third straight national title at Oak Ridge, Tenn., her boat winning by six seconds, which translates to approximately 1-1/2 boat lengths.
 
"It was just an awesome experience," said Coon. "I was among people who I really looked up to, and people who are now my lifelong friends.
 
"We went out to Tennessee for the NCAA nationals, my first time going to the NCAA post-season. I remember that being incredible. My whole family came out to see it. Everybody was so excited, and we won! It was the program's third NCAA championship, but it was the first for me and I loved it!"
 
As a junior, Coon was the team's assistant captain and sat in a varsity eight that had just one underclassman. Western was ranked No. 1 nationally all season long and won its fourth straight national crown, the varsity eight taking its grand final by three boat lengths.
 
"We had a lot of expectations that year, being ranked No. 1," Coon said. "We were working very hard and nationals was at Sacramento. At the end of that season, I remember thinking there was a lot of work to be done because we had lost (graduated) four incredible seniors who were really important and comprised the middle of the boat. We really had our work cut out for us."
 

That summer, Coon attended a national lightweight camp in Washington D.C. and won three medals at the U.S. Rowing Club national championships, including gold in the open lightweight eights and intermediate lightweight fours, as well as silver in the intermediate pairs.

In 2009, the Vikings had just two seniors in their top boat. They were Coon, the team captain and now occupying the No. 7 seat, and the coxswain. Completing the lineup were four freshmen, one sophomore and two juniors.
 
Though a "transition" season, the varsity eight won 10 times in as many races and continued its string of not losing to a Division II or III school that had begun in 2004. Despite that dominance, WWU ranked second entering nationals.
 
"There was, at least I felt, a lot of pressure," said Coon. "We had a really young varsity eight with four freshmen who had not picked up an oar until nearly October. I had sustained a back injury that spring, hurting it on the ergometer, and by the end of the season I was a total mess, taking 12 Ibuprofen a day and getting treatments as often as I could."
 
"Compounding that was being (ranked) second (nationally) and the pressure of our (championship) streak that there was so much hype about."
 
And, if that wasn't enough, Coon was doing her teaching internship that year.
 
"I remember we had some tumult in the four with a rower quitting after the lineups had been set," said Coon. "Just a lot of drama and sadness over that … At the NCAA Championships, the (varsity) four on the final day placed second (after being third in the qualifying heats). That gave us an opportunity to take the team title with an eight victory. We were down for some of the race and then when we crossed the finish line first (coming from behind to win by one boat length), I just cried so hard, tears of happiness and relief. An insane amount of gratification, particularly because there had been so much pressure leading up to that point."
 
"That was hands down the happiest moment of my college rowing career. It all turned out incredibly well, but it felt so high stakes. And to come out on the other side of it, that was a good feeling … I felt like there was so much a sense of relief after that season."
 
Interestingly, three Alaskan rowers were in that winning eight. Besides Coon, there was Casey Mapes of Anchorage and Heather Kelly of Bird Creek.
 
In the aftermath of that title, Coach Fuchs said of Coon, "Audrey led by example. She was one of the strongest women on the team, even though she was (technically) a lightweight. She was a model of excellence for the varsity eight, juggling her schedule all year to make the season a memorable one."
 
"Audrey was a great leader both athletically and academically," said Fuchs in summing up her career. "She was always positive and tried to keep things that way when we ran into adversity … And she was very respectful of her teammates."
 
Coon has nothing but plaudits when describing her time at Western.
 
"Studying at WWU was really one of the best decisions I made," Coon said. "Reflecting back on my time there, I realize what a positive and lasting impact my studies and being an athlete have had on my life."
 
"Western was a wonderfully nurturing campus for me to navigate while becoming an adult. My undergraduate courses and pre-service teacher training were exceptional and the opportunity to be part of the rowing team helped me grow and challenge myself in ways I would have never thought possible."
 
After Western
 
Following graduation from WWU, Coon was the novice rowing coach at NCAA III Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., for one year, and a graduate assistant and assistant coach for two seasons at NCAA I University of Portland while taking post-graduate courses. She also worked part-time at the Portland Park and Recreation Department's Adaptive and Inclusive Program, working one-on-one with children having special needs.
 
Coon then attended Boise State University where she earned a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology. She won the 2015-16 Boise State Distinguished Master's Thesis Award for her thesis, "Predicting College Women Rowers' Motivation and Persistence: A Self-Determination Theory Approach."
  Coon had witnessed attrition in the teams she had coached and was concerned that the programs and coaches weren't doing enough to ensure rowers stuck with the sport. She felt as though universities were starting rowing teams in an effort to satisfy their compliance with Title IX, but were failing to ensure athlete persistence in the sport. Coon truly believed in the positive impact that rowing can have on an athlete's life, and decided to tackle the problem as part of her thesis research.
 
Coon also obtained a certificate in college teaching at BSU and was an adjunct instructor in its Kinesiology department teaching exercise psychology.
 
"It's hard to put into words just how impactful being a rowing athlete and coach has been," Coon said. "It really has shaped the course of my life in very unexpected ways! I would have never coached or studied Kinesiology had I not stepped foot in Miller Hall for the rowing information meeting. I've met wonderful people, coached really inspiring young athletes, and made lifelong friends."
 
"Without a doubt, one lesson that rowing has taught me (and not coincidentally was the premise of my Master's thesis research) is persistence. Rowing challenged me physically, but also psychologically. I found grit and tenacity that I didn't realize I had and dug deeper to achieve my goals than I really thought was possible. I know from my time as an athlete and coach, that I can do and persist in most anything I put my mind to."
 
Another Direction
 
Following four years of teaching and coaching, Coon has now gone in a completely different direction from academia.
 
One of the classes Coon took at Boise State, just for herself, was Ceramics 101. From that has emerged a home studio, displaying her work at shows and a small pottery business.
 
"Now, I'm in this sort of art career and it's a real blast," she said. "My dad gave me some good advice. You don't have to have one career for your whole life. Those words have been really helpful for me. I'm now doing totally different things and it has been a fun journey."
 
On Sept. 4, 2016, Coon married Adam Schwind, who she met during her time at Western. They are expecting their first child in May. In all, they have been together for 10 years. Schwind grew up in Bellingham and is currently a hospitalist following his medical residency with the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho.
 

Always ready for an adventure, the couple has twice gone mountain climbing in the French Alps and completed a 500-mile bike tour through the southwest portion of the United States.

After originally looking at elementary education, Audrey Schwind now feels university teaching may be her calling in the future after taking time off for herself and her husband.
 
"I'm so excited about what the future holds for our little family," she said. "Adam and I have really been through a lot together - my rowing career and NCAA coaching tenure, Adam's medical school and residency training, graduate school and teaching at Boise State, three moves, lots of jobs, and now we are starting a family! My dad and I used to say to each other, 'You know, it just doesn't get any better than this.' I think that sums up nicely my outlook on life and optimism for the future." 
 
Presented by Paul Madison who served 48 years as sports information director at WWU from 1966 to 2015. He is now in his seventh year as the school's Athletics Historian.