Kowal uses coaching to raise daughter
Confidence, gratification, and poise are three qualities Iowa rowing head coach Mandi Kowal tries to teach her athletes.
They’re also three qualities she tries to implement as a parent.
Kowal and her 3-year-old daughter, Madison, celebrated Mother’s Day together on Sunday. Over the last year, Kowal said, she has learned how to use her job as a coach to improve her role as a mother.
“One of the reasons I got into coaching is because there’s nothing like being involved in a sport, and the peaks and valleys you go through with each other on a team in building confidence,” the 16th-year head coach said. “Like my rowers, and with Madison now, I want her to be confident and feel like they can do anything.”
The change in attitude has been noticed by assistant coach Carrie Callen, who said she remembers how much the adoption process took out of Kowal.
When the coach came to practice, the rowers knew she wasn’t the same energetic and confident person.
However, since the adoption of Madison from Vietnam two years ago, she has found new ways to balance her double life as a mother and a coach, Callen said.
“The team has supported Mandi the whole time and has seen [Madison] grow up every year,” the fourth-year assistant coach said. “Coach Kowal will bring Madison to practices now, and it brings a lot of smiles to the team. It’s nice for the team and Madison to see a different side of Mandi they normally don’t get to see.”
But Kowal said her duties as a coach often affects the time she can spend with her young daughter.
As the Hawkeyes prepare for a run at the NCAA Tournament, Kowal’s moments with Madison are limited.
She doesn’t see her daughter until after work — around 4:30 p.m. She spends the rest of her evenings with her 3-year-old until bedtime. From 7:30 to 10 p.m., though, Kowal is back at work, preparing for the next morning’s practice.
“Being a coach most helps me with the time management of being a mom,” Kowal said. “Getting [Madison] on a routine with my partner is really a team effort. We do a lot to help each other out.”
Kowal and her spouse, Karla Brendler, said they make sure the family spends time and has dinner every night together.
“I cherish all the time when we are always together,” Kowal said. “It’s when we come together and help each other out.”
The best advice Kowal said she received since adopting Madison was for her and Brendler to have time to themselves.
“I’ve learned more than anything over the last year is that you have to cut some time for yourself,” said the former Olympian, who enjoys exercising and preparing for triathlons. “I was able to watch a movie for the first time in a month with the team, and it was relaxing and just what I needed. We are trying to do more of that.”
Kowal said time with her rowers helps rejuvenate her for life at home. However, the best part of her days are when she picks up Madison after practice.
With her 3-year-old in a joyful mood, her life as a coach and a mother is simplified, she said.
“You have a different entity when you have this little human being that you are in charge of, and I don’t take it lightly,” Kowal said. “It’s an added responsibility, but it’s a great one. I just love seeing her develop and spending time and teaching her the best way I know. It’s just so much fun.”
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