Athlete Spotlight: Andrew Mangan

What is your favorite workout?

I have always enjoyed long, early morning, steady-state pieces both on the erg and the water. As I get into the flow of the piece, especially now that I primarily row in a single, these pieces always remind me why I love rowing. Steady-state pieces also allow me to calibrate to whatever rigging adjustments were made and sync up for the drills and shorter pieces we have planned.

What are your goals with Para Rowing?

My goal in para rowing is to represent the U.S. at the Paralympics. There are a lot of intermediary goals involved in achieving that: qualify for worlds, continue to improve my erg scores, etc. I have been extraordinarily lucky with all of the help and support I have received as I have begun training and racing again as a para athlete, and none of what I have achieved, or am hoping to achieve, would be possible without that support. For two years after I was injured in 2016, I thought I wouldn't ever race again. Hopefully in my effort to reach my goals, I can show someone else that if I can do it, they can too.

What do you like to do outside of training for fun?

I love spending time outdoors with my five siblings and parents either skiing, sailing, or kitesurfing. I recently built an adaptive kitesurf board, so now I don't have to watch from the beach. We grew up on the shores of Lake Erie, so I have always loved any activities that include water!

Any other fun fact?

In 2019, I was participating in a fundraiser for the High Fives Foundation, the organization helping me purchase a shell to train and race in. I ended up erging a 100k piece that took me 11+ hours. After I finished I realized that, because I was the first adaptive athlete to do it, I had also set the world record. I don't expect to hold it long given how slow I went!