MARIANA FALCO

Mari learned to row on the Charles River during high school, after realizing she wasn't very good at ball sports. Since then, she has rowed at CRI in Boston, Texas Rowing Center in Austin, and even spent some time on the Thames with Imperial College London before moving to Philly in 2012. Over the past 11 years on Boathouse Row, Mari has found some of her greatest friendships, raced at the masters level in most boat classes (sweep and scull), and medaled locally as well as at Masters Nationals and Masters Worlds. Though a native of Argentina, Mari spent half of her childhood in Boston and loves heading back home to the Head of the Charles whenever she gets the chance. Mari has also been coaching since 2007, when she unexpectedly stepped in as the novice girls' coach at Brookline High School, her alma mater, and never looked back. Since then, she has coached at the high school, collegiate, and masters levels at Boston University, Texas Rowing Center, Temple University, and Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club. 

A lightweight rower and PennAC member, when Mari is not on the water she can usually be found running - training for her next marathon or the Schuylkill Navy Run (with which she has a love/hate relationship) - or searching for the best tacos in town. Mari is a licensed social worker and the director of programs at Students Run Philly Style, a non-profit organization where she leads running and mentorship programs for young people. She dreams of a world where young people can overcome their hardest days and communities can find healing through the power of sport. So in her nonexistent free time, Mari is ever so slowly working towards her PhD in social work and social research at Bryn Mawr College.