Eric Costanzo

Profession: Pulmonary Critical Care Specialist, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Shore Pulmonary

Family: Single, raising three wonderful children ages 10, 12, and 14.

Racing Start: USLA nationals, first one being Cape May in the mid 90's and really came into my own at the Chicago Nationals in 1998

Training: Squeezing it in is the real effort. The strains of work, family, and life in general actually guided me into the sport of open water surf ski racing. When I decided to train again, the limits on my time caused me to focus on one discipline rather then board paddling, spec ski racing, and rowing. I enjoyed an epiphany racing in my first distance race in 2010 at the Nahant Cup. Proud to say I finished dead last but was hooked. I train on the ski 5-7 times per week. When the wind is up, I am on the ocean. The sessions are either early before work, on a quick lunch break, or after hours. I am not adverse to night time paddling and have had some great late night and early morning sessions. The new mission is to mix flat water technical sessions with open water speed work. I am really fortunate to have a great list of paddlers including Matt Nunnally, Sean Brennan, Craig Impens, and Jesse Lishchuck. Lately, I have been on Mercer Lake working on stroke and technique with Jesse < a truly wonderful paddler and person > with good results. Sessions are usually a mix of one 2 hour paddle per week, one long interval piece, one or two downwind sessions and 2-3 high intensity sprint pieces per week. I have added weight training and boxing for the cross training effort.

Favorite Moment: I would have to say getting on the podium in 2013 in the New England Down Wind Championships was a big moment that gave me lots of confidence moving forward. Racing 85 skis, and 20 professionals and cracking the top 20 in the 2015 Canadian Surfski Champs with my father and children cheering me on was quite a special moment. My favorite moments are the drives with my dad as he drops me off in Sea Girt and then drives to Allenhurst where he leaves my car for me to do my favorite downwind run. Great father and son bonding and always fun shooting for my PB. However, my favorite moment was lining up against 22 skis at the first annual 2015 SeasIt downwind race from Manasquan to Allenhurst: a race I organized for a charity and mission near and dear to my heart. This past season, I was part of the Stellar Kayak racing team and this honor really has been the pinnacle of my recent achievement

Equipment: Stellar Sel 1g unlimted surk ski, Stellar 2g SEL, Hayden PR3 spec ski, and various skis I have collected along the way. Cross training equipment includes a Kracka 10'6" paddle board.

Achievements:

top 20 Canadian SurfSki Championships 2015
2nd place Nahant Bay Cup 2015
2nd place SeasIt downwind run 2015
2nd place Barnegat Bay Challenge 2015
2nd place Cape Cod Downwind Champonships
Top 5, Run of the Charles flat water race 2015
3rd place Sekonnet River Challenge 2015
3rd place Jamestown Double Beaver open water Challenge
top ten placement 2013, 2014 East Coast Surf Ski Championships, Lighthouse to lighthouse 14 mile run
Podium placement in the Surf Ski racing series with a 3rd place series finish, follwoing a fourth place 2014 series finish.
Sponsored paddler 2014-2015 Stellar Kayak team

Extra Extra: SeasIt is a non profit organization founded by my sister and her late husband, Todd McGovern that promotes healthy lifestyle and activity while dealing with cancer.