Hobart and William Smith Colleges Athletics

A trailblazing Statesman and a U.S. Olympian, Smack is the first rower to be inducted into the Hobart Athletic Hall of Fame. The success that he and his teammates enjoyed on the water helped return the sport to varsity status and paved the way for the national prominence of today’s program.

Smack arrived at Hobart with hopes of playing lacrosse, but after a check split his stick in two during tryouts, he decided to pursue his athletic ambitions in another sport. Influenced by his sister Jen, who rowed at Skidmore, Smack joined Hobart crew under Head Coach Jim Joy. Over the next four years, Hobart boasted one of the top teams in the state, ranking second in 1994 and first in each of the next three seasons. In addition to strong performances regionally, the team competed in the Head of the Charles and at the Henley Royal Regatta in England. Smack and his teammates also posted three straight top 10 performances at the national championship regatta, a predecessor of today’s National Invitational Rowing Championships. Smack was elected team captain during his senior year.

Off the water, Smack excelled in the classroom and was engaged in the campus community. His academic honors included the 1996 Irving Louis Horowitz Prize and the Alumni Council Academic Excellence Award. He was a Hobart Scholar, Hale Scholar and Durfee Scholar and Dean’s List honoree, graduating cum laude. A member of student court and the Hobart Student Association, Smack was also a founder of the committee on reviving Hobart tradition and instilling a closer knit community for men.

Smack’s hard work on the water as a student paid off after graduation, earning him a spot on the U.S. National Rowing Team in 2001. That year, he placed 13th at the World Championships in the men’s double sculls event. Over the next several years, he trained rigorously in advance of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and ultimately qualified for the U.S. team in the men’s quadruple sculls, following a seventh place finish at the World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland. In Athens, Smack and the U.S. quad finished fourth in its opening heat, won its repechage, placed fifth in its semifinal and finished 11th overall — amounting to one of the best performances by a U.S. quad in years.

In 2005, Smack returned to campus as the featured speaker on Charter Day, when the Colleges dedicated a shell named in his honor.

In addition to his Hobart diploma, Smack also holds a master’s degree in communications and information studies from Rutgers University. He is the CEO of ESM Software in Lincoln, Mass. Smack and his wife, Amy Wettergreen Smack ’96, live in Carlisle, Mass. They have three children, Madeleine, Acadia and Cameron.