Matthew Haynes ’00 wasn’t looking for a life on the water — just a summer job.
When he walked into a temp agency to find warehouse work, the agent noticed on his resume that he rowed at Lehigh. So she mentioned a summer position on the water that she had seen posted recently.
She began to dig through her papers, then flip through the Yellow Pages, and eventually gave up and called the mayor’s office.
A new company had just received city permits to operate on the river that cuts through downtown, and Haynes was on the phone with the owner who needed another gondolier for one of the two Venetian boats he was rowing through Providence, Rhode Island.
Soon, Matthew became “Marcello,” spending the summer before his senior year at Lehigh singing Italian ballads and rowing — not necessarily in that order — while wearing the traditional uniform of a straw hat with blue ribbon and black-and-white striped shirt.
Today, he owns that company and operates it in two locations (Ciao, Naples, Florida!). He credits his days at Lehigh for many of the intangible qualities that define his success.
Falling in Love With Rowing
A classmate in his freshman dorm (Centennial II) kept urging Haynes to join him on the rowing team. Finally, he went to a single practice — the last one of the fall season. So few showed up that the coach rowed stroke in Haynes boat.
“There was something so powerful about eight slides rising up together, dropping down in rhythm, driving through a stroke, and locking in … that I fell in love,” says Haynes.
He rowed for three years, becoming intensely dedicated, running nearly six miles to the landing, rowing through practice, and then running back to campus.
During his fifth year on campus as a presidential scholar, he served as the assistant coach for the women’s novice team. They shared his intensity, pushing both him and themselves to their limits and winning major races.
“We punched well above our weight class over my three years of racing at Lehigh,” he says.
The history and biology double major also used his time at Lehigh to develop as a person. He had moved through high school in silence, too shy to speak. Lehigh helped build his confidence. He learned how to learn and pushed himself to work hard. He analyzed with skepticism and relished the cultural perspectives that defined the student body. Rowing provided structure and focus as he balanced dual practices on most days.
A phrase said in an immunology class with Steve Krawiec, professor emeritus of biological sciences, has stayed with him: The excitement is in the concept, and the beauty is in the details.
“As a small business owner, gondolier, father, and husband, this utterance in a class captures my need to have an overarching plan and a fine attention to detail,” he says.
Rowing as a Business
There are rules at his gondola company, named after the gondolier who inspired it. The Luciano Rule says there should be no fires on a boat. Poor Luciano has fashioned a second rule as well: Only damage one boat at a time. The Giuliana Rule states that a gondolier should never sacrifice herself to save a boat.
It’s clear that Haynes has fun and cares for his cast and crew. When they hit a company milestone, he took them all to Venice, just as his boss did when he was just 23 years old.
“Rowing under the Rialto Bridge in the Grand Canal during my very first trip to Venice will always remain a highlight of my life,” he says.
He’s traveled to Venice eight times for work and pleasure.
Rowing is part of his soul. He worked summers at the gondola company for eight years before buying it. It’s been under his captainship for 20 seasons. From early May to early November, he operates four boats. He has three more in his yard in various states of unseaworthiness and has plans to buy one from Venice and build another on his own.
As for actually rowing a gondola, the learning curve is steep.
He estimates it takes 20 hours on the water in the right conditions before gondoliers can take their first solo trips. Rookie gondoliers are often drenched in sweat. The Venetian stroke is very efficient and easy but requires a few seasons on the water to truly hone the technique.
“It requires the whole body, and a true gondolier must take the form to heart,” he says.
Heart matters in this business.
Over the course of a 40-minute ride, a gondolier may work in silence, sing barcarolles, swap stories, or listen deeply to riders at all stages of life — those falling in love, getting married, celebrating anniversaries, and creating memories with family.
Family matters to him.
He loves to tell his love story, which has him meeting his wife in fifth grade, becoming good friends, harboring a silent crush on her in high school, and reconnecting 15 years after graduation. How a message on Facebook turned into tea at a café, then lunch, then dinner, and eventually marriage.
Together, they live in their dream home in the rural town where they grew up. They have two daughters and a son. They operate a commercial farm and steward the forest on their 110 acres. His wife runs her own small business, too.
He measures wealth in the quality time he spends with those he loves, and he vows to pen a book on the life lessons heard at the back of a gondola.
“There’s something that makes everyone a fascinating individual,” he says.
