Norah Kolb has always had an affinity to competing in the water. A longtime swimmer and former Newtown High School standout, Kolb continues to make quite a splash at the collegiate level.

But it is not what you would have guessed. Kolb, this fall, had her first season on the Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tenn.) rowing team. And it was not just any old season. Kolb set the team records for overall 2000 meters, 500, freshman 6000, along with the freshman 2000 event, and holds second place in the overall 6000.

“Prior to Vandy, I had no experience rowing. I competitively swam up through high school and was going through the recruiting process until I decided I wasn’t interested in swimming anymore and wanted to switch to another sport. I reached out to the Vanderbilt rowing head coach just days before decision day and was able to attend a practice and meet the team before fully committing to Vandy,” Kolb said.

The rest is history — record-setting history.

“Rowing has been an incredible experience so far with some big wins at our regional and national championships last spring and HOCR [Head Of The Charles Regatta] this fall. Our women’s program has become extremely competitive and it’s been exciting to see how far we can push our success. I’ve gotten really close with my team and we’ve all become good friends, which makes for a fun environment at practice and something I look forward to each day,” Kolb added.

Kolb’s boat won the Collegiate Women’s 4+ at Head of the Charles, which takes place on the Charles River, separating Boston from Cambridge, Mass.

“HOCR is the largest regatta in the world and it was my first time racing at Boston so it was unreal to be a part of such a huge win. I’m really excited to see how we do the rest of this year and hopefully continue making program history,” Kolb said after that race.

Since then, her team won the women’s collegiate 8+ and 4+ at Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga and won overall team points in the collegiate division.

Sure, on the surface it seems Kolb fell into instant success. But it has taken quite a commitment to thrive in her new sport.

“We practice six days a week, with a couple of two-a-days, which totals about 20-25 hours a week. During the fall and spring, we’re at the lake every morning at 5 am, and in the winter, we shift to the erg room, practicing indoors,” said Kolb, referring to the ergometer machines used to simulate rowing on land. “During racing season, our regattas typically require us to miss classes on Friday and return to campus on Sunday night.”

Setting records in the water is nothing new for Kolb. During her Newtown High swimming days, she was part of the 200 yard freestyle relay that set a pool record and the 400 freestyle relay that achieved pool and team records.

Kolb is majoring in Biomedical Engineering. “Although I’m not entirely sure of what career I want to pursue, I’m interested in medical device design, combining engineering and problem-solving aspects with art and marketing,” she said.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.