STAFF REPORTS
PHOTO BY PETER SPURRIER

Former University of Wisconsin women’s rowing associate head coach Nancy LaRocque has been hired as the head coach of Dartmouth College women’s rowing.

“I am incredibly excited and honored to have been given the opportunity to lead the women of Dartmouth rowing,” LaRocque said.

“I want to thank Athletic Director Harry Sheehy for bringing me on board and for his commitment to the growth and success of this program. The passion that Dartmouth College and the Friends of Dartmouth Rowing have is clearly expressed in the beautiful, world-class facilities on the Connecticut River. I am ready to build connections with the women of Dartmouth rowing, both present, and past.”

LaRocque currently serves as the president of the board of directors of the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA).

Dartmouth director of athletics and recreation Harry Sheehy welcomed LaRocque to the Dartmouth community in a June 11 release.

“It is my great pleasure to welcome Nancy to the Big Green athletic family, the college and community at large,” Harry Sheehy said.

“She brings a terrific rowing background as a competitor and coach. Her passion and enthusiasm for working with student-athletes makes her a great fit for our team and college. I am looking forward to watching her move our program forward, and I believe the future of Dartmouth women’s rowing is bright.”

LaRocque, who has been coaching for more than 17 seasons in the women’s collegiate rowing world, helped lead the Badgers to six NCAA championship appearances.

Prior to coaching at the University of Wisconsin, LaRocque coached at the University of Tennessee, West Virginia University, and Vassar College.

LaRocque is a Dover, New Hampshire, native, and graduated from UMass Amherst in 1997 with a degree in legal studies and anthropology. During her time at UMass, LaRocque’s crew won three consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship titles.

STAFF REPORTS
PHOTO PROVIDED

The National Rowing Foundation (NRF) has added three board members to its board of directors.

Aquil Abdullah, Patrick Manning, and Campbell Rogers will be formally inducted at the next special NRF meeting or annual meeting according to a June 11 release.

“These three Board Members bring a wealth of perspective – athletically, professionally, and personally – to the NRF Board,” Marcia Hooper and Jamie Koven, NRF co-chairs said. 

“Their experiences and viewpoints will help guide the NRF as we prepare to support Team USA for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2021, Paris 2024, Los Angeles 2028, and beyond.”

Abdullah currently works as a senior infrastructure engineer and featured athlete at Hydrow. Rogers currently serves as executive vice president and chief medical officer at Heartflow, Inc., a California-based medical device company. Manning currently sits on the Board of a $1B+ beauty and skincare company, according to the release.

BY DOCTOR ROWING
PHOTO BY PETER SPURRIER

For the Great True False Quiz, check here.

1. True. Erickson would report on the backups of cars trying to cross the floating bridges of routes 520 and 90 in both directions.
2. True. It was an experiment with asynchronous rowing, abandoned that same summer.
3. False. Spain’s lightweight men’s eight used an Empacher bow-coxed eight in 1983 and 1984, winning gold and bronze medals.
4. True, although plans are not yet set.
5. Almost. In 2010, he rowed during the four quarters, but rested during the half. 
6. False. Wood ran 76 stadia (37 is a tour) before the Fourth of July and later that summer ran 100.
7. False. At the 2017 World Rowing Cup in Poznan, Poland, the German men’s eight went 5:18.68.
8. True. Until 1876, the six was the preferred boat in the United States.
9. False. The U.S. women went 5:54.16 at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup in 2013.
10. True. It worked for him. Does it work for you?
11. True. On a flooded Seine River they rowed 5:51 to win the semifinal.
12. False. Open weight women’s events did not row 2k until 1985, but lightweight women’s events at the FISA championships in 1984 featured 2k races on an experimental basis.
13. False. Jennifer Casson of Kingston Rowing Club in Canada holds the current world record with the 6:53.8 she rowed in 2019.
14. False. Canada won in 1992 in Barcelona. East Germany won three, Romania three, and the U.S. won four medals
15. Almost. Lisa rowed in 1976 in the coxed quad. After being the U.S. single in ‘77, ‘78, and ’79, Gregg left the quad camp when the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics was announced. He was his daughter’s coach in Rio, however.
16. True. In 1878 Columbia became the first American college to win an event at Henley, the Visitor’s Challenge Cup, an event for straight fours.
17. True. Coxswain F.E. Weatherly jumped overboard from his Brasenose four in 1868 at Henley. His boat went on to win but was disqualified.
18. False. Wagner seat raced a spark plug against a weak oarsman. The spark plug won.
19. True. But Joan Lind, ‘76, Carlie Geer ’84, Anne Marden ‘88, Michelle Guerette ‘08, and Gevvie Stone ‘16 have all won silvers. 
20. True. 25 years of all the rowing news that’s fit to print!

BY DOCTOR ROWING
PHOTO BY PETER SPURRIER

For a while now, my buddy Tom Kiefer has been suggesting ideas for columns or simply letting me know some of the wacky things that he has witnessed in his over 40 years in the sport. With thanks for his input on some of these items, here’s a list of rowing items that can be answered with a true or false. Test your knowledge. Amaze your friends. Are you a novice, varsity, or world champion rowing aficionado?*

1. Dick Erickson gave traffic reports to a local radio station from his University of Washington coaching launch in Seattle.

2. In 1979, the Soviet women’s coxed four experimented with a specially-constructed shell that placed the coxswain between the bow and stern pairs.

3. There has never been a bow-coxed eight at a FISA championship regatta.

4. FISA plans to introduce mixed-gender events at championship regattas.

5. The legendary Larry Gluckman sat down on an erg at kickoff of a Super Bowl and rowed until the final whistle

6. Tiff Wood ran 200 stadia at Harvard on July 4, 1976 to celebrate the American bicentennial.

7. No eight has ever gone faster than 5:20 over 2,000 meters. 

8. Six-oared shells without cox were at one time a very popular boat class in the United States

9. No women’s eight has ever gone faster than 6:00 over 2,000 meters.  

10. “Take a 10 to ease the pain,” was a motto for U.S. coach Ted Nash.

11. The first eight to go faster than 6:00 was the U.S. men’s eight at the Paris Olympics in 1924. 

12. Women’s crews rowed 1,000 meters at FISA events until 1985.

13. No lightweight woman has ever rowed 2k on the Concept2 erg faster than 7:00. 

14. The only countries to have won gold medals in the women’s eight in the Olympics are East Germany, Romania, and the United States.   

15. Both parents of Olympic singles silver medalist Gevvie Stone rowed in the Olympics.

16. The first U.S. crew to win an event at the Henley Royal Regatta was from Columbia College.

17. The four without coxswain was invented when, at a pre-arranged signal, a coxswain jumped overboard, lightening the boat’s load. 

18. Steve Wagner, a coach at Florida Institute of Technology, once seat raced an oarsman with a Twinkie. The Twinkie won.

19. No American woman has ever won Olympic gold in the single scull.

20. This summer marks the 25th anniversary of Doctor Rowing’s columns.

*Answers will be posted on RowingNews.com tomorrow

BY LUKE REYNOLDS
PHOTO PROVIDED

Seize the Oar, a foundation dedicated to serving the para-rowing community hosted its second virtual meeting June 9.

The event, hosted via Zoom at 12p eastern, was a “facilitated, but casual conversation for para coaches, athletes, and program volunteers to continue a conversation about next steps to getting back on the water,” according to the Seize the Oar website. 

The first virtual meeting had more than 70 attendees from five countries. 

“I think the point of it [the zoom meetings] is to have a two-way dialogue,” Morgan said. “It’s a pull strategy, not a push strategy. The pull is ‘here’s some stuff to chew on.’ Whether it’s racial equity, Black Lives Matter, inclusion tactics, or your particular return to rowing guideline development.

“What we’ve found is that the people who are coming to it are not just coaches. They are athletes, admins, volunteers, families, as well as people interested in para-programs. We’re also seeing a global interest. I think we’ve landed on a very safe, friendly, but very motivated group of people.”

Seize the Oar is a nonprofit started in 2013 by Tara Morgan when she started coaching an athlete who suffered a spinal cord injury.

“It’s been about seven and a half years now,” Morgan said. “We have a racing team that currently holds the record at the Head of the Charles arms and shoulders only in the double.

“We do three things: adaptive team training, we have an outreach division where we partner with organizations like Seattle Children’s Hospital, Northwest Association for Blind Athletes, Rowing Adventure Day, and thought leadership, like the para meetups, forthcoming adaptive rowing coaching certification program and content development like videos and guides to para-rowing.”

The next Global Para-Rowing Meetups will take place June 23. Registration can be found here.

BY LUKE REYNOLDS
PHOTO PROVIDED

Joining the rowing community’s response to events happening across the United States, rowing brand, Fat Ergos, has organized a fundraiser to support rowing programs that have robust diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

The Rowing All-In Challenge is built on giving away rowing-related prizes in return for donations. The donations will act as raffle tickets costing $1 each. 

“Given the recent racial conflicts highlighted by the killing of George Floyd, we felt it was our responsibility to use our reach and platform to address these issues within the rowing community,” Patrick Muto, co-founder of Fat Ergos, said. 

“Rowing has historically been a white-dominated sport, and our goal is to break that stigma for the new generation of rowing. We feel the all-in challenge allows members and organizations of the rowing community to contribute in many ways (via donation, submitting a prize, or spreading awareness of the initiative) to help begin addressing these issues directly.”

Funds raised from the event will go to several rowing programs including Row New York, Row Boston, RowLA, Reach High Rowing (Baltimore), North Star Community Rowing (Minneapolis), Chicago Training Center, Milwaukee Rowing Club, and Philadelphia City Rowing. 

“We feel like it’s important to keep the proceeds within the rowing community and to know exactly where the money is going,” Muto said.  “We are proud to donate this money to several rowing programs that work to foster diversity and inclusion within underprivileged areas.”

“We are proud to donate this money to several rowing programs that work to foster diversity and inclusion within underprivileged areas.”

-Patrick Muto

Prizes for the challenge include a virtual meetup with the US Olympic Women, a model D Concept2 erg, a U.S. national team uniform, and VIPER sunglasses, among other things.

Muto said he was pleased with the donations that have come in but hopes for more. 

“As of right now [Monday afternoon], we are just over $2,150, which has been strong for the 3 days the challenge has been open,” Muto said. 

“We’ve gotten donations from over 110 individuals and had several companies reach out with prizes to offer. We initially set a goal of $10,000, but we would love to move right through that goal and raise even more.” 

“We appreciate all the support the rowing community has given this initiative. It is very important to us and we feel very lucky to be in the position we are in to spread awareness and facilitate change in the sport,” he said.

Winners from the event will be selected July 1.

BY LUKE REYNOLDS
VIDEO BY ADAM REIST, PHOTO PROVIDED

Across the rowing community, athletes and organizations are taking steps to support the fight to end systemic racism. 

Row New York and Philadelphia City Rowing have teamed up to list and distribute resources for rowers and clubs alike. 

“We are heartened to see the outpouring of support you’ve [the rowing community] shown for Black communities while expressing an interest in listening and learning,” Philadelphia City Rowing said in a statement.

“We all have a responsibility to stop the systemic oppression and killing of Black people in our country and our communities. At this moment, it is particularly important to support and amplify the individuals and organizations leading this work. We have put together a list of resources that highlights some of these organizations and helps you learn more about actions we can take to change the larger societal injustices that must be addressed before any meaningful change can occur. Our friends at Row New York have also curated a list of mental health resources, educational materials about anti-racism, and ways to take action.”

In addition to Row New York and Philadelphia City Rowing, athletes within the rowing community are rallying their peers to support the same movement.

An Instagram profile with the handle @rowersforBLM was created earlier this week by a Central Ohio Rowing athlete with the hopes of raising funds to support the Black Lives Matter movement by selling buttons with a picture of oars, a Black Power fist, and the hashtag #BLM.

“I have always been someone who has been interested in social justice and politics, it’s a part of who I am, however, rowing is also a part of who I am as well,” creator of the account, Jordan Kavishe, said.

“I came to think about the lack of diversity in the sport that I love, rowing; I decided it was time to start the conversation, and I created the @rowersforBLM account. Many of my teammates have supported the black lives matter movement, and I just knew that there were more members of the rowing community who support the movement as well and strive for diversity in our sport.”

Kavishe, who designed the buttons personally, hopes the buttons will be a symbol within the rowing world.

“I would hope that everyone who has bought a button would wear it proudly wherever they choose to put it and show the world that they are a member of the rowing community who also stands with the black community.”

-Jordan Kavishe

“I would hope that everyone who has bought a button would wear it proudly wherever they choose to put it and show the world that they are a member of the rowing community who also stands with the black community. Historically, rowing has been a sport that lacks diversity, however, I would hope that these buttons would be one of the many starting points which first start the conversation and bring solidarity, awareness, and further diversity to our community.”

Two Oakland Strokes junior rowing alumnae have planned an ergathon fundraiser to support Black-led organizations and local bail funds according to the @gostrokes profile. The ergathon will take place June 13 from 12-4p PST. 

STAFF REPORTS
PHOTO PROVIDED

The much-anticipated film, A Most Beautiful Thing, about the true story of America’s first all-black high school rowing team, will debut in eight cities and New Jersey July 10.

The movie, directed by Mary Mazzio, was slated to debut at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, but was postponed due to Covid-19 and subsequent cancellation of the event.

The film will be shown in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Oakland, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston San Francisco, Washington DC, Austin, Dallas, Orlando, San Diego, Cincinnati, and New Jersey.

According to a press release, “50% of box office proceeds will be donated to organizations working on trauma in under-resourced communities and will further support the work of Arshay Cooper.”

In addition to the release of the picture, Arshay Cooper’s memoir, on which it is based, will be re-issued June 30.