Sharing Our Sport at Crossfit 813

When planning our trip to Florida for Olympic trials, we a few goals in mind: to get on the water, and to get fitter, faster, and stronger. Once we had secured locations for rowing, we had our next challenge: where would we complete our twice-weekly lift? We knew we needed a facility that would have the proper equipment and could accommodate our large group without breaking the bank.

We were incredibly fortunate to have CrossFit 813 open their (garage) doors to us during their Open Gym hours. Their generosity has allowed us to maintain our regular lifting routine during our time in Tampa. While we weren’t about to jump into their ‘workouts of the day’ (2k in the middle of a circuit workout, anyone?), they have everything we could need: Concept 2 ergs, Olympic lifting equipment, and plenty of space.

The advantages of training at CF813 have been huge; not only have they been kind enough to lend us space and equipment for our lift, but they have provided us with an incredibly positive and energetic environment. One of the great parts of traveling to row is connecting with other inspiring athletes and our experience at CrossFit has been no exception. Each time we are there we are amazed by the skills and strength of their athletes, as well as the encouragement and teamwork that goes into their workouts.

While the philosophies behind crossfit and the sport of rowing differ greatly (‘routine is the enemy’ vs the repetitiveness of the rowing stroke) the physical components have many similarities. Many rowers have done Crossfit type lifts as a part of their training, or at least heard of Crossfit athletes competing on the erg. The erg is where rowing and crossfit overlap: ‘How fast can you go?’.

In exchange for our gym time, we hosted an erging clinic at CF813. On a Sunday morning after pieces, we headed to the gym to give instruction and feedback to any interested crossfit athletes. We had seen the clinic advertised on a chalkboard inside, but we weren’t sure what kind of turnout to expect. But if anyone wants to make their legs hurt on a weekend morning (other than a rower) it’s a crossfitter, and the turnout was so high that we had to assign 3 people to each erg to alternate. Judith, our head coach, first walked the group through the basic technical components while the HPG athletes gave feedback and tips. Once everyone had a general idea of how to be most effective on the erg, we let them loose for a few max watt and 500m pieces. The feedback we received was incredible--we had some 500m PR’s!--and the athletes were thrilled to be more efficient. When they expressed amazement at the workouts that we do on the erg, we told them the feeling was mutual--I can’t imagine lifting nearly as much as they do!

We’re wrapping up our last week of living in Tampa, and will be lifting at CF813 for the last time this week. We will be sad to leave, and are so grateful to have been welcomed into the crossfit community, if only for a short time. Thank you so much to CF813 for having us!

By: Mary Foster

Olympic Trials Prep: Halfway Update

By: Hillary Saeger & Erin Roberts

For the past few weeks, we have been been able to get in some good pieces and solid rows at the Bypass Canal. While we loved rowing out of the Steward's Foundation on the Hillsborough River, we just couldn't turn down the opportunity to row on a buoyed course just down the road. Both the University of South Florida and Tampa Area Crew master's programs were super hospitable and accommodating, welcoming us into their boathouse to store our boats and allowing us to use their equipment.

We maximized our time on this body of water, which offered less boat traffic than we faced on the Hillsborough, in the early mornings and late afternoons as to avoid the hottest times of the day. Though it's only March, it's really beginning to heat up here in Tampa. It's much warmer & more humid than in Boston!

We are excited to be working towards a common goal and are eager to be picking up speed, but we have also found ways to relax and distract ourselves during the day in fun and unique ways.

Lauren & I built legos in our downtime.

Then on Friday night, March 11th, we got the awesome opportunity to go to the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game as they took on the Philadelphia Flyers at Amalie Arena. Hockey in Florida? Yes – and this was definitely hockey done right. The Lightning (4th in the Eastern Conference and 3rd in the Atlantic Division with 40 wins and 29 losses) are doing very well this season, and we got the VIP treatment as we watched them in action – all you can eat food and drinks in the Chase Lounge, a tour of the stadium with an up close view of the ice and trip to the press room, and a team appearance on the JumboTron where Molly Hamrick was interviewed. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay lost 3-1, but everyone still enjoyed a very chill, delicious chance to watch some coordinated athletics for a change and hangout with their teammates. Thanks to Stephan Athan (one of our host parents) for organizing the event and to the Tampa Bay Lightning for having us.

We're switching venues tomorrow, moving boats down to Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, where Trials will be held next month. We'll be commuting to Sarasota from Tampa for practice next week, then switching host families next weekend and living full-time in Sarasota!

2014 Riverside Annual Stripes Gala

By: Rachel Pettis & Erin Roche

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On the racecourse RBC is notorious for cleaning up, leaving competitors behind with striped oars merely a blur.  Off the water RBC cleans up just as well, showcased most recently at the Annual Stripes Gala.  JL and dry-fit were nowhere to be found at this smart occasion as Riverside members gathered at the Royal Sonesta for a night of festivity, celebration and purpose.

The evening began with socializing and a silent auction boasting baskets of goodies assembled by each of Riverside’s competitive programs.  Once all members had found their seats and the dinner courses were served, President Mike Farry took to the podium to introduce the evening’s speakers.

Liane Malcos Keister was first to address the crowd and gracefully recounted her trials and tribulations in her quest for a spot on the national team.  Liane’s recollection spoke to the tenacity, bravery and strength it takes to train at the elite level, and what a significant role Riverside played and continues to play in her life.

Following Liane, Miranda Paris touched upon her early experiences at RBC leading to a career path never considered after a medical diagnosis ruled out her personal competitive aspirations.  Rather than despairing Miranda found an alternative way to continue doing what she loves in the form of coaching.  From her very first role in assisting with the RBC HPG men to her current position as head coach of the Georgetown Varsity Women, Miranda’s passion for the sport is unwavering and she too thanks Riverside for its continuous support.

“Dream Big, Work Hard, and Have Fun”

Jim Hanley receiving RBC’s Lifetime Achievement Award

In the wake of two equally resounding stories Mike Farry then summoned Jim Hanley to the floor to introduce the evening’s final speaker.  Before handing over the mic, Mike first revealed to Jim that something very special and unprecedented was about to occur.  The President proceeded to award Jim Hanley with the inaugural Riverside Lifetime Achievement Award for his continued leadership, support and love of RBC since 1972.  It was hard to resist the wave of emotion reverberating from Jim as he accepted the award.

After thanking the club Jim left quite the act to follow as he introduced Doug Clark.  Doug’s speech did not disappoint as he recounted his coaching years and emphasized the importance and application of hard work in rowing and in life.  Doug challenged the audience to discern the types of motivation that drive success and encouraged all to, “Dream Big, Work Hard, and Have Fun”.

As the messages of Liane, Miranda and Doug lingered around the room a clear desire for the continued support of RBC arose during the live auction and pledges that followed. Thank you to the 85 attendees, those who donated tickets, anyone who helped with one of the team baskets, all volunteers, everything donated to the auction, all who pledged or bought an auction item. By the Gala’s end $45,000 was raised to help sustain and grow the club that we all know and love.  Many thanks to all that took part in this wonderful occasion, greats things are certainly in store for 2015!

Mike Farry takes the plunge!

By: Lisa Russell

Mike Farry took the plunge!  Well done Riverside in meeting the fundraising goal of 150 donations, a fitting send off to show our support for the RBC athletes representing the USA at Worlds.  For those who were unable to attend breakfast and witness President Farry’s jump check out the waterside recap:

Thank you to all who donated in support of our athletes!  Best of luck in Amsterdam to the Men’s LM4x Jake Georgeson, Kyle Lafferty, Peter Schmidt and Andrew Neils and to Hillary Saeger!   To follow their progress check out:

US Mens Lighweight 4x

Any volunteers for next year’s swim?

New Members: Summer 2014

Bonnie Cao hails from the cow pastures of Carlisle, MA, the oft-forgotten little brother of Lexington and Concord. It may not lay claim to the “shot heard ‘round the world,” but be careful come hunting season. Nevertheless, great things have come for her since she first sat in the cox seat as a freshman at Bowdoin College. Since winning the Women’s Collegiate Four at the HOCR her senior year, she’s gone on to take a job as a Research Assistant at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where she concerns herself with bowel movements. At the boathouse she’s a Women’s Sweeps coxswain. Not to be outdone, Bonnie actually claims to have some hand-eye coordination, as she also played squash at Bowdoin, and is always up for delivering a good butt-kicking to anyone up for the challenge.

Aymee Suarez comes by way of the dirty Jerz via Lehigh University and a stint with Penn AC.  She’s earning her Masters in Sport and Performance Psychology (mental note: don’t talk to Aymee about the last 500). She also brings great perseverance to Women’s Sweeps, as she won a silver at Dad Vails her novice year after only 4 months in an 8+, having spent the previous 10 months recovering from a traumatic brain injury. Fair to say, this girl knows a thing or two about how our brains work. And she also knows a thing or two about food, having eaten up to 5000 calories a day as an undergrad rower. “Girl can eat,” she said. Uhhh, yup.

Jason Healy is another new member who seems oddly obsessed with cognition, although he didn’t really elaborate about what exactly an “art therapist” does. The Cambridge native who learned to scull at CRI last year is not only an art therapist, he’s downright artsy fartsy. Want proof? Here’s his favorite rowing moment: “Rowing up by CRI under the full moon with herons flying by and sound of the oars.” If you want to join him down by the banks of the Charles for some shenanigans, he’ll even offer to keep you warm with the blanket he wove.

Jerry Yu is a Northeastern student who has some serious identity issues. He was born in Taipei, Taiwan, but raised in Beijing. We think he thinks he’s from both, but we’re still investigating. The Marketing & Operations Associate… wait I thought he was a student? Nevermind. Jerry decided to join Riverside after getting pumped up watching the Crusher Casey race. He just started throwing money at Kit, and the rest is history.  He’s web savvy, and hopes to help the club with IT, communications and social media. This Renaissance man has also been playing four different string instruments for over 10 years. Just make up your mind already, Jerry.

Meghan Brundage is a lovely biomedical researcher, originally from Hampton, VA (which Google maps will tell you is awfully close to a NASA research center), who has been stuck in Cincinnati for about six years while finishing her PhD. As Iggy Azalea might say, she’s so fancy, she already knows… Meghan also happens to be a pretty fine rower, having picked it up in high school, continued for a time at Cornell and raced with the Cincinnati Rowing Club for whom she snagged a bronze in the Women’s Masters 2x at the 2012 HOCR. SO FANCY! Meghan is rocking the 1x these days, and would like you to know that she’s actually a cyborg–she’s got 8 pieces of metal in her body. Not going through security with you, Meggy.

Sam Hausmann comes to us from the great white north… or whatever it is you call Buffalo. The Great White Buffalo? No, that’s wrong. Anyway, he’s a Northeastern student, having rowed sweep for four years in high school, who’s now primarily sculling. One time he and his best buddies competed in a seven day, 385 mile row down the Erie Canal in a 4+. Sounds… fun? Clearly, Sam seems to think they breed them tougher up north, as April on the Charles was the earliest he’d ever been on the water by almost a month. Sounds like winter training in Buffalo was also… fun? We think Sam enjoys cruel and unusual punishment.

Next up, Jeff Alex, of Quincy, MA. He’s a designer/contractor. Of what? Don’t ask me! He says words like “ars” instead of a**. He rowed four years in college, then began sculling on his own and has been self-proclaimed, “row crazy,” ever since. He’s so crazy, that when he tried to coach college rowing he couldn’t do it, because the rowers weren’t intense enough for him. Take it easy, Jeff, you’re being a hard “ars.” Nevertheless, he loves, “the feeling of the single under me on the rare moments when I have a good stroke!” In the past, he’s volunteered countless hours at previous clubs and was once named an Honorary Astronaut by NASA. Was it for your intensity, Jeff?

Dr. Kevin Sullivan wakes up screaming in the middle of the night after nightmares about flipping the 1x. “There are two types of scullers in the world,” he says. “Those that have flipped and those that will. I am still in the latter group.” We all know how this story ends. Like Jaws claiming a naive swimmer at night, it’s not a matter of if, but when the Charles gobbles up our poor doctor. On a lighter note, Kevin likes to sweep and scull–he learned the craft in Wilmette, IL, during high school, and has been sitting his butt in finely crafted shells ever since (and had a brief coaching stint with Emory). He loves the rippling sound of an 8+ on a still morning, “as all the bodies are moving in synchrony.” And he’ll really love swimming to shore on that choppy morning when the single finally wins this age-old battle.

RBC is Heating UP

By: Rachel Pettis

USRowing NE/Mid-Atlantic Masters Championships – Women’s 4x: Angelique Hrycko, Meghan Brundage, Erin Lallemand (MRRA) and Kit Casey.

After a rather drawn out extension of winter, otherwise known as spring, the summer season has finally arrived!  Despite the slow return to the water, Riverside is already heating up the season with fast results.   RBC opened the racing season at the NE/Midatlantic Masters Championships on Saturday, June 28th.  The Masters Mens Sweeps finished 2nd in the 8, AA-C 4+, and F-J 4+.  An RBC/MRRA composite 4x containing Angelique Hrycko, Kit Casey and Meghan Brundage left competitors in their wake as they cruised across the finish line in 1st by a lengthy margin.  Paul Dale also took home a gold medal in the Mens Masters Ltwt E-J 1x, a silver in the Mens Masters E-F 1x and John Yasaitis grabbed silver in the Mens Masters G-J 1x.  

The following Sunday at Festival Regatta RBC fared extremely well in both sweep and sculling events.  Paul Dale and John Tracey both placed 2nd in the Mens Masters 1x as did Meghan Brundage in the Womens Masters 1x.  Joe Hanna took home 1st in the Mens Open 1x and following his lead Men’s Sweeps placed 1st in both Open 4+ races.  Mens Sweeps also placed 1st,  2nd and 3rd in the Open 2- and then finished out the day with 1st and 2nd place in the Open 8.  

A  small contingent of RBC’s HPG competed at Elite Nationals on Lake Mercer, NJ.  After a fierce showing in heats and reps two Womens 2xs narrowly missed making the grand final but left the course satisfied with their efforts and knowledge gained from various unexpected regatta snags throughout the week.  On a lighter note Mary Foster’s RBC/Vesper composite in the Womens Lightweight 2x and 4x walked away with medals proving that keeping your enemies close does indeed have its rewards.  

Mary Foster’s RBC/Vesper composite in the Womens Lightweight 2x and 4x walked away with medals proving that keeping your enemies close does indeed have its rewards.

Over the recent holiday weekend Riverside competed at Independence Day Regatta with temperatures and fast crews blazing the Schuylkill.  In addition to the warm weather wind speeds were less than favorable ensuring that all boats had their work cut out for them.  Representing the Master Women, Meghan Brundage competed in a composite mixed 2x placing 3rd and then later in a composite Womens Open 4x and Womens Intermediate 4x placing 1st and 3rd respectively.  Nik Kurmakov raced Sunday in the Masters Mens 1x dash and though sporting a very swollen, slightly broken ankle cruised over the finish line with a win.  

Riverside Men’s Lightweight 8+

Mens and Womens Sweeps each raced well taking on rival clubs such as Vesper and Penn AC.  Saturday the women placed 3rd, 4th and 6th in the Open 4+ with Vesper coming in 2nd by a mere .8 seconds.  The men finished 3rd in the Open 2-, 2nd in the Intermediate 4+, and finished off the day with gold in the Intermediate Lightweight 8.  Sunday was another successful day for both teams as the women finished 4th and 5th in the Intermediate 4+ and 2nd in the Intermediate 8.  The men finished 2nd in the Intermediate Lightweight 4+ and 5th in the Intermediate 8, Senior 8 and Intermediate 2-.  

The HPG also entered several boats and on Saturday placed 2nd and 4th in the Women’s Intermediate 2x.  Racing in an extremely competitive field Chloe Zwiacher finished 6th in the Women’s 1x and Erin Roberts won the Lightweight Women’s 1x several lengths ahead of the other boats.  On Sunday Sarah Olenich started the day off nicely with a 2nd place finish in the Intermediate 1x.  Later on in the Womens 4x a sharp crew of RBC ladies had the chance to race a Vesper crew containing RBC Alum Hillary Saegar and placed 3rd ahead of Ottawa.

At the end of the weekend all crews left the Schuylkill sun-kissed and tired but thrilled to have had the chance to rep their stripes in a pool of worthwhile competitors.  No doubt about it that all teams look forward to seeing rival crews again in a few short weeks at Royal Canadian Henley.  Train hard RBC!

USRowing Senior World Championship Trials I

By: Peter Schmidt

Lafferty, Georgeson, Schmidt, Neils

It was a momentous three days of racing at Senior Trials I for the men’s and women’s high performance group. Four Riverside entries competed over three events: the lightweight women’s and men’s single and the lightweight quad.

Racing began Monday morning with the lightweight single. First to race were Joan Buck and Laurissa Gulich. With the top two finishers progressing to the semifinals and the rest going to repechage in the afternoon, the pressure was on to only race once that day. Joan was first to race and placed second in her heat with 8:22.59, 7 seconds behind Nicole Dinion of OKC Riversports who won the heat with 8:15.81. Both progressed to the semifinals on Tuesday morning. Laurissa Gulich placed 3rd in Heat 2 requiring her to race again that afternoon in order to progress. She then won her rep with a time of 8:26.5 advancing her to the semifinal.

Tobin McGee was next to race in the men’s lightweight single. With the top finisher from each heat going to the final and the rest going to reps the following morning Tobin had his work cut out for him, especially having Andrew Campbell in his heat. Tobin finished 3rd with a time of 7:31.7, behind Peter Alter from Vesper and Andrew Campbell, who won the heat with a time of 7:03.6.

Tuesday was a tough day of racing for the Riverside lightweight singles. Laurissa and Joan were first to race and needed to place second or better in their semifinals in order to advance to the final. Unfortunately both were knocked out of the competition. Tobin was next to race that morning and faced the tougher task of winning his rep in order to gain a spot in the four-boat final the next morning. With a stiff crosswind on the course, Tobin jumped off the line and settled into a solid rhythm.  Keeping his line straight down the course he set his sights on chasing down Colin Ethridge of Malta. Tobin took a move at the third 500 shortening the gap and began his sprint with 300 meters to go. Unfortunately Tobin ran out of race course and finished 2 seconds behind Colin.  Both scullers are entered to race at Elite Nationals following the conclusion of Trials. Hopefully there will be a rematch in the near future.

On the final day of Trials the only boat left to race was the men’s lightweight quad (Kyle Lafferty, Jake Georgeson, Peter Schmidt, Bow: Andrew Neils). With USRowing altering the selection procedure and no race to determine lanes the previous Monday morning the quad needed to row only one piece to earn their seats on the national team.  Despite several jittery rows in the days leading up to the final, when the quad shoved away from the dock all jitters and nerves were gone.  All eyes were set on the goal in front of them. Even after receiving a warning for arriving late to the line the quad remained calm and when the race started any remaining nerves were instantly forgotten, replaced with that familiar burning sensation in the legs that only a 2k can produce.

Malta was quick off the line and held with the Riverside/GRP quad through the first 250 but RBC quickly jumped out to a length lead 500m into the race.  At 750m in, RBC took their first move and broke open water on the Malta quad. Their lead continued as the race progressed and coming into the last 500, Riverside had over a length of open water. Victory was clear as Riverside crossed the line with a time of 6:08.68 seconds, 6 seconds ahead of the Malta quad. After talking as a boat for roughly 2 seconds, they agreed to declare their intent to go to Worlds and proceeded to the dock to weigh the boat, submit to a drug test and fill out the necessary paperwork

Their lead continued as the race progressed and coming into the last 500, Riverside had over a length of open water.

All in all it was a solid three days of racing for Riverside’s high performance group ending with great results and new resolve to continue pursuing that faster time.

Wearing RBC Blue Stripes Can Lead to Stars and Stripe

By Ed Moran

Lauren Schmetterling was clear about her goals when she met with U.S. women’s national team coach, Tom Terhaar.

She told him she wanted to row on the national team and was intent on making it. She had the power and the desire, but Terhaar thought she wasn’t quite ready. She needed work on her technique.

So Terhaar’s suggestion was to move to Boston, join the Riverside Boat Club and start working with head coach Tom Keister. “I’ve made that suggestion to a number of women,” Terhaar said last week. “Tom’s been great for us. They are not afraid to do the work. They erg and they get fit and they get better. It’s a lot easier to fit a new athlete in when they are fit. And they get fit at Riverside.”

Schmetterling followed the advice and trained and developed at Riverside for 22 months, earning her an invitation to the Princeton Training Center in November 2012

For Schmetterling, who won a gold medal at last summer’s world championships in the eight, and a number of notable athletes who row for, or have rowed for, the U.S. women’s team, Riverside was a place that helped make their international careers possible.

Some of the athletes include Olympians Natalie Dell, and Meghan Musnicki, Emily Huelskamp, who won gold in the four last summer in South Korea and four-time national team lightweight Hillary Saeger, who has two world championship bronze medals and one silver rowing in the lightweight women’s quad.

Last week, Saeger was again in the lightweight women’s quad that won senior trials along with the RBC men’s lightweight quad of Andrew Neils, Peter Schmidt, Jacob Georgeson and Kyle Lafferty. They won their senior trials event and now all five RBC athletes will race at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in August.

In addition, Schmetterling, who won another gold medal in the eight at the recent World Cup II at Lake Aiguebelette in France, and Huelskamp are in the mix for the coming world championships.

Talk to any of the women on the U.S. squad who have rowed at RBC, and they will tell say without question that their time at RBC is a big reason they have gotten to where they are.

“Rowing there was absolutely amazing,” Schmetterling said. “Tom Keister will do anything to make sure his athletes succeed and he will take them as far as they want to go. He would stay out with me on the water in my single until he was sure that I was accomplishing what he wanted me to accomplish.”

Musnicki, who also won another international gold on Lake Aiguebelette, remembers her time at RBC as life changing.

“Training at Riverside taught me many different things,” Musnicki said.  “For starters, it forced me to be more independent and reinforced the idea that you are responsible for yourself. Being a part of a club means that you have to make sure your boat gets to the race, you have to make sure your oars get to the race, and you have to know when your race is.”

She said that was not her experience rowing in college where she would get on a bus, be driven to the race, get off the bus and the equipment would “magically appear.” But she also said that while she had to develop an independent mindset, there was plenty of support at RBC.

“It’s like joining a huge family. If you need something or don’t know something, or want help with something, I knew all I had to do was send out a blast to the RBC list serve and within ten minutes my inbox would be flooded with responses.”

And, like Schmetterling, Musnicki credits the coaching she got at the club.

“As far as the coaching staff goes, I feel incredibly lucky to have trained under Tom Keister. Day in and day out he provided me with anything and everything I could need to attempt to advance my skills in small boats.

“I came to him pretty green in the small boat department so he definitely had his work cut out for him, but he kept at it and if it weren’t for him I definitely would not have gotten the invitation to go try out and train at the Princeton Training Center.

“He kicked my butt into shape, getting me physically ready for the training load at the center, and on top of that seemed undeterred in his attempts to round out some of the many rough edges I had in the single and double,” she said.

“There is no doubt in my mind that my journey to the national team began at RBC.  I will forever be thankful for my time there and will always cherish my stripes!”

Results: 2013 Canadian Henley

By Rachel Pettis

There’s just no ending the summer without the highly anticipated Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. Across the board RBC had quite a successful week with multiple crews leaving St. Catharines wearing some pretty hardware. The conditions on Henley Island grew more and more favorable each day and by Sunday treated the crews to nearly flat water and sunny skies. To start off the week, the Master’s Men’s 8+ won gold as did Nik Kurmakov in the Master’s 1x. Both Men’s Masters 4+ finished 2nd overall.

Lauren Ayers took home gold in the Senior Women’s Lightweight 1x, arguably one of them most competitive events of the week. Finishing just ahead of Vesper after a mean sprint, Lauren’s victory was as exciting as it was deserved. Mike Farry placed second in the Senior Men’s Lightweight 1x in another extremely competitive final. Men’s and Women’s Sweeps also fared well against rival and Canadian clubs alike.

The Senior Men’s 8+ finished sixth overall and the Women’s 8+ Dash took home second. The Women’s Senior 2- finished third and in an extremely close race RBC took home third and fourth in the Women’s U23 2-. The Senior Women’s Lightweight 4- took home 4th overall but was the first American crew to cross the line. According to a spectator in the Port Dalhousie grandstand this particular race was one of the most exciting due to some questionable steering. After multiple crabs and collisions in the last 250 meters, several of the Canadian crews crossed the finish line in the entirely wrong lane. Riverside also competed in the Dash for Cash with a mixed 8 winning gold as well as some swanky Regatta Sports gear. Tired but satisfied RBC left Saint Catharines feeling like Olympians…well not exactly but Border Patrol seemed convinced enough.

Alumni Spotlight: Will Melcher

From Five-Year-Old Cox’n to Jim Hanley’s 2x Partner

How did you get started with rowing?
I started substitute coxing at age five for my father’s first crews at BB&N in 1952. It took a while for it to take, as I fancied myself as a baseball player. I started rowing in the ninth grade, and never looked back.

How did you end up at Riverside?
RBC was a mystery to me growing up. I never saw anybody rowing from there. I came to RBC after my first season at Weld, which I launched from for my first race in 1980 against Jim Hanley, Rufus Perkins, and Graham King. By then I had learned that RBC was the original rowing club of the Riverside Press (the publisher for some of the traditional literature for my high school English reading classes). The club seemed free of pretense, as its social life was on the water, and there were members as diverse as “Crusher” Casey, the pro-wrestler and champion sculler, and Mr. RBC, Bob Cutler, the Olympian.

While at Riverside, you played a large role in bringing the club through the transition to independence from Northeastern. How did you get involved? What was the outcome?
I became an RBC member in the spring of 1981 and was appointed by President Rufus Perkins at the same meeting to lead the boathouse renovations. We started by scraping the peeling paint in the (now) women’s locker room (where I first met Lynn and Charley Osborn) and the usual host of maintenance issues that require work to this day.

I was elected captain the next year over Ted Van Dusen; put together the first RBC Guidebook to replace the handwritten notes tacked around the logbook; worked with the first coach, Doug Clark, and President Jim Hanley to get the Committee system going; and was a trustee for a number of years before moving to New Hampshire to Amoskeag RC in 1998.

Tell us about a memorable Riverside experience.
During the Q&A session following my speech for trustee, in which I supported raising the dues from $50 to $75, I answered a member’s question about the financial value of RBC to me: “The additional dues will cost no more than a cup of coffee a day, but its value? I don’t know….$300, $500…$10,000!” which brought hoots from the crowd, especially since I couldn’t afford any bit of it. Somehow they overlooked it, and I won in a squeaker. There was also a candidate running on a platform of “condo racks,” so one didn’t even need to row your boat. That’s what we were up against.

What have you been up to recently?
I am president of Independence RC in Nashua, which we are pulling out of hat. I joined five years ago during its near total collapse. There were only five rowers, none of whom raced and had no coaching. We are now at 21 members and have competitive coaching, and eight adults competing around New England. We added a youth membership category last month that is fielding four scullers and sweepers. Look for the oars with the geometrically abstracted blue mountain on a yellow-dawn background.

Tell us something we do not know about you.
I am very pleased to be part of RBC as a supporting member and rowing in the 2x again with Jim Hanley as we did for 13 years back in the day. We won the Masters 2x at the Canadian Henley in 1991 as underdogs in a blistering race by 10ths of a second. My eyes were closed while waiting for the results, which Jim spotted first and made that whole long trip quite worthwhile. The only other international racing I did was at Henley, England in 1969 in my college 8, where we finished second to the Dutch national team in the finals of the Ladies’ Plate.