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To provide information and news for the Parents, Friends, and Alumni of Andover Crew.
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News June 14th.'09
National Championships
Latest News:
The Andover B1 has won silver medals at the USRowing Youth National Championships!! They rowed a strong 2000m race. They came in second place to Newport and ahead of Kent by about a second. This is a very impressive performance by our boat and with New England schools taking 2nd. and 3rd. it shows the competitive level of our New England rowing programs.
CONGRATULATIONS to the rowers and coxswain and of course Coach Washburn. We should remember that a fast B1 boat comes up from well trained competitive lower boats, so this is a success for all the rowers and coaches of Andover Crew.
USRowing Youth National Championship Silver Medal WinnersClick here for National picture
Having won the New England Championships, Andover Crew accepted an invitation to race at the 2009 USRowing Youth National Championships (June 12-14, 2009), at Harsha Lake outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. This is the first time that Andover boys have entered this event. It is a 2000m race against the best crews from all over the USA.
If you are in the area, stop by and cheer them on.Latest: The Final will be at 1 PM on Sunday June 14th. If every Andover Crew supporter yells "Go Blue" at exactly 1 PM they will probably hear us in Cincinnati. It will be a very tough race, all 6 teams look to have another gear available for the finals.
For live results please go to www.racetrak.com
Semi #1 won by Capital crew in 6.07.26, the second semi was won by Kent in 6.07.98 and the third semi was won by Andover in 6.11.57. So both Andover and Kent from New England are through to the finals!The boys stayed after school ended to train for the Youth National Championships. Here are some pictures of their idyllic rowing on the Merrimack. This boat is all seniors so these were their last days on our river.
Click here for more pictures of them Training for Nationals
Pure power
Mobile meditation
Collegiate Men's National Championships - IRA 2009
Andover Crew Alumni were well represented at the 107th IRA races. Scotty was 4th in the V8 final in the Brown boat, Michelle was 1st in the Washington JV, Colin was on the Cornell boat, Karl was rowing for Harvard and Chip was following in the footsteps of his famous brother in the Stanford boat. Mrs Washburn sent cookies for race recovery!
Chip at IRA 2009
Karl at IRA 2009
Colin taking delivery of Washburn cookies
Scotty and a slightly wet MichelleHere are more pictures of IRAs but you can guess who I was supporting.
Click here for IRA's_1
Click here for IRA's_2
Click here for IRA's_3
New England Championships 2009
Quick Update: Interschols - New England Championships. Our rowers and coaches once again provided a stellar performance. Rowing is a tough sport. Months of grueling training and intense focus all for a 5 minute race. Each year we take on the other schools in New England and each year we find that Andover Crew kids do it better and faster than everyone else.
We had some very exciting races. We ended up with Boys: Team Trophy 1st., B1 Gold, B2 Gold, B3 Silver & Girls: Team Trophy 2nd., G1 Silver, G2 Silver, G3 5th. An absolutely awesome performance worth every blister, every aching muscle and every shivering afternoon practice. To all of our teams and coaches a huge thank you and CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Thank you to all the parents and alumni that turned out to support the team!
We should mention that it is exactly 50 years since Andover first won an Interschols championship in 1959 and that Andover is the first school to win the boy's team trophy for 3 years in a row. In the last 4 years the B1 boat has had 2 gold and 2 silver medals and a Henley semifinal. The girls G1 have had 3 silver and 1 bronze medal and a Henley Women's regatta final. Consistently powerful results from a program that dedicates the fall session to teaching new students to row for the first time.
This was also a multiple Washburn event. Parker Washburn stroked the B1 boat to top off his career of 2 silvers and 2 golds. Taylor Washburn '03, a teaching fellow, coached the B2 to gold and was thrown into the lake with the coxswains and last but by no means least coach Peter Washburn our own Yoda of crew. Our coach who senses things other mortals can't see, uses very few words and answers most requests for advice with questions that allow the seeker to find the answers within themselves.Click here detailed NEIRA race results
Click here detailed Team points results
We have done it ..
Well done
We have posted pictures of the the Interschol's races.
Click here for Interschol's_1
Click here for Interschol's_2
Click here for Interschol's_3
Click here for Interschol's_4
Click here for Interschol's_5
Anyone having trouble receiving twitter updates on your phone? If so, you should log in to your twitter account and click on "following". This will bring you to a screen showing who you are following. Under "Direct message" there is a selection for "Devices updates on off". Make sure the "on" button is selected. If "off" button is selected then you will not receive any updates on your phone.
Andover crew Hats - THE definitive fashion statement this Spring
We have re-ordered Andover Crew hats. Every rower and coach has received a free hat. Over 120 hats. Additional hats have been purchased for parents, friends and alumni of Andover Crew. These hats are available for a donation of $15 plus postage if required. Wear your hat when you visit the campus to show your support for the crew program. When we reach a 160 donations, we will have covered the cost of the hats for the rowers.
If you would like a hat please email andovercrew@andovercrew.net. We will email you donation instructions. The hats are lightweight with a built in sweat band.:
Andover Crew Hat - front
Andover Hat - back
Dark blue visor
Light blue visor
We also have a small quantity of dark blue and light blue visors for $10.
Updates - NMH May 16th
The Coaches took 4 boats each to NMH. We had dull but warm weather and slightly choppy water. Our boats were in fine form. Our 4th boats raced against NMH boats that had some 3rd. boat rowers. All our boats did well, they all looked better than last week but there is still room for improvement before Interschols. We won all the races by open water. We shared food tables with our NMH friends who, as usual, were great hosts. We will meet again in a week at Interschols.
.
The tradition is ...
that the winning coxswain...
is thrown in the river...
we are not sure why...
so this week we had...
many very wet coxswainsWe have posted pictures of the the NMH's races.
Click here for NMH's_1
Click here for NMH's_2
Click here for NMH's_3
Click here for NMH's_4
Updates - Exeter, Tabor races May 9th
We have posted the link in the schedule to the race results and times. A glorious Grandparents' day for Andover Crew. Warm mostly sunny weather, light wind, calm water and an amazing turnout of grandparents, parents, alumni and friends....and Andover won 8 of the 11 races.
Applying the "go faster" elixir
Eleanor Bache cutting the cake for Eleanor Bache, the boatWe have posted pictures of the the Exeter's races.
Click here for Exeter's_1
Click here for Exeter's_2
Click here for Exeter's_3
Click here for Exeter's_4
Click here for Exeter's_5
Updates - St Paul's, CRI., Hanover races May 2nd
The ring of power
Members of the river tribeWe have posted pictures of the the St Paul's races.
Click here for St Paul's_1
Click here for St Paul's_2
Click here for St Paul's_3
Click here for St Paul's_4
Updates - Salisbury, Brunswick races April 25th
We had a great day at Salisbury. The weather and the racing were superb. Andover won the B1, B2, B3 races. Our B4 came second to Brunswick and ahead of Salisbury, Our B5 was first ahead of our B6 who were ahead of Brunswick and Salisbury. Congratulations to all six boats for a wonderfull effort and exciting racing. This was the first ever race for many of the rowers in our lower boats. It was also a first for many of our coxswains who discovered the price of victory....being thrown into the lake. For full results and times click on the link in the schedule below.
Andover vikings
B6 battling to victoryWe have posted pictures of the the Salisbury races.
Click here for Salibury_1
Click here for Salibury_2
Click here for Salibury_3
The girls are having a break this weekend. The boys are taking 6 boats to Salisbury to race against Salisbury and Brunswick. Salisbury have one of the most idyllic race courses. It is a beautiful sheltered lake. The only problem is that the 1500 meter course ends about 100 meters from the shore so the boats race at full speed to the finish line and then have to "check it down" really really hard to avoid running ashore.
The weather forecast is for 80 degrees and bright sunshine. It will be a wonderful day to watch the races. Coach Washburn is fulfilling his goal to add races for the lower boats to the program by bringing B5 & B6. For most of these rowers this will be their very first aquatic battle. They will have the opportunity to test all the strength, stamina and skill they have been acquiring on the Merrimack. I am sure they will do us proud.
Come on down and join us for the day. Everyone is very welcome.
Updates - Andover-Exeter Invitational April 18th
Get Ready For ....
Coach SupportWe have posted pictures of the the Lake Q races.
Click here for LakeQ_1
Click here for LakeQ_2
Click here for LakeQ_3
We had a great day of racing at Lake Q. We had a big crowd of supporters including people who flew in from places all across the USA such as California and Chicago. Our new twitter service (Andovercrew on twitter) was followed by people from all over the world including Germany, Ireland, California and Alaska. The Andover crew village is truly global and they all needed to know the results in real time.
And what a day it was! Our friends from Exeter, NMH, Simsbury, Brookline, Boston Latin and St.John's all lined up to test their metal against the Andover boats. Our tribe of enthusiastic rowers threw all their strength and energy into the battle. And the result....Andover won won eight of the ten races and came in second in the other two. Way to go Andover! Please go to the race schedule below and click on "results" for the full races times.
We will host two boats from Groton at home on Wednesday to race our G4 & G5. The girls next race will be against St. Paul's on May 2nd. The boys will be away to Salisbury on April 25th and then at home to St. Paul's on May 2nd.Updates - Kent April 11th
Victorous B2
It's a cold and wet day
For Kent pictures 09, click here
For Kent pictures 09 part II, click here
With the new style of the Andover Athletics website we have lost some of the old pages. Luckily we had archived some of the old pictures. They are being posted to the "Friends of Andover Crew" group on facebook. Once people have "tagged" their names for these pictures we will post them on this site.
Our own Alexandra Farrell and Sarah Rutter have made a good start already as shown by their performace at the CRASH-Bs. Also check out our Alumni. Top of the list is Scotty Morgan with sub 6 ergs and Taylor Washburn in the Lightweights. These two look like they should be on a path to London 2012. Also on the Open Men list were Karl Hirt and Geoff Martin and Olivia Coffey was at 16 on the Open Women. Please email andovercrew@andovercrew.net if we have missed anyone. See CRASH-Bs
Last year a group of parents and an alumni family joined together to purchase a new boat for the girls. It has been delivered to the boathouse and will be officially named at the Exeter home race. This year we need to think about a boat for the boys.
The rowing program had a fun training term this fall and now looks forward to a new exciting spring racing season. The students should be staying fit with other sports while remembering to visit the erg machines in the gym. A quick spring break and they will be returning to crack the ice on the Merrimack and compete for seats in the racing boats. A few shorts weeks and we will face Kent in the first competition. For the last few years the boys have won the Dent Oars at Kent and given them up at Andover. This year the girls will be competing for their new Hart Perry Trophy in their brand new racing eight to be delivered this spring. The boys will soon be in need of a new boat.
Here is a great picture of spring rowing from photographer Al Erickson through a link to Row2k.
Notice the only one in this Washington boat not "steaming" is the coxswain, Michelle Darby '07
Here is a picture of the boat training their coxswain to fly, photograph by Eric Cohen '82/WRF
Please do not attempt this.
She is 14 feet upLast year Andover alumni were successful at the college and international level with several national champions and of course an Olympic Gold medal. This year we expect to see more Andover graduates competing at the highest levels. If you know of an Andover graduate competing anywhere please send us an email or post on the "Friends of Andover Crew" Facebook group page on www.facebook.com. Join the Facebook group is you haven't already.
Check out the The boathouse page for the lates news on the project.
Jump to
- All you didn't want to know about crew
- Training & Fun
- How parents help the passion
- Spring Schedule and Directions
- Rowing links - Including tips for spring training.
- Henley '06
- Alumni Page - Andover Crew, the last 54 years
- Alumni Corner - Sample pictures
- Rowing Stories '09
- Rowing Stories '08
- Rowing Stories '07
- Rowing Stories '06
- Rowing Stories '05
- Food signup for the races
If your are a rower, please take the time to show your parents how to access this page.
Recent news
Hart Perry Trophy
We will have a new trophy in the spring that will be awarded to the winners of the G1 race between Andover and Kent. It will be named for Hart Perry. There are sports that people play and there are sports that become a life long passion. They are students who try crew for a term and go on to other things but there are more students for whom crew becomes an intense lifetime passion. People who are intensely passionate about something often have an affinity for others with the same passion. The love of the river binds rowers together. Rowers often have fond memories of those who introduced them to the passion. A person who has coached for over 30 years will have many passionate supporters. One such man is Hart Perry. His web of friends knows almost no bounds.
A probably incomplete catalogue of Hart's rowing achievements would include coaching at Kent for over 30 years, Coast Guard, rowing judge-referee, supporter of the Mystic Seaport Rowing Museum, executive director of the National Rowing Foundation, US Rowing board member, founding member of NEIRA, member of the Leander Club and, I believe, the first foreigner ever elected a Henley steward.
Our own Coach Peter Washburn first met Hart when Peter's father coached teams that raced against Hart's Kent boats. Hart proved a great friend to Andover crew and Peter in his early years in New England. When Peter's boat pulled off a surprise victory in the quarterfinals at Henley '06, Hart Perry was in the judge's launch rooting for Andover. Long before Title IX, Coach Brown at Andover and Coach Perry at Kent both started girls' crew in the 1970s as full equal members of the rowing programs.
Our Coach Kathryn Green was coached at BU by Stewart MacDonald who also served under Hart Perry at Kent. Coach Green went on to coach girls' crew at Kent for 5 years before coming to Andover. Stewart married Cynthia Doggett '79 who rowed for Andover. Again the rowing passion of Kent and Andover is intertwined.
The boys B1 boats race every year for the Dent oars, named for John Dent who also coached at both Andover and Kent. Stewart MacDonald and Hart Perry created the Dent oars. When Stewart and Tia thought of creating a similar award for the girls' G1 boats, Hart Perry seemed the perfect person to honor with the trophy.
This past weekend Stewart and Tia presented a beautiful 19th century silver trophy to Hart at a dinner held in their house with 35 friends of Kent and Andover Crew. There were many speeches. Most of them short, all of them emotional, all containing stories of lives touched in a positive way by Hart Perry. There could be no doubt that Stewart had selected a worthy person to be honored by this trophy.
Andover and Kent boys have battled for over thirty years for the Dent Oars. The girls will now battle for the new Hart Perry Trophy. It will be awarded for the first time after the spring races at Kent School in 2009. Our thanks to Stewart and Tia for their thoughtful generosity and to Hart for his lifetime of contributions to the passion of crew.
Alumni Summer
Andover alums have been busy these past few months capturing national, international and olympic rowing titles. Please let us know if we have missed anyone. If you are a new Andover student who has what it takes to become a tall tough rower or a small spirited coxswain, then sign up taste the charms of the Mighty Merrimack River with Fall Andover Crew. Perhaps in a few years we will be reporting your rowing feats on the national or international stage.
2008 Olympics
USA Olympic team - Gold Medal Winners - Caroline Lind '02
Caroline Lind '02 won GOLD with the USA Olympic womens' eight in Beijing. This is the first time for the USA women since 1984 and I think back then they raced 1000m instead of the full 2000m. The team will appear on Oprah the week of 9/8. Read Caroline's own account at Caroline's Blog For more Olympic coverage check out Row2k Olympics and NBC Olympic coverage.
2008 FISA World Rowing Junior Championships
USA Junior National Team - World Champions - Erika Roddy '07
Erika Roddy '07 made history on the U.S. Junior Women’s eight at the 2008 FISA World Rowing Junior Championships in Linz, Austria, winning the first U.S. gold medal in the junior women’s eight event in the history of the championships, and the second gold medal by a U.S. junior women’s crew.
2008 IRA National Championships 2008 (Men)
Andover was well represented at the IRAs. Sarah Sherman '04, Taylor Washburn '03, Colin Smith '07, Geoff Martin '07, Scott Morgan '06, Karl Hirt '06 and Travis Green '04 were rowing for Princeton, Cornell, Brown, Harvard and Dartmouth. Rush Martin '07 was the bow man in the CAL freshman eight that won the Freshman 8 championship and Michelle Darby '07 coxed the UW four that won the Freshman 4 championship and broke a 15 year old course record. Now they both have to wash about 23 new rowing tee shirts! Congratulations to them all!!
Rush Martin '07 - National Champion
Michelle Darby '07 - National ChampionNCAA National Championships 2008(Women)
At NCAA Womens' Championship, Katherine Adams'06 rowed in the Yale JV and Mia Kanak '06 coxed the winning Yale varsity eight to a National Championship. Erika Roddy '07 was rowing in the Stanford boat that came second. Congratulations!!
USRowing has invited 61 Athletes to 2008 Junior Women's National Team Development Camps. Our own Alexandra Farrell will be one of the lucky ones. Scott Morgan '06 was invited to the tryouts for the US under 23 national team squad at Dartmouth, Hanover NH.
The Spirit of Andover Crew
Crew is a little different from other sports. All the students, boys and girls, everyone from varsity first boat to the sixth boat, train together, practice together, race together. Everyone jumps on the same bus for the bone-rattling trip to the boathouse. Everyone helps with the launches. Everyone shares the same cold wet days on the Merrimack. Everyone shares the same pain, the same pleasure. Everyone will have the same joy as the boat starts to sync and the speed increases. There is no individual effort. There is no individual glory. Only one boat, eight rowers, one coxswain, one shell. A racing boat.
Below is a multimedia section including a video of this year's (07) interschols, Michelle's call and video from Henley '06 and a documentary video about Andover crew made by Katherine Adams '06. Recently we have noticed people referring to Andover crew as a world class program. The shallow reason for such an accolade is probably the recent racing performance such as B1 with two silvers and a gold and G1 with three silvers in the last three New England Championships. We think the program is world class because of the spirit of Andover crew down through all 12 boats. We hope the videos below will help you visit again with the spirit of Andover crew.Interschols '07 Video
Click the links below for Interschol video thanks to Jim Moroney.
Click here for Interschol video part 1
Click here for Interschol video part 2
Click here for Interschol video part 3
Abingdon Race Henley '06 - Michelle's Coxswain's Call: You can feel the spirit as you listen to this race from Henley '06. Abingdon, one of the top English schools, used their fantastic start to take an early lead of over a boat length. Lesser crews would have crumbled. Andover clawed back into the race and then pulled off a tremendous sprint to take the victory.
Click the CONE for a video combination of the coxswain's recording and the TV recording of the Abingdon-Andover race. The video will start with a photograph of the team racing at Henley. The TV footage from www.rowtv.co.uk will appear for the last 500 meters.
Andover Crew video: Katherine Adams created this Andover crew video in the Spring of '04. As you watch this movie I think you will aprreciate that Andover Crew is something very special. We have split the movie into four parts to make it easier to play and download. Please click on the link and it will play using Media Player. You may also right click on each part to download the four files and then use the 'open' command under 'file' to select all four to play as a group.
Andover Crew Video Part 1
Andover Crew Video Part 2
Andover Crew Video Part 3
Andover Crew Video Part 4
Courtesy of Katherine Adams '06
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General Information
Head Coaches:
Girls' Head Coach: Kathryn "Luc" Green
Boys' Head Coach: Pete WashburnGirls' Team Captain: Isabelle(izzy) Engelsted
Boys' Team Captain: The boys' election is at the beginning of spring seasonO Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;Walt Whitman
This Website is run by Parents, Friends and Alums of Andover Crew to inform and involve parents and alums in the Andover Crew program
The FALL crew season is the time for fun. Many new students have never been in a rowing boat. The experienced and novice students are mixed together in a process that starts with lots of splashing and little speed through the water. The teams progress with advice and encouragement from the coaches as well as laughter and hard work from the students. Eventually every boat is powering through the water with every oar moving as though the rowers were part of one being. Students who used to run inside at the first drop of rain will soon be happily braving even snow showers for the opportunity to spend the afternoon on the river. Hard to believe? Come and see!
Your students will soon be speaking a new language. You too can learn a little more or understand their new vocabulary
Rowing requires great skill and co-ordination. Here are some extra challenges that a student can try during the school vacation. What about Sculling ?
The program has about 100 girls and boys. They row mostly 'eights' and a few 'fours'
Everyday they are bused to and from the boathouse on the Merrimack River. There is an incredible camaraderie amongst the crew students. Maybe it is the daily bus journey, maybe the shared battle with the elements, maybe the fact that crew is a true team effort? Maybe it is just the shared experience of a few hours together away from the pressure of schoolwork? It is a pleasure to see this happy relaxed group working hard and having fun together.
Spring term is racing season. The competitive spirit kicks in as they start training for races. Andover competes against schools from all over the North East such as Exeter, Kent, NMH, St Paul's, St. John's, Tabor and others. Andover also competes at the New England Interscholastic Regatta (NEIRA) in May.
Spring is also the time for parents and friends to join in with practical help and support. The Saturday races are almost full day events with Andover fielding from 6 to 10 boats against the competition. Supporters travel to the races and provide our teams with food and drink throughout the day. If you have been to any of the races, you will know the extraordinary amount of nourishment required to support a hard racing team. The support and encouragement of the parents and fellow racers contributes greatly to the team. The races are also fun events for students and parents together. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come, even if you can only make it to one of the races. If you live far away you can make a contribution that will be used to provide the food for the races and the end of season barbecue.
Over the years parents and friends have also supported the program with donations of equipment. In the past few years donations have paid for trips overseas, new ergs, new docks, launches and of course new racing boats. With up to 6 racing boats for each of the boys and girls, the hand-me-down boats are pretty old and battered by the time they reach the lower boats even if they are passed on every couple of years. The process needs new boats every 2 to 3 years. This coming spring will have a new girls' boat bought with donations from parents and alumni. The boys B1 boat will be racing for the third season this year.
At the very least, crew will allow your student to have fun, exercise, make new friends and learn a new skill. It may also be the start of a life long passion.
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Training and Fun
Some guidance for the art of erging with skill and style. Read and inwardly digest this guidance and then do the complete opposite and you will have perfection!
Now that the crews are on the water, some people will be catching crabs. If you are going to do something, you might as well excel at it. Here are instructions for catching a really good crab!
Catching a crab can be a race stopping event. Check out the youtube video from San Diego. Ejection crab
Diet is very important for all of us. Strenuous sports such as Crew add an extra dimension to diet planning. Eating properly is essential for good health. Some useful advice for rowers and parents bringing food to races can be found in this Training diet guide link. Staying healthy should be the first priority.
Crew first day on the water
Crew after a week with the coaches - see technique instruction
If you want some very light training for crew, you can try simulated crew with this game for your family. interesting board games.
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Parental Support
In the Fall our duty as parents is to make supporting, understanding nods at the comments that crew is "awesome", "tough", "exhilarating" and of course pretend that we understand the new language. We must not comment on the newfound appetites, tendency to dress in layers and almost complete immunity to the weather. In Spring the racing season offers a direct opportunity for parents to participate. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend the race meetings and yell "GO BLUE". The students really appreciate the loyal band of supporters to cheer them to victory. The races are exhilarating, exhausting and appetite creating and that is just for the supporters. Over the duration of the race meeting, the parents provide a hospitality table for our athletes to quench their thirst and quell their hunger after a hard race.
We can have up to 100 hungry students to feed. You would be amazed at the amount of food consumed. Our athletes are very serious about what they eat before and after a race. It appears they really did listen to all the comments about healthy eating that you thought had fallen on deaf ears.
Check out what rowers should and should not eat and when
In Spring we publish a sample menu for the food table. Everyone can join in by bringing food or making a donation to purchase food.
Click here for the Food menu for the May 23rd. races at InterscholsThe most important thing parents can do is provide encouragement and, if possible, come to support the students at Parents Weekend in the Fall and the races in the Spring. A crew program needs good equipment to be competitive. The Andover crew program has also benefited over the past 50 years from parent and alumni donations. Much of our equipment has been acquired with these donations. Hence the funny names on the boats -- "Pete & Jerry", Cashin. Lone Star and Coach Moss. When crews have won the right to attend the Henley Regatta in London, it has only been possible with the generous donations of parents and alumni to pay for a trip that will be remembered for a lifetime.
If you would like to be on our email list please email us at andovercrew@andovercrew.net.
Top 7 Reasons To Be A Crew Mom/Dad
1. Cooking lunch for the kids on the team is like cooking for a small village.
2. The people from the Child Abuse Prevention Center keep calling about the cuts and bruises on the backs of your child's legs.
3. Standing in the rain and mud on Saturdays in April is much better than relaxing at home.
4. What the hell is a unisuit?
5. Your kids haven't gone to bed this early since they were two years old.
6. You can personally keep Johnson & Johnson in business by buying Band-Aids, gauze, and Neosporin for all their blisters.
7. After all these years they finally eat everything on their plate.
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Spring Schedule
By popular demand a best guess at the 2009 Spring Race Schedule.
To live is to row, to row is to race, to race is to test the limits. Neira beckons.
A Call to Oars:
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To the full height. On, on, you noblest rowers.
Whose limbs were made in New England show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'Go for myself, my family and Andover Crew!'
(Mostly from Henry V Act 3 Scene 1)
- Apologies to Will Shakespeare.
Official Andover Spring Racing Schedule 2009 (How many boats depends the other school) Date Day Team Opponent Site Time 11-Apr-2009 Sat Boys B1-B4 Kent Away Results 11-Apr-2009 Sat Girls G1-G4 Kent Away Results 18-Apr-2009 Sat Boys B1-B4 St. Johns,Simsbury,Exeter Away Results 18-Apr-2009 Sat Girls G1-G4 Simsbury,Exeter Away Results 22-Apr-2009 Wed Girls G4-G5 Groton Home 1.00 PM 25-Apr-2009 Sat Boys B1-B6 Salisbury/Brunswick Away Results 02-May-2009 Sat Boys B1-B6 St. Pauls Home Results * 02-May-2009 Sat Girls G1-G4 St. Pauls-Hanover HS Home Results 9-May-2009 Sat Boys B1-B6 Tabor-Exeter Home Results 9-May-2009 Sat Girls G1-G5 Tabor-Exeter Home Results 13-May-2009 Wed Boys B1-B? Belmont Home TBD 16-May-2009 Sat Boys B1-B4 N.M.H. Away Results 16-May-2009 Sat Girls G1-G4 N.M.H Away Results 23-May-2009 Sat Boys B1-B3 Interscholastics (NEIRA) Away 9.00 AM 23-May-2009 Sat Girls G1-G3 Interscholastics (NEIRA) Away 9.00 AM * The boys' four raced a Lawrence boat club race and came in second out of four boats.
The teams and supporters arrive a couple of hours earlier to setup for the races.
GO BLUE!!
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Directions:
Directions to Lake Quinsigamond
Follow the direction to Regatta Point State Park.
Quinsigamond Rowing Ass. directions to Regatta Point State Park at Lake Quinsigamond, WorcesterAlternate Neira regatta directions to Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester
Directions to the boathouse (from Andover) for the Andover crew races.:
Directions to parking for the Andover Boathouse
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Rowing Stories '09 - Spring
NMH '08
We have posted pictures of the the NMH's races.
Click here for NMH's_1
Click here for NMH's_2
Click here for NMH's_3
Click here for NMH's_4
Exeter and Tabor May 10th.
This was a big weekend at the Andover boathouse, boat dedication, Grandparents’ weekend and the battle with Big Red and Tabor.This weekend we dedicated a new donated Vespoli V1 for the girls. A new boat for G1 also means newer boats for G2, G3 …..and so on our lowest boat exchanges a 15 year old boat for 12 year old. So it is a cause for celebration for everyone.
We have posted pictures of the the Exeter's races.
Click here for Exeter's_1
Click here for Exeter's_2
Click here for Exeter's_3
Click here for Exeter's_4
Click here for Exeter's_5
St. Paul's '09
The first race was our boys' four. We have a couple of fours donated by the Metz family that are used for skill training in the fall. This day was to be the first ever race for the four boys and for the boat, only the girl coxswain had racing experience. They were entered in a race organized by the Lawrence boat club. They were a little nervous beforehand. On the start they took off like a dog escaping to garden for the first time in spring. They led for more than the first half of the course and slipped into second place by the finish. A worthy effort for their first race and a new milestone for Andover crew. Very few schools can field 6 boats so our first race was St. Paul's and our B4, B5 and B6 boats. Our boats had all raced the previous weekend on the quiet Salisbury lake. Today they were to test their metal and their coxswain's steering on the mighty Merrimack. The conditions were a close to perfect as the Merrimack ever allows, flat water, low wind and gentle current. They started above the 93 bridge. Without the sound system we were all staring into the distance looking for the first signs of pond skaters coming towards the boathouse. As they emerged from the bridge, the four boats looked majestic spread across the expanse of water. They were rowing well. The order was set early in the race and held to the finish with B4, B5, St Paul's and B6 crossing the line in that order with open water between all the boats. B6 were a little disappointed not to repeat they victory of last week but it was great experience for them. Next came G4 with St. Paul's, CRI and Hanover. G4 stepped it out like a canine with their nose into the wind. They strode past the boathouse towards the finish line with almost a boat length of open water. Coach Hurley's B3 was next on the schedule. With the relatively short racing season the boats are continuously developing week by week and every race is significantly different and our rivals are also growing with the season. But today was the day that Andover boys "clicked" B3 drove down the Merrimack like they owned the river, the coxswain not even showing the slightest concern at not being able to see the other boats because she was so far ahead. B3 finished up 12 seconds ahead of CRI who were ahead of St. Paul's. Our G3 had some tougher competition. In an upset to the expected form it was Hanover high who took the honor of leading down the river followed by CRI and our G3 preserving their honor by leading St. Paul's at the finish. On this day B2 brought it home and then some. They led down the course past the boathouse well in front of all the competition and finished 14 seconds ahead of St. Paul's who were ahead of CRI and Hanover. In fact our B2 was only 1.5 seconds slower than the St. Paul's B1. The G2 race was more like the competitions we have come to expect on the Merrimack. Andover and CRI broke away from St. Paul's and Hanover to have a private battle for the lead. As they past the boathouse you could feel the stress and tension of the rowers fighting to claw back a CRI lead. CRI held their own to win by 5 or 6 seats. Andover were several boat lengths of open water ahead of St. Paul's and Hanover
Getting Ready for their 1st Race
Relax
Click here for St Pauls_1
Click here for St Pauls_2
Click here for St Pauls_3
Salisbury '09
We had a great day at Salisbury. The weather and the racing were superb. Andover won the B1, B2, B3 races. Our B4 came second to Brunswick and ahead of Salisbury, Our B5 was first ahead of our B6 who were ahead of Brunswick and Salisbury. Congratulations to all six boats for a wonderfull effort and exciting racing. This was the first ever race for many of the rowers in our lower boats. It was also a first for many of our coxswains who discovered the price of victory....being thrown into the lake.
Pete and Jerry -- the boat that keeps on winning
Happy first time racers
Idyllic Salisbury
Click here for more Salibury_1
Click here for more Salibury_2
Click here for more Salibury_3
Lake Quinsigamond '09
Saturday was great day for Andover Crew. The strong breeze at Lake Quinsigamond blew away the winter cobwebs and the hard work of the last few weeks training started to show benefits. It was a fair day with smatterings of sunshine and rain. There was a cross wind and some choppy water towards the end of the course. The cross wind made floating starts with 6 rookie coxswain a little exciting. The idea is to have all the boats in line across a start line and pointing down the course. Sounds easy. But with a cross wind it takes a master coxswain to hold the water position while another boat moves into place.This year our 3rd and 4th boats seem unusually bubbly and eager for action. The B4 went off first. From the start they were up on the other boats and once they saw the open water in front of them they charged down the course like a horse with the bit between their teeth. They were all alone when the crossed the finish at 14 seconds ahead of Exeter. G4 followed this example almost to the letter and raced home 8 seconds ahead of their nearest rival. B3 was in for a tougher competition against Exeter, St John?s and Simsbury. This race was up for grabs until the finish line flag was dropped but Andover held their own and won by 4 seats. G3 had a less successful start and faced a formidable Exeter boat along with Simsbury, Boston Latin and Brookline. Andover managed to reach well ahead all the other boats except Exeter who displayed a very nice turn of speed. Still a 1:3 record is not bad. Our B2 was very confident coming off their victory over Kent last week. They looked very relaxed. They set off well from the start and tracked a straight line towards the finish. The others boats pushed to be competitive but B2 dominated at the finish with a lead of over 2 boat lengths. For some reason our G2 always seems to the happy boat and today was no exception. They were matched against a strong Exeter boat and a surprisingly strong Boston Latin boat. This was a real race with three boats vying to win in the last 500 meters. Our G2 took it at the finish with 1.5 seconds over Exeter and 3.5 seconds or a boat length over Boston Latin.The last boys' race was B1. They were disappointed in the loss margin to Kent last week. We knew they had the ability to do better.B1 took off with confidence and settled into a dominating rhythm, crunching through the water. NMH, Exeter and Simsbury were the competitive boats with Brookline and St. John's somewhere behind. B1 never looked anything but confident and composed. They dominated the race and came in 12 seconds over second placed NMH. Exeter came in fourth, 15 seconds behind Andover. The last race of the day was G1 who faced a strong Exeter boat. The G1 took off very well from the start and held a lead for the first 1000 meters but then Exeter kicked in with a strong sprint and clawed back the lead. Going to the finish line they were neck and neck exchanging the lead with each successive stroke. At the line the coxswains could not tell who was first. After 300 seconds and 1500 meters, the line judges eventually awarded it to Exeter by 4/10ths of second. A big improvement over last week. All in all a great day for Andover with 6 first places and 2 second places.
Sacrifice to the lake Gods
Mission Accomplished
Winning smile
Click here for LakeQ_1
Click here for LakeQ_2
Click here for LakeQ_3
Kent '09
We looked a little like a traveling band of gypsies with our bedraggled tents bridged with blue tarps to fend off the rain. The promised clear weather did not materialize until after the races. It was also a tough day for Andover boats. We knew Kent had been on the water for twice as long, we knew their river is small and meandering with patches of dead water but we still had hope. The G4 and B4 races were the first competitions of the day. For many of our young rowers, this was their first ever race for blue. Despite the cold and the rain these boats charged down the river with great gusto. They both stormed across the line ahead of Kent. This warmed the hearts of our damp supporters on the bank. The G3 and B3 races followed, again with great effort but sadly the Kent boats slipped across the line first. The weather was getting gradually better. The higher boats have more experienced coxswains and the races become more of a battle for position on the winding turns and patchy current. Our G2 had a tough race battling a strong determined Kent G2. Kent won the race by open water. B2 went up against the odds and bested the Kent boat. They were rowing long at about a 33. Our G1 battled hard down the river and made a rush for the line but could not hold Kent from a win by about 5 seats to capture the Hart Perry trophy for the first time. The last boys' race was the B1 competition for the Dent Oars. Andover had captured the Oars the last two visits to the Housatonic River. But this day on the battle field was not to be the day for Andover. In the middle of the race Kent pushed over into Andover's lane unhindered by referee interference and took the open water. Despite a final push towards the end, there was too much water to be reconquered.
Well Done
Hart Perry cup
For Kent pictures 09, click here
For Kent pictures 09 part II, click here
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Rowing Stories '08 - Spring
Interschols '08
Results:
Race results - Click here
Team trophy results - Click here
Interschols' Pictures Page 1
Interschols' Pictures Page 2
Interschols' Pictures Page 3
Interschols' Pictures from Eric Engelsted
Interschols' Pictures from Bob Moss
Another amazing season for Andover has come to an end. We are saying goodbye to another batch of amazing rowers. They arrive almost as delicate as seedlings in a spring garden and leave like redwoods, taller, stronger and more confident. Andover is not for the slow of mind or faint of heart. Crew is hard on the body and the soul. Everyone on the boat wins or everyone loses. Andover usually has more wins than losses. Older Alumni always tell me they remember the losses, especially the close ones more than they remember the victories. This year all our teams had respectable results as told by the number of boats beaten by Andover versus the number that bested us:
G1: 20-4, G2: 19-4, G3: 17-6, G4: 5-4, G5: 1-0.
B1: 17-4, B2: 20-1, B3: 16-5, B4: 1-5, B5: 0-3.
The Washburn rule is that there is only one race, the next one. This is the only race that can be changed. We had some very tough races at the beginning against Kent and Exeter. The first boat boys lost by 10 seconds to Exeter and the girls by 13 seconds, G3 lost by 14 seconds. At our level a boat length is about 3 or 4 seconds. These losses would have been enough to destroy weaker teams. All of our boats did what they needed to do….suck it up and focus on training. The coaches made some changes in the boats.
A reasonable assumption would be that if a rower were moved up to B1, then B2 would go slower. It didn't happen. Over the weeks of the season all the boats grew in speed and confidence and by Interschols those early boats that had lost by oceans of open water were a feint memory in the dim and distant past. The transformation was the result of weeks of determined graft by every rower and coxswain.
Those boats of distant memories would have been hard pressed to make it through the heats at Interschols but our boats of this present weekend came first or second and where we came second we beat those teams in the finals. By lunchtime we knew we were in the hunt for medals. This year's teams had looked adversity in the face and adversity had blinked.
All our rowers were heroes this year but we should mention a particular hero. Our G1 coxswain, Sardis, this year was stricken with an allergic reaction that became a nasty infection that meant for the whole season she had been unable to walk on her left foot. Now left feet can be very important, a fellow countryman of mine even named his book after his left foot although in that case it was his best working part rather then the injured part. Sardis never allowed her foot to interfere with her boat and maintained her glowing disposition in good times and bad. She will bring a joyous contribution to the lucky university that has captured her for college as will our other graduating seniors that will go on to make the world a better place for all of us.
Happiness has a silver lining
We won!
The Team Trophy
Winners of the Teamwork Trophy
Icescreammmmmm
No Regrets
Ms Chase visiting the boathouse
The price of winning
Help ! Extra hands required :-(
The flying B2, all eight do actually row when needed
Let's race Coach Washburn to the trailer
Food, glorious food
Look Mum, only one hand
Pay back time
Many hands make light work
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The Canadian prerace peptalk video is making the rounds on youtube again. The quality and sound is miserable. We have reposted a medium quality version. Go to Links. We can supply contact info is anyone wants to contact the original creator to obtain a DVD. It is best "save" the file and then "play' rather than 'open" it. The file is about 50 Mbytes.
We have updated our links to Summer rowing camps. The camps are usually fully booked by the end of March. From our past family experience we can recommend Northeast and Eton Summer Program but there are many good programs all across the country.
Many Andover rowers have also spent happy summers rowing with Community Rowing in Boston. This is a program that races competitively during the summer.Community Rowing
We have added links to the top colleges in the world according to Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Times of London for those who are starting on the painful task of selecting a college. There is also a link to a table of college rowing programs. Links
Fall '07 Pictures:
For pictures from the Head of the Charles Regatta Click Here
And for more pictures from the Head of the Charles Regatta Click Here
The Washburn family enjoying the races.
Some of the Andover crowd.
For pictures of the fall on the Merrimack Click Here
And for more pictures of the fall on the Merrimack Click Here
Rowing Stories '07 - Spring
As we sit here in New England buried in 10" of snow it is hard to believe that in a short number of weeks the crew team will be meeting for the Spring season. Some of the rowers will have renewed their love hate relationship with the erg machines in the gym. Someone asked Sir Steve Redgrave, he of the five consecutive gold medals, if he enjoyed erging. He said he hated training but it was the only way to win races.
The 2007 spring was a fantastic racing season for Andover Crew but that glory is past and a new season is upon us. The first race will be against Kent at home. They usually go south to the sunshine for pre-season training and always provide a very tough beginning to our racing season. Supporters are a key element for all of our races to provide encouragement and food. Parents and friends should be planning their Spring weekends to include warm balmy (sometimes)afternoons by the river. The coaches might sneak in a couple of extra races. So come on down and yell GO BLUE!! for your favorite racing boat.
Andover has decided this year to instigate a "Hall of Honor" to celebrate Andover athletes and coaches. Check out Athletic Hall of Honor.
It seems to me that Andover Crew has a wealth of possible candidates starting with Coach Brown and the brave souls who manned his first ever Andover boat and running through such candidates as the undefeated '65 boat whose record lasted until B1 matched it this past Spring '07 or the first girls boat who started rowing even before Abbot completed the merger and before Title IX was a twinkle in anyone's eye. There are individuals such as Jon Bernstein who rowed for Andover, Harvard, USA and Cambridge and guest coaches at Andover during the Spring or Seth Moulton who has been in the news for his Iraq exploits and trying to obtain asylum for his Iraqi translator or our more recent Olympians such as Caroline Lind. So call up your friends and encourage them to go to the website and propose your favorite candidate. The first "inductees" will be announced at this year's reunion in June.2007 Season Results
2007 - Boys 1st. Boat - Undefeated New England Champions
2007 - Girls 1st. Boat - Henley Women's Regatta Finalists
2007 - New England Championships Boys: Team trophy & B1 Gold, B2 Bronze, B3 Silver
2007 - New England Championships Girls: G1 Silver, G2 Gold, G3 Silver
Our Girls at Women's Henley.
Latest News! The girls beat Exeter by a length in the Semifinal. Sadly they could not best South Niagara in the Final. This was a very very impressive performance by our G1 girl's first ever entrance in the Henley Women's Regatta. Congratulations!! Everyone should be very proud of their effort. A great way to end the season and a fantastic memory for the seniors to take away with them. Coach Bob Moss has now well and truly retired and I am sure that the girls have given him a memory that he will cherish forever.
For the race results click here
(Saturday June 23rd) Bob Moss sent this message from the bank of the Thames....
Hi Everyone,
Tremendous news from Henley! G1 won both its races today and will move on to the semi-finals against.....Exeter! In our first race, we did not make a good start, got behind by about a length to Commercial Rowing Club from Ireland but fought back tenaciously and won by 5 seats and by pulling ahead with a fantastic sprint. It was an inspiring and unforgettable total team effort. In our second race against Molesey RC, one of the top crews in the UK, we smoked them at the start and never looked back. The race was sealed about a minute into it and we enjoyed a leisurely run down the Thames, finishing at 26 strokes per minute to Molesey's 37. Tonight, a grand dinner in town and tomorrow another Andover-Exeter race with designs of revenge from our 0.2-second loss at Interschols written all over it. Exeter had to change its line-up because of several rowers who were over 19 and we will soon know if they still show their same speed from three weeks ago. Despite an incessant rain and appalling muddy conditions at the launch site, Andover cannot wait to race again and represent our school and country with distinction.
The Henley Women's Regatta Finalists 2007 - The Andover Girl's 1st. Boat.
Our thanks to the Alumni and Parents who have made generous donations to bring this dream to reality. The other schools in our New England region make regular trips to Henley.
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Interschols May 26th.
Amazing day! Last year every team medaled for the first time in history. We thought it couldn't get any better than that. Well it did!
NEIRA Results:
B1: Gold - New England Champions.(Season 21-0 undefeated only second team ever in the our crew history)
G1: Silver - Second by only 2/10ths of a second!(Season 23-2)
B2: Bronze (Season 15-6)
G2: Gold - New England Champions.(Season 23-2)
B3: Silver (Season 17-4)
G3: Silver (Season 21-3)
Boys' team trophy: - New England Champions. First time ever since the trophy was started in 1995.
Girls' team Trophy: Very close second.
Last year we were overjoyed to have each team medal for the first time. This year we did even better with G2 and B1 taking the championships and the boys boats taking the team prize for the first time ever. All the kids did us proud. The pictures are available at http://www.andovercrew.net although with every team going to the medal dock it was a crush trying to catch everyone on camera. One of the parents, Jim Moroney, made a video. We are having it converted for the website and will add it in a couple of weeks.
For the girls is a poignant day. It was the last Interschols for Bob Moss who is retiring this year. It is also the first year ever the girls’ team is going to Henley. The pressure was on to make a good showing. G3, Bob’s own boat, won their heat in the morning and raced amazing well taking silver and the first Andover medal of the day. A great ending to Bob’s 23 years with Andover Crew. He has nurtured literally hundreds of outstanding girl rowers.
B3 followed with an equally excellent performance capturing silver. The day was looking good. Andover was starting to smile.
G2 rowed a confident heat in the morning beating Kent well over a boat length and in the afternoon final stormed home to a gold medal and a New England championship. Our B2 went into the competition seeded 5th. Coach Washburn had set a goal of winning the team trophy for the first time at the beginning of the season. To make this dream a reality we needed B2 to make it into the medals. In the morning heat they were third behind Kent and Exeter with St. John’s and St. Paul’s leading the other heat. We held our breadth but the boys came through rowing with heart and guts and beat out the competition to take the bronze medal. The day was looking better.
The girl’s first boat won their morning heat with a second over Kent. The grand final was a battle royal between Andover and Exeter. From the bank we could not tell who crossed the line first. Eventually the judges gave it to Exeter by 2/10ths of a second. So so close. The girls, like the boys last year, struggled to smile as they received their silver medals forgetting that they had overcome 16 other schools to take the silver and completing their season with an impressive 23-2 record. As Silver medalist, they can go off to Henley with pride.
The last race of the day was the boys’ grand final. It would not only decide the New England championship but also the boys team trophy. The B1 boat had won the morning heat in a very controlled style to win by 3 seconds over St. Johns. The B1 boat entered the final undefeated this season, in fact their coxswain had not seen the back of any other coxswain all season. The final was to be no different. Coach Washburn used to joke that the best race plan was to take the lead and stay there until the finish. Today was the day of all days for that plan. They had a good start, a strong middle and when Exeter made a move they stepped it up. They finished at a 43 but looked a composed as a steady 33 finishing over Exeter by 2.5 seconds and St. Paul's by almost 7 seconds. A good end to a 21-0 season and an auspicious undefeated inaugural season for their new boat the Oscar Tang. A very impressive win by any standards and confirming the achievement of a dream – the team trophy.
So this year all the teams medaled for the second year in succession. Our B1 and G2 are New England Champions. B1 is undefeated this season. The boys' team captured the team trophy for the first time ever.
All the kids raced their hearts out today to bring home these incredible results. Congratulations to every rower and every coach. If we ever thought we needed it, this is proof that Andover Crew is an exceptional program.
* Full NEIRA Results click here
For pictures (Page 1) of the Interschols races Click Here
For pictures (Page 2) of the Interschols races Click Here
For pictures (Page 3) of the Interschols races Click Here
For pictures (Thanks to Eric E.) of the Interschols races Click Here
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Spring Crew '07
A bunch of hardy early returnees volunteered to open the boathouse, launch a small piece of the dock and explore the upper reaches of Merrimack in search of icebergs to ensure that it would be safe for this coming week. Normally there is a jerkiness to early spring rowing but by the end of today there was a silky smoothness more reminiscent of a late season workout than the first crisp day of spring.
BBQ at the boat house
What a good day to be out
For more picture on Spring practices Click here
Some of the girls gathered in California for a row in the sunshine.
* Some pictures from the girls' rowing trip to California Click here
* Some more pictures of the girls off the water in California Click here
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Fall Instructional Crew '06
Watch out for the current
It is crowded around here
Fall Stuff
Pictures from the last day of rowing - the Tail of the Merrimack. click here.
The wind bites your face, the water stings your fingers, the sun is dropping earlier behind the golden trees. Winter is here. Time to drag the dock ashore and stack it for the winter. The crew days are over until the ice breaks in the spring.
Photographs from the Head of the Charles, Parents' Weekend and the Tail of the Merrimack will be posted this week.
The winter is for feeding and for erging. First, build the strength, then the stamina and last of all the speed. When the ice breaks we will push back onto the river but not for leisurely days of learning. Spring is for racing. Everything must be perfect, everything must be fast. Everything will be for team, boat and self as one.
October 27th: Parent's Day: God must be a rower. How else can we explain the glorious day for Parents' day by the river and the lashing rain for the rest of the weekend. We had a great crowd at the boathouse. Some experienced and relaxed, others new and at least slightly anxious as they watched their precious one row off onto the mighty Merrimack. The kids, trying to look cool and showing off at the same time. Trying to pretend to ignore their parents while stealing glances to be sure they are watching. Everyone had fun.
Crew is not for the half hearted. In soccer you can try to slink off to the side, never call for a pass or always pass the ball on as soon as you have it. Once in the crew boat, you are it until you reach the dock again.
Most sports do just as well whether parents join in or not. Not so with crew. Crew needs supporters - parents, friends and alumni.
Everything from buying equipment to bringing food to the spring races. The coaches and kids make Crew a great sport at Andover, our job, as supporters, is to make their lives easier. The coaches have to drive the buses, maintain the equipment and care for the kids. You could not coach crew unless you loved it.
Crew was founded by Coach Brown in the 1950s with lukewarm support from the school. Castoff boats from Harvard, Princeton and Yale started the program. Parents, friends and alumni have kept it going. You may have seen the plaques on the boathouse and the names on the boats - evidence of the support over the years. If we have two new boats every year, then B6 and G6 are rowing 6 year old boats.
These past two years supporters have donated one boat each for the girls and boys, supported the trip to Henley, almost doubled the dock size. This winter we hope to have two more boats under construction. We hope the boys or girls or both do well enough to warrant a post season competition at Henley or the US Nationals. Each item seems to cost a little over $30k. That is the price of a boat, the cost of new dock and a team trip to Henley. Financial support is unpredictable. We have had good years and not so good years. This past spring three rowing alumni started an endowment in honor of Coach Brown. The goal is to gradually raise money for an endowment to smooth out the ebb and flow of financial support.
The program needs our help in other ways. In the spring the kids have to be careful what they eat before races and have to urgently replenish nourishment after their races. As parents we support both the home and away races with a food table. Volunteer parents bring food and man the table. Some local families also host team dinners on the Fridays before races. We will also be looking for volunteers to take photographs, write for the website and produce newsletters. One lonely person gets to hold the flag at the finish line. If you can't physically make it to the races, you can send money to buy food.
Last but by far the most important support you can provide is to come down to the river and yell "GO BLUE" with all the force and passion your lungs can stand. Race days are a full day event. We race in all weathers except lightning. The passion is contagious. We all have one thing in common, a kid crazy enough to compete in a sport where there is no room for individual achievement. It is truly one for all and all for one. Absolutely everyone is welcome. Mark your Saturdays booked for April and May. Come down to the river.
Insructional Crew '06, click here
Back to JumpExpedition across the Pond
Winners of the Reading Regatta June 23rd, Reading UK.
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Rowing Stories '06 - Spring
Interschols
The season has come to an end, but what a glorious end. Our G4, B4, G5 & B5 crews raced very well during the season and our G3, B3, G2, B2, G1 and B1 surpassed themselves at Interschols. I think it is the first year, ever, that every team has won a medal.
We had a fantastic crowd of parents and alumni at Interschols. We had people from Alaska, California, Texas and many other distant places. We had a huge crowd cheering our boats to the finish line.
All of our boats won places in the finals and finished well with G3 – Silver, B3 – Bronze, G2 – Gold, B2 – Bronze, G1 - Silver and B1 - Silver. The G2 girls were awarded the Converse Prudden cup for their first place. We have a photograph on the web.
Everyone had practiced hard to be ready for Interschols. The lower boats were first to race in the morning. Unfortunately one of the buses broke down on I-290 and everyone had to be ferried by Coach Washburn in the rally wagon, some passing parents and the last few in a state police car. G3 made it to the water with only, literally, two minutes to spare. Despite the rush they won their heat by almost 5 seconds. Every team made it though the heats. We used a local hotel to rest the teams between heats and the Grand finals. Our parents and alumni ran an awesome food table and were voted the unofficial food table winners by the ground staff who returned several times to confirm their judgment.
G1 and B1 had hoped to earn the right to race in the post season at Henley. They raced well but both came away with very respectable silver medals. B1 ran a hard race and took the lead going for the finish. The big Kent boat came back strong. Andover responded and edged ahead and in the last 50 meters the boats were equal. Each one gaining the lead with their stroke and losing when the other boat pulled. The winner was decided by where the line landed in the cycle of sew-saw leadership. The line judge could not call the result. The judges had to review the photo finish. It took a long, long 7 minutes to decide but in the end the decision was given to Kent. B1 had given it their all but Kent had the edge as they crossed the line. They thought their hopes of Henley were dashed.
However, the British, in their sense of fairness, have defined a schoolboy as someone attending a high school and under 19 years old. The Kent Interschols team had several PGs north the age limit and are therefore not eligible for the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. Our team is also fast, finishing at 4:21.31 and would certainly do us proud on the Thames. On Sunday, after they had unloaded the trailer, Mr Washburn offered the B1 team the opportunity to represent the school as Henley. He has only offered this to a handful of teams in the past 25 years. They jumped at the chance. They had thought their hopes of Henley were dashed.
The B1 boat trained every day for several weeks, transferred to England, captured the Reading Regatta and made it to the semifinals at the Henley Royal Regatta. Our best showing for many years.
The quality of the crew program is founded in the experience it provides for the students and not whther they win races or regattas but this year we are doubly blessed. We graduated a fantastic group of girls and boys and we had one of our most successful racing seasons.
June 17th, '06
What a day
For more pictures of Henley Training 06, click here
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Interschol '06
Well Done - Medals for every boat
We got the cup - G2
For more pictures of Interschols I 06, click here
For more pictures of Interschols II 06, click here
For more pictures of Interschols II 06, click here
For many more Stories and pictures from '06 season click here.
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Samples from 2005 Spring and Fall Season
The Dent Oars are BACK!
Fashion sensitive B1 & G1 with matching medals
Bemedalled G2 on dock with oars!
DETERMINATION!
Secret pre-race planning.
Did we just win a race?
For many more Stories and pictures from '05 season click here.
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Alumni Corner
New Alum Stories
New Old Stuff: And now for a couple of pictures, one from 2007, another from around 1959 and three more from around 1983 taken from an out of print book about Andover.
Caroline Lind and the US boat with their Gold medals - Lucerne 2007
We think this is from 1959 with Coach Brown, Tom Pollock, Fritz Dulles, Renny Maier, Jerry Secundi, John Allen, John Bissel, Mike Drooker, Bill Anderson, David Stone and Ned Cabot (seated). Thanks to Simon Hyde, Paul Neshamkin, Mike Drooker, Will Taylor, Tom Pollock, Renny Maier and Sam Bach who sent in their best ideas for the names.
Girls crew circa 1983. Please email andovercrew@andovercrew.net if you know the names.
Boys circa 1983. I think the first time we won the Dent Oars. Our B1 brought them home this year too!
The boys crew on the water. 1: Eamon Roche, 2: Jebb (John?) Dogget, 3: Bruce Trask, 4: Max (Mason?) Drake, 5: Chris (Herman?), 6: Alex (Hugo?), 7: Pat Tipton, 8: Steve Hochman and Cox: Jeff Tuller. Thanks to Bruce Trask for his best memories of the names. Editor's guesses in ().Please email andovercrew@andovercrew.net if you know the rest.
From Lissy Abraham '74
Lissy wrote and asked why I only posted the 1974 boys' picture. I answered that we didn't care about the girls (only joking!) and besides they only merged in '74 and didn't do crew until '75. Oh no she said. Prove I said. And she did. Here is the 1974 girls from Lissy's yearbook. More to come from her 1973 yearbook showing girls infiltrated Crew before the merger!.
The first Official girls crew at Andover - Lissy on the RHS.
From Reuben Perin '89
The two photos labeled ‘B1 Class of 89’ and ‘Reading Winners’ were taken in England the week before Henley when we had won the Reading Town Regatta. The other photo, ‘Coach Row at Henley’, is unique because it is of our boat rowing the Henley course, but if you look closely you will see that the stroke seat is our beloved coach Peter Washburn. We rowed the course and even did a few pieces with Mr. Washburn after we were eliminated. He could at that point still put out a decent puddle and not crab in the process. Can’t wait to see everyone at the reunion.
Our B1 boat line-up was:
Bow: Eric Hawn, 2: Nick Lehman, 3: Peter Austin, 4: Ethan Ayer, 5: Cadir Lee, 6: Reuben Perin, 7: John McDougall, Stroke: Chris Schulten,Cox: Cristina Spencer (Olivetti)
Reading Winners
Coach Row at Henley
B1 Class of 89
Several people have expressed a nostalgic connection with the old boathouse that we had to abandon because of vandalism. We took a stroll along the river bank and found the building in remarkably good condition after 25 years. Here are some photographs
The Old Boathouse
The view from the Old Boathouse
The view from the Old Boathouse
For many more Alumni news and memory lane click here.
Who is the handsome young man leading the Andover crew at the 1983 Neira championships? Bob Moss suggested that it might be a young Tom Selleck (aka Magnum P.I.) but the first correct answer was from Ryan Marcelo. Of course this is a slightly younger Coach Washburn. This photo was sent in by Alec Hugo '83.
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Related links
- Link to NEIRA 2009
- Erg Competition - Boston
- If you ever wonder why you need a good coxswain
- Rowing fun for those of you who hate stationary erg machines
- Pre-race speech by Canadian coach. Right click to "Save Target as" (Be warned, it includes swear words)
- Rowing songs, thanks to Twickenham Rowing Club
- What do rowers do during Spring Break? Train to be ready for Spring
- Useful page including training and food tips
- Animated rowing technique instruction - Source of gifs
- Rowing board game
- Test your knowledge on a crew quiz
- The School Page - New England Champions '59, '62, '64, '65, '77, '88, 89, '90, '91, '92, '93, '95, '00, '03, '07, '08
- The new Vespoli V1 racing boat
- New discussion board that replaces Rowersworld
- Rowing results and lots more
- Henley Royal Regatta (Boys)
- Henley Women's Regatta (Girls)
- Summer Rowing Camps
- Community Rowing a wonderful summer competitive rowing program in Boston
- NorthEast Rowing Center - Popular with Andover rowers and college coaches
- Eton College Summer Rowing camp - Across the pond but a world class coed program
- Colleges - Places to study while you row
- Top Colleges in the world according to the Shanghai University
- Top Colleges in the world according to the Times of London
- History of rowing site
- Curlew rowing - Home of the creator of the erg cartoon
- Leander rowing club - Club of the pink Hippo, Coach Washburn and Henley winners
- Crew 2004 (Credits : Michelle E '04)
- More Andover Crew photographs thanks to Gary Zegel
- More Crew 2004 (Credits : Kate I '05)
- Source of the Valentine pandas & penguins
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