• To see the entire USRowing events calendar, click here.
• To read more about National Team selection procedures, click here.
• To donate to the Potomac River Sports Foundation (PRSF), the organization that helps support the National Team goals of our Open Scullers, click here.
• Follow tweets of our Open Scullers’ results and progress on USRowing or Potomac Star Twitter accounts!

Rowing with pride and gratitude

Stephen Whelpley (bow) training with Willy Cowles for trials in Chula Vista earlier this month.

It’s so rare that people take the time these days to show their gratitude, much less send a thank you note.  Stephen Whelpley took time out of the insane demands of a U.S. National Team Quad Camp training schedule to write the following note of thanks to the PBC Board.  That’s practically an Olympic feat itself.

Steve thanks the club, but as you read on, you will see all of the thanks appropriately go to Coach Reilly Dampeer.  Reilly’s scullers train hard and row to win, but at the end of the day, just like her, they truly represent the best of our club and the best of our sport … win or lose.

Steve, we are unbelievably proud of all of our athletes, and yes, we are proud of you and Willy.  Some have said your race was the best race they had ever seen.  Ever.

And yes, when you chose to row with Willy, you chose us, too, and like it or not you’re part of the PBC family now.  This means yet another young nubile energetic person will allow us to sit back here in DC, whether at home or in our offices, and live vicariously through you and your relentless pursuit of excellence in the sport we all love.

For that, we thank you.  The best is yet to come.

* * *

Dear PBC Board,

My name is Stephen Whelpley, and I spent the majority of the majority of this rowing year as Willy Cowles doubles partner.  Considering my current situation in quad camp out in Chula Vista, I ask you not to judge the magnitude of my message by the brevity of its delivery.

There are a lot of things that could be said and a back story that could be illustrated.  I will simply say that I have been training full-time for over 7 years now since graduating from college, primarily for Penn AC in Philadelphia.  This very well could be the culmination of my “serious” rowing career.  Rather than accept my original invitation to go to quad camp, I knew pursuing the Men’s Heavyweight double was what I wanted to do for numerous reasons.  After some back and forth emailing, Willy and I came to an agreement to pursue it together.  To some degree, I knew that in choosing Willy, I was also choosing PBC.  And at the time, due to various logistical reasons, it made more sense for me to do that than for Willy to choose Penn AC.  What I did not know at the time, though, was the degree to which this would shape and ultimately help me in my pursuit of my Olympic goal.

The pupil becomes the teacher. It wasn't so long ago US rowing team members (L-R) Julie Nichols, Margaret Matia, Sarah Trowbridge and Reilly Dampeer celebrated a Women's Quadruple Sculls silver medal at the XV Pan Am Games 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo credit MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images)

I first want to thank Potomac Boat Club for its impeccable support of us and our pursuit to represent the U.S. in the Men’s Heavyweight double.  The rowing community is small, and there are countless stories of its “brotherhood.” Nonetheless, for a club to support such an effort that so closely benefited a non-club member as much as its own member was extremely benevolent and generous.  I also admired the way that the club and its athletes (both those with whom I trained with in the sculling group, as well as all those I came across from other groups, as well) carried themselves on a day-to-day basis.  There is a familial quality to everything you do that is quite welcoming and healthy. Considering the amount of resources that are required to compete at an international level in this day and age, it is not an easy thing to stay competitive.  However, I feel that PBC helped make it possible through both actual resources and the intangibles of the institution.

I also wanted to take a moment to give what is certain to be insufficient praise of Coach Reilly Dampeer.  I have rowed for a total of 14 years now.  During that time, I have come into contact with countless coaches and have been coached directly by over a dozen coaches.  Some of them were already considered legends of rowing – Ted Nash, Kris Korzeniowski, McLaren, and so on – and others will be soon.  I think Reilly’s efforts this year would have been up there with any of them.

Coach Reilly Dampeer watches her athletes make it through an erg piece way better than her finger nails.

Despite the outcome, I have absolutely no regrets about this year.  We trained hard.  We executed our race.  We went fast.  If I could do it all over again, I would select Reilly as my coach every time.  Sure, she is a relatively young coach, but she makes up for this tenfold with her dedication, willingness to learn, and intense work ethic.  Aside from her direct coaching of our boat, she successfully managed an entire training group in a foreign location, managed the psyches of many different athletes, and flawlessly prepped both young and older athletes for an extremely important race.  It is easy to see the physical resources we need like boats, video review equipment, ergs, and facilities, and clubs obviously need to maintain those resources as well as they can.  However, the importance of a good coach should never be underestimated as a resource, and I feel that Reilly proved to be an invaluable resource to us.

I really saw myself going to the Olympics this year in the Men’s Heavyweight Double.  I have gone to trials and national selection regattas for plenty of years now, and even when I thought I was good enough, I never could picture outcomes as vividly and confidently as I could this year.  I’m sure you know what a respectable time and race we rowed by now and how competitive our event turned out to be when you look at our final’s times against the World Record.

While I wish we could have brought pride to PBC, my family, myself, Reilly, Willy, and many others with a trip to the Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne and ultimately a formidable club-made boat in the 2012 Olympics, I am still extremely proud of our endeavor and hope that PBC is as well.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Steve

This week! PBC at the NSR II and Non-Qualified Olympic Small Boat Trials

Heat sheets and results (available April 9, 2012, after Athletes Meeting)

Katie Stainken trains for trials this week in California.

The U.S. Non-Qualified Olympic Small Boat Trials take place this week in Chula Vista, California.  A select few of our Open Sculling Program athletes have been preparing for this event in Long Beach since January.  Training has been tough, but every day our athletes have shown dedication and progress towards meeting their goals.

Willy Cowles training to win the Men's Double Sculls.

Competing in trials will be the toughest challenge many of these athletes have faced.  But winning here means overcoming just one more hurdle to representing the United States at the Olympic Games in London.

This week’s winners of the men’s double sculls and women’s double sculls trials earn the chance to race at the Lucerne Qualification Regatta in May.

Open Sculling Program head coach Reilly Dampeer says, “I am confident in the hard work our athletes have put in, which of course started years ago.  We can look forward to aggressive racing this week.”

Go get ‘em, PBC!

Kevin Baum lookin’ sharp in Oxford Blue

PBC's Kevin Baum, third from left, to race for Oxford

Okay, so maybe we’ll let him wear blue instead of red this one time.

PBC’s own Kevin Baum has been chosen to row for Oxford University in The Boat Race on April 7, 2012.  Kevin is one of two Americans who join an international crew from England, Germany, and the Netherlands to battle Cambridge during the 158th running of this historic competition.

Kevin previously rowed for the St. Albans School, Stanford University and has been a member of the PBC Open Sculling Program since 2008.  He is also the son of Senior Member George Baum.

PBC Open Sculling Program Coach Reilly Dampeer says of Kevin, “Kevin is a relentless competitor and exemplary member of the PBC team … and gives us a great reason to cheer for Oxford this year!”

(Causing certain members of PBC to ask, “Did we need another reason?”)

Click here for a story that includes a brief sound byte from Kevin.  For more information about The Boat Race, please visit http://www.theboatrace.org/.

Good luck, Kevin!  Your PBC family will be cheering you on from here!

Social Committee … Do we smell another happy hour?! (Or do we just smell the keg o’ rater?)

Rise to the occasion, PBC!

Social Committee Chair Virginia Bryant and Coach Reilly Dampeer and her Open Scullers want to remind everyone that the Rising Stars Dinner is less than two weeks away!

The Second Annual Rising Stars Silent Auction and Dinner is coming up on January 21. This is your opportunity to play a vital role in America’s success in international athletic competition and the strong tradition of competitive excellence at PBC. Show your support: donate services or items for the silent auction, buy tickets to the event, bid up auction items!

For more information, check your mail for your invitation or click on a link below.

• Rising Star Dinner Information
• Auction Donation Form

See you there, PBC!

-The Potomac Star on behalf of the Social Committee and Open Sculling Team

* * *

Please save the date:  January 21, 2012

Potomac Boat Club
Rising Stars Dinner and Silent Auction
An event to benefit the club’s Olympic Hopefuls

An invitation to Save the Date from Open Sculling Coach Reilly Dampeer:

The Potomac Boat Club Open Sculling Program is hosting the second annual Rising Stars dinner and silent auction on January 21, 2011, to benefit our Olympic hopefuls.

PBC is a partner of the USRowing Training Center

I am pleased to announce that this year’s event will take place at the prestigious University Club in downtown Washington, DC.  Potomac Boat Club members will receive an invitation in the mail soon, so please keep an eye out for it and RSVP as quickly as possible, since space will be limited for this special event.

The Open Sculling Program attracts talented athletes from across the United States to Potomac Boat Club to train for elite national and international competition.  The Program has produced athletes who have earned Olympic, World, Pan American and National Championship medals.  As we approach the upcoming Olympic year, our focus is sharp and our goals are to earn the honor of representing our country internationally and bring prestige to the club and program. Like all aspiring athletes who came before us, we strive with dedication, perseverance, and the hope to embody the competitive spirit and tradition that is Potomac Boat Club.

Proceeds raised from this event will fund travel expenses and entry fees for the 2012 Olympic selection regattas to be held in Chula Vista, California.  It will also fund the purchase of the latest training technology, state-of the-art equipment and resources for our athletes.

The 2011 event was a huge success, and I look forward to achieving even higher goals at this year’s Rising Stars event. PBC community support is key to our success. There are literally hundreds of sponsors, officials, coaches, and other individuals who make the achievement of an Olympic dream possible. We invite you to share this exciting evening with us and to be part of the enduring dreams of our athletes.

For more information regarding the Open Sculling Program and the donation of items for the Silent Auction, please contact me at redampeer@yahoo.com or (206) 819-6004.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

Reilly Dampeer
Head Coach, Open Sculling Program

PBC’s Shumway and Cowles light up the course at Elite Nationals

An unmistakable gold medal winning smile on PBC's Margot Shumway at Elite Nationals 2011 (Photo courtesy of USRowing)

Due to widespread power outages, the staff of the Star spent most of the Fourth of July holiday weekend in the dark, whining about having to drink warm Leinenkugel Summer Shandies and consume gallons upon gallons of half melted ice cream (yes, at the same time), all the while wondering what was happening out in the electricity-enabled world during a busy few days of PBC racing.

Fortunately, we ran out of Hagen-Daz Ben and Jerry beer floats (sorry) and are back on the grid … with fireworks to report!

Big congratulations go to Coach Reilly Dampeer and Open Scullers Margot Shumway and Willy Cowles for gold medal finishes at the 2011 USRowing Elite National Championships (June 29 – July 1)!

Perennial Star fave Margot Shumway got it started for PBC on Mercer Lake, grabbing gold in the women’s single sculls.  Margot finished with a time of 7:49.49, 1.69 seconds ahead of Penn AC/Undine Boat Club’s Catherine Reddick.   A 2008 Olympian, she led her race early and was able to dictate the pace throughout.

Next up was our Willy Cowles.  Willy took first place in the men’s single sculls with a time of 7:01.75, defeating Craftsbury Sculling Center’s Ben Dann, who will represent the United States in the men’s single sculls at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships.

With one gold in the bag, Willy, rowing with Stephen Whelpley of Penn AC, then won gold in the men’s double sculls with a close come-from-behind victory over USRowing Training Center’s Greg Ansolabehere and Martin Etem.  Their times were 6:31.43 and 6:31.88 respectively.

In the men’s quad race, Willy just missed a chance to pull the elusive Elite Nationals hat trick, but added hard fought silver to his two gold after edging out Harvard (racing as Cambridge) for second in a tight four boat finish.  GMS got the gold after moving into the lead during the sprint.

See the PBC result detail below.  Not a bad weekend of racing, PBC.  (Holy.)  And we haven’t even started to comb through the Independence Day Regatta results!

For additional detail about these (a couple of strong finishes by Katie Stainken) and other races at Elite Nationals, check out Row2k’s coverage at http://www.row2k.com/events/features.cfm?ID=174.

***

Race 1: Womens 1x Final @ 08:00 AM
1st 3 Potomac BC F (M. Shumway) 07:47.49 07:47.49 00:07:47.49
2nd 2 Penn AC/ Undine (C.Reddick) 07:51.18 0.8% 00:03.69 07:51.18 00:07:47.49 00:00:03.69
3rd 4 Unaffiliated (USA) B (J.Goldsack) 07:52.61 1.1% 00:01.43 07:52.61 00:07:47.49 00:00:05.12
4th 5 Unaffiliated (USA) K (M.Walsh) 07:53.84 1.4% 00:01.23 07:53.84 00:07:47.49 00:00:06.35
5th 6 Potomac BC A (K. Stainken) 07:54.25 1.4% 00:00.41 07:54.25 00:07:47.49 00:00:06.76
6th 1 USRowing Training Center – OKC A (M.Smith) 07:55.28 1.7% 00:01.03 07:55.28 00:07:47.49 00:00:07.79

Race 2: Mens 1x Final @ 08:10 AM
1st 4 Potomac BC A (W. Cowles) 07:01.75 07:01.75 00:07:01.75
2nd 3 Craftsbury (B.Dann) 07:03.30 0.4% 00:01.55 07:03.30 00:07:01.75 00:00:01.55
3rd 5 GMS Rowing (M.Sivigny) 07:09.17 1.8% 00:05.87 07:09.17 00:07:01.75 00:00:07.42
4th 2 Penn AC A (E.Schwirtz) 07:13.54 2.8% 00:04.37 07:13.54 00:07:01.75 00:00:11.79
5th 6 USRowing Training Ctr B (D.McEachern) 07:13.75 2.8% 00:00.21 07:13.75 00:07:01.75 00:00:12.00
6th 1 Y Quad Cities (D.Baustian) 07:14.04 2.9% 00:00.29 07:14.04 00:07:01.75 00:00:12.29

Maria Bokulich and Malyka Ianni in the Women's 2-. The boat was judged to be underweight, but whatever. Looking good should count for something. (Photo courtesy of Row2k.com)

Race 5: Womens 2- Final @ 08:50 AM
1st 4 Vesper (C.Meyer, S.Kaplan) 07:37.89 07:37.89 00:07:37.89
2nd 3 Saratoga (K.Wagner, L.Fitzhenry) 07:39.69 0.4% 00:01.80 07:39.69 00:07:37.89 00:00:01.80
3rd 6 Riverside (M.Foster, L.Maldonado) 08:00.66 5.0% 00:20.97 08:00.66 00:07:37.89 00:00:22.77
4th 5 All-American (K.Bennett, M.Streitfield) 08:15.66 8.2% 00:15.00 08:15.66 00:07:37.89 00:00:37.77
2 Potomac BC (M. Bokulich, M. Ianni)  boat underweight

Race 9: Womens 2x Final @ 09:20 AM
1st 3 USRowing Training Ctr B (A.Martelli, S.Hendershot) 07:05.84 07:05.84 00:07:05.84
2nd 4 USRowing Training Ctr A (S.Zelenka, E.Regan) 07:08.56 0.6% 00:02.72 07:08.56 00:07:05.84 00:00:02.72
3rd 2 Potomac BC/USRowing Training Center – OKC [Composite] (K. Stainken, H. Cumbest) 07:11.77 1.4% 00:03.21 07:11.77 00:07:05.84 00:00:05.93
4th 5 USRowing Training Ctr C (A.Kroll, B.Teeley) 07:14.43 2.0% 00:02.66 07:14.43 00:07:05.84 00:00:08.59
5th 6 Vesper (N.Ritchie, S.Reynolds) 07:20.80 3.5% 00:06.37 07:20.80 00:07:05.84 00:00:14.96
6th 1 USRowing Training Center – OKC (S.Kozuszek, M.George) 07:21.02 3.6% 00:00.22 07:21.02 00:07:05.84 00:00:15.18

Race 17: Mens 4x Final @ 11:00 AM
1st 6 GMS Rowing A (B.DeRegt, J.Winter, T.Mickelson, R.Klein) 06:06.18 06:06.18 00:06:06.18
2nd 4 Potomac BC/Penn AC [Composite] (W.Cowles, S.Whelpley, K.Baum, T.Frank) 06:06.48 0.1% 00:00.30 06:06.48 00:06:06.18 00:00:00.30
3rd 2 Cambridge (M.O’Leary, E.Schultze, M.Wales, A.Newell) 06:07.36 0.3% 00:00.88 06:07.36 00:06:06.18 00:00:01.18
4th 3 Vesper (J.Kapetyn, D.Weber, M.Vuksich, D.Scholz) 06:08.24 0.6% 00:00.88 06:08.24 00:06:06.18 00:00:02.06
5th 5 GMS Rowing/GMS USTC Partner [Composite] B (B.B, C.C, D.D, E.E) 06:16.12 2.7% 00:07.88 06:16.12 00:06:06.18 00:00:09.94 6th 1 St. Catharines (M.Wortley, T.Schrijver, K.Drummond, M.Alm) 06:19.07 3.5% 00:02.95 06:19.07 00:06:06.18 00:00:12.89

The Open Sculling Report for May

To learn more about Willy Cowles, this month’s contributor to the Open Sculling Program Report, please click here and scroll down.  You’ll find bios for the rest of the current Open Sculling Program team there, as well!

In the meantime, we’re pulling for you back here at PBC, Willy!  Best of luck at the U.S. Training Center in Chula Vista!

* * *

May was a very busy month for members of the PBC open sculling team, with invitations to the National Selection Regatta (NSR) II and potential National Team boat camp invitations up for grabs.  The prior month, we had marked the beginning of our summer racing season, taking our singles up to Princeton for NSR I.  We experienced some mixed weather conditions at NSR I and some mixed results, but in May, with only three weeks separating the two NSR’s, we had to move quickly to find 2x combinations.

NSR I and II, which happen every April and May, are the primary races through which National Team selection occurs. For scullers, NSR I means racing the single. The winner of this regatta earns the opportunity to go to a World Cup in Europe as the U.S. Single Sculler, and, provided he or she finish in the top 4, retains this spot as the U.S. Single Sculler going into World Championships at the end of the summer.  The same is true of NSR II, except that the second regatta also holds the opportunity to earn invitations to boat camps.  While the winner of the 2x at NSR II can also go to a World Cup, anywhere from one to three or four “runners up” can be invited to the Quad camp, a National Team selection camp where invitees try to earn a spot in the 4x.

Willy Cowles of PBC and Mike Sivigny of GMS Rowing Center (Connecticut) at NSR II

After NSR II, nine Potomac athletes, along with three rowers from other clubs (USTC-OKC, Pocock Rowing Club, and GMS Rowing Center) ran both a men’s and a women’s doubles matrix that produced three men’s and three women’s doubles.  I paired up with Mike Sivigny, a rower from GMS in Connecticut, and split the weeks between NSRs between DC and Connecticut.  After three weeks of hard training, we arrived in Princeton ready to race.  After time trials, heats, and semis, my double ended up with a spot in the A Final.  We had our work cut out for us, with three current U.S. National Rowing team boats in the final, as well as strong entries from Penn AC and the 2009 U.S. National team double.

Mike and I knew that our strength lay in our endurance, and we were able, according to our race plan, to walk from 6^th to 4^th in the second thousand of the race.  Although we were disappointed to lose to the third place crew by only seven tenths of a second, we still felt we raced well.  Other Potomac crews raced well, too.  Kevin Baum and Taylor Frank pushed a strong last 500 to a 4^th place finish in the B Final.  Joe Ledvina and Austin Nichols came in second in the C Final.  On the women’s side, Stephanie Kuzsocek and Meghan George placed 6^th in the A final,  Morgan Wimberley and Katie Stainken third in the B Final, and Maria Bokulich and Malyka Iyanni third in the C Final.

Based on a combination of NSR I and NSR II performances, as well as erg scores, I was lucky enough to be invited to Quad camp at the ARCO U.S. Training Center in Chula Vista, California.   I have been here for almost two weeks so far, and have already pulled seven all-out 2ks (one on the erg).  It has been quite a learning experience.  The camp includes selection for the 4x, as well as for the 8+ and 4- on the sweep side, so as you can imagine, racing has been fierce.  The National team coaches use camps like these to seat race athletes against one another, trying to find the fastest combinations in all boats.  They will test whatever combinations come out first at the third World Cup in Lucerne, and later at World Championships in Bled, Slovenia.  This year, the pre-Olympic year, placement at Worlds is particularly important because a finish in the top 11 means qualification for the 2012 Olympics in London.  Racing promises to continue to be intense and I hope to be able to continue to work hard and try to earn a spot on this year’s team, with an eye towards London in 2012.

Supporters help PBC’s Rising Stars get closer to National Team reality

Morgan Constantine Wimberley with a poster of herself that appeared all over DC as part of NBC News' "We are Washington" campaign. (Photo by Mike Malone)

Contributed by Maria Bokulich, member, Open Sculling Program

The cherry blossoms have bloomed, the river is rowable and the first annual Rising Stars Banquet, a fundraiser for the PBC Open Sculling Program, has come and gone with great success.

The evening began with the Board room packed full of generous supporters bidding on a variety of silent auction items from a fly fishing trip in Montana to an original painting of the Key Bridge viewed through a PBC boat bay by former Open Sculler Bill Greer.

With the guys in jackets and ties and the gals in dresses and heels, the  auction was followed by a delicious dinner prepared by PBC senior member Chef Bernard Henry.  We named Chef Bernard an honorary member of the Open Sculling Team for his very generous contribution to the event!  During dessert, each athlete spoke briefly about the passion we all share to be the best in this sport and the dream we live each day to make the U.S. National Team.  All of your contributions help us get closer to turning this dream into a reality.

Katie Stainken competes in the 2011 National Selection Regatta for a spot on the team that will represent the U.S. at the World Championship in Bled Slovania.

Thank you to all who volunteered their time and energy to make this event possible.  With the support of PBC and the Washington, DC rowing community, the Open Scullers were able to raise $11,000 from the event.  These funds will go directly to our athletes for help with travel expenses to races, training trips and equipment needs.

In fact, we just returned from our first race of the season, the 2011 National Selection Regatta 1 (NSR 1), which took place from April 21– 23, in Princeton, New Jersey.   Each of the Open Scullers competed in a single through a time trial, heats and a final, all to earn the right to compete at the 2011 World Championships in Bled, Slovenia.

Next, we’ll let you know how the NSR 1 went!

Once again, thanks to everyone for making our first Rising Stars Banquet such a big success!

Meant to be. Anderson, our first Challinor Trophy winner

David Challinor (1921- 2008)

No matter how much you believe something should go one way, a lot of times, it goes the other.  Wait long enough and perhaps you will find, as we have, things tend to work out in the end.  Divine intervention, Karma, or just plain dumb luck, the “how” of how everything gets back to being okay again remains a mystery to us.  We’re just thankful it happens, especially after losing someone like David Challinor.

Like James Stewart was to Hollywood or John Wooden was to basketball, David Challinor was our symbol of excellence and a much simpler time.  Challinor started rowing at age 14, and became a member of undefeated Harvard University crews from 1940 – 1942.  He graduated from Harvard a year early to serve in World War II.  A loving husband, father, and grandfather, Challinor also became perhaps the  most successful assistant secretary in the Smithsonian Institution’s history.  Credited with establishing programs that continue to foster the work of our nation’s top conservationists and naturalists, many say Challinor’s uncommon approach to leadership was the reason for his success.  He believed that, by nurturing those around him in their own pursuits of excellence, he could move the entire institution forward.  Sounds just like a sweep rower to us.

Challinor didn’t row again until he was in his late 40s, but once he did, he competed throughout the next four decades in sweep and sculling events for Potomac Boat Club (PBC).  At the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR), Challinor won his event thirteen times, nine times in the Men’s Veteran Single.  Seeing Challinor race at the Charles was a source of pride for us at PBC, but he was an inspiration to countless others across our sport.  Behind each competitive effort were years of experience, continuous hard work and practice.  In fact, he was such an ongoing presence at the club that after he passed away in March 2008, we had a hard time believing we would never see him walk through doors again.

Eventually, we took Challinor’s familiar red Van Dusen, named Joan after his wife, and hoisted it into the rafters of the ballroom.  Only then, with his boat hanging in the heart of our club, did we finally have the collective strength to figure out a way to honor him.  And at first, the path seemed crystal clear.  What could be more perfect than honoring Challinor and his racing legacy by naming the Men’s Veteran Single event at the HOCR after him?  He had won the event so many times his name was practically synonymous with the event anyway.  This was the way it should be, we thought, and the directors of the HOCR said, yes, it would be done … for $100,000.

While no price tag could be placed on the love and admiration we have for David Challinor, we simply did not have that kind of money.  The news was yet another heartbreak for those of us stubborn enough to believe that the Charles was the only way.  Fortunately, Board Member Tim Baxter spoke to the good people at the Masters National Championship Regatta.  Soon, the Challinor family and Bob Fergerson, designer of the medal for the Charlie Butt Annual Scullers Head of the Potomac, were collaborating on a beautiful new trophy.  We paid a small administrative fee to the regatta, and the David Challinor Trophy for the Men’s Heavyweight F 1x  event at the Masters National Championship was born.

Rick Anderson with the Challinor Trophy designed by Bob Fergerson

Enter:  Richard “Rick” Anderson.  On August 13 2010, Rick unknowingly became the first winner of the David Challinor Trophy when he won the category F 1x event at Masters Nationals in Camden.  Club President Bob Price was there to present the trophy and get Rick’s email address so that we could find out more about the trophy’s first winner.  (That’s right.  Back in August.)

But, you know, sometimes when you feel strongly that things should be a certain way, anything else feels like sort of a jip.  We aren’t saying that Rick winning the trophy ever felt like a jip.  No, not at all.  In fact, we thought he looked like a very worthy winner.  We are saying that, at the time, we, the Star, still felt like the Charles folks shouldn’t have put a corporate-sized price tag on naming the Men’s Veteran Single event after Challinor.  (There.  We said it.)

Anyway, a month or so later, we stopped pouting and got in contact with Rick.  Not that it was a prerequisite for winning the trophy, but he seemed like a really good guy.  We learned Rick was a former college sweep rower from the East Coast.  A transplant to Michigan, Rick helped establish and coach a high school rowing program, and build a boathouse.  Challinor would have liked that.  A few email exchanges later, we found out that Rick’s son, Ross, had rowed at PBC for Reilly Dampeer in our Open Sculling Program.  Small world!  When we learned Ross had competed in the David Challinor, one of our racing doubles, we started to feel like, hey, maybe this was meant to be.

By the time we were ready to post something on the Star about Rick and his Masters Nationals victory, it was October, and the Head of the Charles was upon us.  We sent Rick a note, hoping he would be racing up at the Charles; maybe we would get a photo of him on the water.  As it turns out, he was indeed headed to the Charles.  His event?  The Men’s Veteran Single, the event Challinor had won nine times.

Well, we won’t tell you the ending of this chapter of the Challinor Trophy – you’ll have to read the interview below – but we bet you can guess.  Call it what you want … Karma, Devine Intervention, Rick chalks it  up to “a lot of hard work.”   Challinor would have liked that, too.

We’re just happy it all worked out in the end, maybe even for the better.

Please give Potomac Star readers a brief description of where you are from, or live currently, and of your club.

Originally from Rhode Island, I moved to West Michigan in 1975 and quit rowing.  In the fall of 1984, I and my family built a new home on a lake near Rockford just north of Grand Rapids.  I purchased a new Owen single and started rowing once again.  One thing led to another and soon I was  involved in starting up the Grand Rapids Rowing Club.  I served as its club president for more than 12 years.

Rick Anderson helped establish Rockford High School Crew and build Grand Rapids Rowing Club in Michigan.

In 1996, when my oldest son was in ninth grade, I started Rockford High School Crew using Grand Rapids Rowing Club equipment and an old Garafalo four I purchased from Grand Valley State University.  We began with 11 kids and next to nothing.  The team is now a varsity sport with about 100 rowers, its own boathouse and equipment.  The boathouse serves the Rockford area; hence, I now row for Rockford Crew.  After 13 years as head coach, I retired from coaching in 2008, to focus on my business and get back in competitive shape.

When did you start rowing?  Why?

In the fall of 1968, I was a freshman at the University of Rhode Island (URI).  All the campus organization held a joint club day so I went to see about getting involved in a club.  I figured if I didn’t get involved in something then, I wouldn’t do anything outside of studying the whole four years.  Outside the student union was a long object that attracted my attention.  It was a wooden eight.  Having spent my summers on Narragansett Bay, I loved to row.  They basically told me to go away as I was too small.  Obviously, I was not deterred and by the end of my freshman year I had made the first freshman boat.  After college I learned to scull at the Narragansett Boat Club where I rowed for two summers before moving to Michigan.

Were there any challenges you had to overcome to train this year? What do you love about rowing (assuming you love to row, of course)?

As for challenges this year, time is still a factor.  The need to earn a living too often gets in the way of training.  At least now the coaching obligations no longer demand a major portion of my time.  To win in our sport, and most other sports too, one must put in the time and effort.  There is no getting around it.  Rockford’s football team has shirts that say “Work to Win.”  I used to wear one of those shirts to high school crew practices.

I love everything about rowing.  Rowing is extremely demanding and introspective; it will test you in many, many ways; and, for some reason, it attracts a lot of very intelligent people.  I love having rowing friends from around the globe. I especially love coaching high school novices.  They make me laugh.

You mentioned in an email message to us your son trained in a boat named after Dave.  Where does he row?  Does anyone else in your family row?  Do you ever get a chance to row together?

After rowing for GVSU, my youngest son Ross moved to Philadelphia and joined the Penn AC with hopes of making the National Team.  This past summer, he rowed the 2x with William Cowles at PBC in Washington, DC, and was coached by Reilly Dampeer.  Even if he doesn’t make the National Team, the move to Philly was still a success.  He met his wife at a Penn AC party.

Rick's son Ross gets last minute instructions from Coach Reilly Dampeer before shoving off in the David Challinor 2x.

My older son Dean stopped rowing after high school.  Ten years later, while working on his PhD at Carnegie Mellon, he decided to row again and joined a not so competitive masters group at Three Rivers Rowing Club.  That led him to a regatta in Philadelphia and afterward to a party where he met a young woman to whom he is now engaged.  He now lives in Philadelphia, too.

When schedules permit, I do row with my sons.  At the 2009 Independence Day Regatta I rowed the masters 2x with one and parent/child 2x with the other.  At the Head of the Ohio, I rowed the open 2x with one and masters 2x with the other.  We have fun and we go fast.

Since this was the first year of the Challinor Trophy, it was important to us that our club president be there to present it to you in person (and we hear he ended up hightailing it through the MatNats foot traffic to make it).  Did you know there was a trophy associated with the win in your event?

I did not know Bob had to race to the presentation site!  Please thank him for his efforts.  I appreciated his filling me in on the background of the award.  I did not learn of the trophy until I saw it on the table while awaiting my turn at the awards ceremony.  I was most pleased to see it.  My fellow competitors were most jealous and said they would have rowed harder if they had know about the trophy!

You mentioned in an earlier email message that you thought Jim Dietz would give you a tough race.  Were you surprised by your victory at the Charles?

Anderson accepts the trophy for his win in the Men's Veteran Single at the 2010 HOCR.

I first rowed in the HOTC in 1969, while at URI.  Since returning to rowing in 1985, I’ve raced it most every year.  Since 1989, I’ve won 10 medals and maintained a guaranteed entry every year but one.  As I said earlier, it takes a lot of work to win.  There’s no getting around it.  Until recently, family obligations, coaching, and work have prevented me from dedicating the time to rowing fitness.  With the kids out of the house and no coaching obligations, I’ve been able to put the effort into the sport.  It’s been a great season with four gold and one silver at the Masters Nationals and three gold at the FISA Masters (two of my races were canceled).

So, no, the victory was not a surprise.  I was well prepared and believed I would finish in the top three.  Having bow #1 helped me to see how others were progressing.  From the start, I moved away from Jim Dietz but Bow #3, Jack Meyers, was rowing extremely well.  Jack passed Jim Dietz at the Weeks Footbridge. Jack is also a former HOCR winner.  By Weld, he had three seconds on me plus his 8 second handicap.  I got three seconds back by Cambridge, but knew Jack still had the handicap advantage over me.  I rowed the last 750 meters like it was sprint race at 34 spm around the curve and then up to 36-37 spm for the final straightaway to gain 8.6 seconds and win by .963 seconds.  It hurt.

Well, fantastic job, Rick.  Thanks and congratulations, again!  We hope your sons were there to see it!

Both boys were there.  The older, Dean, watched the racing action.  The younger, Ross, rowed in the Penn AC Championship 8+.  Dean may row at Fairmount in the spring.

Check out more photos from this story:

World Championships in NZ!

Margot Shumway in the U.S. quad in 2008.

The U.S. National Team is headed to New Zealand … and we’re going with them!

World Rowing Championships will be held this year from October 31-November 7, on beautiful Lake Karapiro in the land of the Kiwis.  UniversalSports.com will stream all 22 “A” finals LIVE followed by highlights and full replays.

• Register here to watch!
• Click here to go to the results.

Okay.  So, it’s not exactly like being there, but think of it this way:  no jetlag and you won’t have to quit your job to follow the team.

The 80-person roster includes 70 returning National Team members and 20 Olympians.  Potomac Boat Club’s own Margot Shumway will compete in the women’s quad.

Forty-four members of the team, including Margot, competed last year at World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. The U.S. brought home seven medals from Poznan including gold in the women’s eight, women’s pair and men’s pair with coxswain; silver in the women’s four, lightweight men’s eight and women’s quad; and bronze in the lightweight women’s quad. Erin Cafaro and Susan Francia are back to defend their title in the women’s pair, while three members of the women’s eight return from the Beijing Olympics gold-medal lineup.

Lake Karapiro. Nothing like the sweet smell of sulphur in the morning!

Kiwi legend has it that Lake Karapiro was the stronghold of Maori chief O-Te-Ihingarangi.  Its name comes from “kara,” which means stone, and “piro,” which means evil-smelling.  We’re not sure what they’ve done about the smell, but today, New Zealanders claim Karapiro is one of the finest, most picturesque rowing venues in the world.  From what we’ve seen, it’s gorgeous … and we don’t care what it smells like as long as it means gold for our U.S. Team!

Below is the full U.S. National Team roster for the 2010 World Rowing Championships.  You’ll find Margot listed along with a few of our other hometown favorites.

GO TEAM USA!

2010 World Rowing Championships Roster
(Name, Hometown)

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)
Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.)

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)
Lindsay Meyer (Seattle, Wash.)

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x)
Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)
Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.)
Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.)

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)
Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.)
Elliot Hovey (Manchester-By-The-Sea, Mass.)
Wes Piermarini (West Brookfield, Mass.)
Will Miller (Duxbury, Mass.)

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)
Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.)
Sarah Trowbridge (Guilford, Conn.)
Natalie Dell (Somerville, Mass.)
Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio)

Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls (LW4x)
Abby Broughton (Tetonia, Idaho)
Ursula Grobler (Pretoria, South Africa)
Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.)
Victoria Burke (Redding, Conn.)

Men’s Pair (M2-)
Ryan Monaghan (Rochester, N.Y.)
Deaglan McEachern (Portsmouth, N.H.)

Women’s Pair (W2-)
Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.)
Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.)

Men’s Pair with Coxswain (M2+)
Stephen Young (Tampa, Fla.)
Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.)
Justin Stangel (Madison, Wis.)

Lightweight Men’s Pair (LM2-)
Mike Nucci (Blue Bell, Pa.)
Evan Tsourtsoulas (Kastoria, Greece)

Men’s Four (M4-)
Silas Stafford (Santa Rosa, Calif.)
Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.)
Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.)
Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.)

Women’s Four (W4-)
Ali Cox (Turlock, Calif.)
Adrienne Martelli (University Place, Wash.)
Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Mara Allen (San Francisco, Calif.)

Lightweight Men’s Four (LM4-)
Will Daly (Vail, Colo.)
Ryan Fox (Edgerton, Wis.)
Nick LaCava (Weston, Conn.)
Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.)

Men’s Eight (M8+)
Ned DelGuercio (Media, Pa.)
Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.)
Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.)
Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.)
Jake Cornelius (Brooktondale, N.Y.)
Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.)
Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.)
Mark Murphy (Madison, Wis.)
David Banks (Potomac, Md.)

Women’s Eight (W8+)
Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.)
Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine)
Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.)
Taylor Ritzel (Larkspur, Colo.)
Meghan Musnicki (Ithaca. N.Y.)
Kady Glessner (Seattle, Wash.)
Jamie Redman (Spokane, Wash.)
Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine)

Lightweight Men’s Eight (LM8+)
Stephen Young (Tampa, Fla.)
Jimmy Sopko (Mathews, Va.)
Matt Kochem (Burnt Hills, N.Y.)
Kenny McMahon (Ladysmith, Wis.)
Matt Muffelman (Mathews, Va.)
Michael Kerrigan (Charlottesville, Va.)
Julian Bowling (Shelby, N.C.)
Bob Duff (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.)
Skip Dise (Beverly Hills, Mich.)

Adaptive Men’s Single Sculls (ASM1x)
Ron Harvey (Downingtown, Pa.)

Adaptive Four with Coxswain (LTA4+)
Jenny Sichel (Clifton, N.J.)
Eric McDaniel (Weeki Wachee, Fla.)
Emma Preuschl (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Eleni Englert (Oceanside, Calif.)
Andrew Johnson (Riverside, Conn.)

Coaching Staff
(Name, Affiliation, Boat(s))

Michiel Bartman, Vesper Boat Club, LM1x, LW1x
Patrick Brown, University of Central Oklahoma, ASM1x, LTA4+
Guenter Beutter, GMS Rowing Center, LM2x, LM4x
Carlos Dinares, LW2x, LW4x
Conal Groom, Seattle Rowing Center, W1x
Will Jurkowski, M1x
Annie Kakela, USRowing Training Center, W4-
Laurel Korholz, USRowing Training Center, W2x, W4x
Kris Korzeniowski, USRowing Training Center, M8+
Karen Lewis, USRowing Training Center, AM1x, A4+
Tim McLaren, USRowing Training Center, M8+, M4-, M2x, M4x, M2-, M2+
John Parker, Oklahoma City High Performance Center, LM2-, M2-, M2+, LM8+
Tom Terhaar, USRowing Training Center, W8+, W4x, W2x, W2-
Bryan Volpenhein, Oklahoma City High Performance Center, LM2-, LM4-, LM8+

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