Summer 2014 Squaring the blade A Newsletter for MIT Crew Alumni

speed at the right time, and had spring campaigns can be found in Director’s Message their best performance of the year this issue. by Tony Kilbridge at the Patriot League Champion- Despite a cold and icy start, we had ships. Coach Metcalf’s varsity 8 Our parents’ group helped us suc- a good spring at Pierce Boathouse. won bronze medals, as did her 3V ceed by providing the athletes with Elements of the program that we 4. Our lightweight women, led food and drinks at all home and have been working on for years by Claire Martin-Doyle, also won away races. For the fourth and final started to come together. Most gold at Dad Vail, and finished their year, the parents were led by the importantly, our crews did well. season by winning the petite final unsinkable Annie Potash, mother Coach Will Oliver’s lightweight at IRA. My own crew, the heavy- of heavyweight rower Ben Potash, men overcame injuries and weight weight men, was much improved ’14. Though they receive little offi- issues to turn in a strong regular from 2013. On the clock, they cial recognition, the parents’ group season. They then won gold at the were 10-12 seconds faster over provides enormous support to our , and qualified 2000 meters, and this played out in athletes and coaches; they make for the grand final their race results. At the end of our race day less stressful and more fun for the first time in many years. regular season, the first boat had a for everyone. Our open weight women had their winning record, for the first time own trials with illness, but found since 2009. Details of each team’s Our alumni continued to provide outstanding support to the program in 2014. Among other generous donations, the class of 1967 heavy-

Director’s Message 1

Class of 1967 Dedication 2

Zwart Fund/IRA 3

Henley 2015 4

Spring Recaps 5 Shell Dedication Director’s Message weights pooled their resources for a on the project. We expect this study Continued from pg. 1 significant donation. to be complete in about six months. What happens to the project after weight men bought a new Reso- Alumni support will be even that will depend largely on the will- lute racing 8 for our lightweight more crucial to the success of the ingness of crew alumni to support women. Through the tireless work program moving forward. After it financially. Expect more news on of Bob Vernon (‘63), donations interviewing several candidates, this front in the coming months. and pledges were secured to com- we have selected an architecture plete the Zwart Fund. This major firm to prepare a feasibility study I would like to thank everyone endowment will pay the salary of for expanding or replacing Pierce involved in making this season a our head lightweight crew coach. Boathouse. The MITCAA will be success. Have a great summer, and Younger alumni stepped forward represented on the steering com- Go Tech! as well. The class of 1997 light- mittee working with the architects

Class of 1967 Dedi- cated by Claire Martin-Doyle

On Saturday, May 3rd, MIT Crew christened “The Class of 1967” thanks to a generous shell endow- ment donation from members of the 1967 heavyweight men’s crew.

The Class of 1967 endowment was used to purchase a new “super- light” Resolute to be used by the lightweight women’s squad. The shell is the latest de- sign from Resolute Racing Shells and the only shell currently on the market to properly fit lightweight Members of the lightweight women’s squad gather around the newly female rowers. dedicated Class of 1967.

The morning’s events began with staff, MIT Director of Athlet- To The Class of 1967, Thank you welcoming remarks from Tony ics, Julie Soriero, the lightweight for the exceedingly generous do- Kilbridge, Director of , women’s team, former MIT Crew nation of “The Class of 1967”! followed by remarks from Claire coach, Gerrit Zwart and members Martin-Doyle, Lightweight Wom- of the MIT Class of 1967. To view pictures of the event taken en’s Coach and Dennis Womack- by Igor Belakovskiy ’01 visit, Kalla, representing the Class of The christening was followed by http://scullingfool.smugmug.com/ 1967. brunch in the McCurdy Lounge at Rowing/MIT/Class-of-67-Boat- Pierce Boathouse. Dedication/ Also in attendance were MIT Crew Zwart Fund/IRA Zwart Fund Com- pleted dinary fund raising efforts of Bob in which Gary Zwart was recog- Vernon, ’63, gifts and pledges were nized for his profound influence on by Tony Kilbridge obtained that will total $2 million, the MIT athletes he coached during At the reunion row on June 8 we the income from which will pay the the 1960s, and Bob Vernon was celebrated a major achievement in salary of our head lightweight crew lauded for his outstanding work fund raising: the Zwart Endowment coach. in leading the fund raising effort. Fund, named for former MIT light- Many thanks to Bob and to all who weight coach Gary Zwart, has been Bruce Anderson, MITCAA presi- donated for making this endow- completed. Through the extraor- dent, orchestrated a short ceremony ment fund a reality!

Make your plans now to attend MIT Crew Alumni Day 2014!

When: October 4, 2014 What: Alumni boat races and brunch at Pierce Boathouse in the morning. Alumni banquet (Details to be determined).

More information to follow! The lightweight men race to victory at the 2014 Dad Vail Regatta.

days (heats, reps, semis and fi- rhythm in their heats, finishing 2014 IRA nals), as the field of 18 crews was last, they rallied in the repechage, by Tony Kilbridge sorted into grand, petite, and 3rd finishing third, behind Princeton MIT crew’s 2013-14 campaign, level finals. Tech’s 4, comprised of and Wisconsin. This landed them in which had begun amid ice, wind coxswain Janelle Mansfield, stroke the petite final, which they won in and rain in late March, ended on Nate Colgan, 3-man Trevor Day, convincing fashion, beating Tulsa a warm sunny day in New Jer- 2-man Matt Connelly, and bow- by five seconds and Georgetown by sey, with the final day of the IRA man Daniel Dalton, finished fourth twelve. The women’s lightweight National Championship on Sunday, in their heat, first in their repechage 4 event lacked a petite final, so June 1. Conditions were perfect on and fourth in the A/B semifinal, to Tech’s 4 was done for the day after Lake Mercer as MIT’s heavyweight find themselves in the petite final failing to advance through the heats men and lightweight men and on Sunday. The final was a barn- and reps. women tied in for their final races burner, with Tech relinquishing its MIT’s lightweight men’s 8 dis- of the year. (Tech’s openweight early lead to Navy, then fighting tinguished themselves by being women had finished their season Northeastern stroke-for-stroke over invited to IRA for the first time two weeks earlier at the Patriot the last 500 meters. MIT finished since the current selection rules League Championships, where second, four seconds behind Navy, went into effect, based on their their varsity 8 and 4 both won .3 seconds ahead of Northeastern, excellent showing at Sprints. Under bronze medals.) and farther ahead of Temple, Princ- the rather strange IRA schedule, MIT’s heavyweight men entered eton and Colgate. the heats and finals of the men’s the varsity 4 event, which required While Tech’s lightweight women’s lightweight events occurred within them to race four times over three 8 struggled to find their fastest a few hours of each other on the fi- Henley 2015 2014 IRA finals, the crew finished on a disap- and provided further evidence of continued from pg. 3 pointing note, losing to Navy in the the team’s upward trajectory. The nal morning of the regatta. Despite petite finals. MIT’s lightweight 4 Mercer County venue provided showing good speed all spring, also finished their day in the petite fair racing conditions in a beautiful Coach Oliver’s men came out finals, where they finished third, setting. IRA will return to Mercer somewhat flat on Sunday morning, ahead of Georgetown and Drexel. in 2015 and 2016, then move to finishing last in their heat. With All of Tech’s results at IRA were Sacramento for 2017. no time to reset between heats and an improvement over recent years,

Most Inspirational 2014! Left to right: Katie Gorick, Francesca Schembri, Connor McMahan, Mike Wu

eantry as the shown the speed to justify. After Henley 2015 in Henley-on-Thames, England. a successful 2014 campaign, an by Jeff Forrester The Steward’s enclosure, booms, anonymous donor felt that the team The sport of rowing is renowned and knockout style of racing are had expressed that speed and has for its traditions and pageantry. all uniquely British and special to offered to provide the funds neces- Unique traditions include the los- rowing. For the first time since sary to experience the novelty of ing crew giving the winning crew 2009, MIT will be sending a crew racing in England. This has added their shirt and the annual battle for to embrace that experience as the a new level of excitement to the historic cups between colleges. lightweight men’s team is planning squad and certainly impressed upon The history of American intercol- a trip there in the summer of 2015. the team the importance of work- legiate sports begins with rowing. ing hard over the summer. As the No place in rowing, though, has as This trip is something the team student-athletes were told, the 2015 much history, tradition, nor pag- has longed to do but hadn’t quite campaign starts now! Spring Recaps Lightweight Men National Championship for the first win came in its first race against by Will Oliver time since 2006. the heavyweights, beginning a very strong run against The 2014 spring season was quite The transition from the winter into heavyweight schools that would eventful for the lightweight men. the spring was not seamless. The last through the Crew Classic and With nearly every weekend filled long winter left the Engineers a bit deep into the season against MIT’s with at least one race, and in rusty during their first couple of final heavyweight opponent, Drex- many cases two, the team stayed races. Additionally, weight restric- el. All in all, the MIT lightweight’s very busy. And for the first time tions caused more problems than record against heavyweight crews in many seasons, the MIT crews usual this season, as the team is this season came to 19-3. entered nearly every race with a larger on the whole. Losing several good chance of winning. From rowers to injury and weight left Within the EARC lightweight starting the season ranked 11th in the Engineers in a slightly weaker ranks, the team also performed the country, the Engineers climbed position than they had finished the well. In most races, MIT was to as high as 6th by the end of the fall. Nevertheless, the rowers that either a strong contender or a win- season, staging a number of upsets remained were well trained and ner. Yale, Cornell and Columbia along the way, taking gold at Dad hungry for victory. And they didn’t all handed the Engineers tough Vail, and qualifying for the IRA have to wait long; the team’s first losses, but the crew, ever resilient, always bounded back. With head- to-head wins against Penn, Dart- mouth, Navy and Georgetown, and a strong Dad Vail finals rematch against Delaware, in which the var- sity engineered a 6 second reversal from earlier in the season, the Engi- neers positioned themselves at the top of the pack. Going into Sprints, the team had a lot to be confident and excited about, and they capital- ized, finishing in the grand final for the first time since 1997.

While the Sprints final and IRA proved a bit anti-climactic, the suc- cesses of the season are still a fresh memory. With only two rowers graduating from the varsity and JV boats this season, the lightweights will return a strong, battle-tested roster for the 2014-2015 season. The whole squad is enthusiastic, as we hope our supporters are as well. We look forward to seeing you at all of our races next season, from the Head of the Charles to Henley The lightweight men’s varsity 8 tosses coxswain Yooni Kim into the Royal! Schuylkill following their Dad Vail win. Spring Recaps Open Women by Holly Metcalf

It has been another amazing year for the MIT Openweight women. After a strong dual season that included multiple wins by all boat classes, the crews closed the season with a tremendous effort at the Pa- triot League Championships. The Varsity 8 closed the season with a stunning upset over defending champions Navy and new league sixteen freshman; the 2V8 and * Ming Wang, Winsor member Georgetown to capture the Varsity 4+ were composed entirely * Jani Adcock, Lakeside bronze medal. After regular season of underclassmen. * Victoria Longe, Park Tudor wins that included Rutgers, George * Cynthia Fang, Groton Washington, and St. Joseph’s, the In addition to our youth, we have 2V8 advanced to the final to take even more reason to be excited The off-the-water achievements fifth. Finally, the Varsity Four about 2015. The newest recruiting are even more impressive, and can bumped Bucknell out of the final class has now committed. Its expe- be read about on the MIT Athletics in the morning and surged ahead rience and energy will be a perfect webpage. This is just the begin- of Georgetown for the second time complement to the squad: ning. You laid the foundation, and this season to earn the team a sec- now we are building higher and ond bronze medal. * Emma (Pearl) Wilmer-Shiles, higher. We look forward to hearing Pacific Rowing Club from you and seeing your faces in In all, these were exciting results * Millicent Dethy, Exeter the near future. for a young squad that included * Rachael Devlin, Conestoga Spring Recaps

Light Women weekend of racing against the top the course in a time of 6:40.5, eight crews in the country. by Claire Martin-Doyle seconds ahead of Bucknell, to win the gold. After capturing bronze in The 2014 spring season for the At Dad Vail, for the first time in 2012, and silver in 2013, taking the lightweight women was very suc- the three years we’ve contested the gold in 2014 was a well-deserved cessful. Winning gold in the light- lightweight four event, our crew accomplishment. weight eight at The Aberdeen Dad made the final, coming in 4th. Just Vail Regatta, and winning the petite as our four was coming down the The lightweight eight also won the final at IRA highlighted the season. course, some epic weather hit – petite final at the IRA on Sunday, blinding wind and rain swept over June 1st. In the three-boat petite Our regular season racing had the Schuylkill, making it impos- final, Tech took on University of some ups and downs with our sible to see the crews racing from Tulsa and . strongest weekend of racing on the banks of the river. Our four Tech crossed the line in a time of April 12th-13th at The Knecht finished in these conditions, but the 6:53.1, five seconds ahead of Tulsa Cup Regatta at Mercer Lake. The eight was just headed out for the and eight seconds ahead of George- entire squad had an excellent show- final and ended up having to land at town. While the ultimate goal is ing in all events contested - Light- the St. Joe’s boathouse to wait out to win the grand final at IRA, a weight Eight, Lightweight Four, the storm. win is commendable, as winning Novice Eight, Novice Four. Our is a learned skill, just like so many top finishes were 5th in the light- Almost three hours later, our light- other aspects of rowing and life. weight eight and 4th & 5th in the weight eight won The Dad Vail Re- The Tech lightweight women had lightweight fours. Both events had gatta, ending Bucknell’s three-year a great 2014 campaign and look to eleven entries each. It was a solid winning streak. The eight rowed continue the momentum in 2015! Spring Recaps Heavy Men by Evan Thews-Wassell Columbia in Overpeck Park, NJ. Harvard, Princeton, Boston Univer- The varsity 8+ had a great showing sity and Wisconsin. The Tech heavyweight men had against Holy Cross in the morn- some good results over the course ing, winning in a time of 6:07.2 to The heavy men raced well at the of the 2014 spring season, and Holy Cross’s 6:10.0. In the second Eastern Sprints, but ultimately showed considerable improvements varsity 8+ race, Tech and Holy could not crack their way into the along the way. The team boated Cross were neck and neck with petite finals, finishing 5th in the two 8+’s and a 4+ all season, which 600 meters to go. Unfortunately, third level final. A recap of the IRA were made up of returning varsity choppy conditions caused the Tech results can be found in the article athletes, experienced freshmen re- stroke man to catch an over the “2014 IRA” written by Director of cruits and inexperienced walk-ons. head crab, and Holy Cross went on Rowing Tony Kilbridge. to win. As the wind continued to The heavy men opened the season build throughout the morning, the The Tech heavyweight men are with solid showings against Boston MIT and Columbia coaches agreed looking forward to the fall with College and Bates. Both the var- that it was too dangerous to row major optimism. With the loss of sity and second varsity 8+’s won and cancelled all afternoon races. only 3 seniors this year, and the ad- their races while the third varsity dition of 11 experienced freshmen 4+ came in second. The rest of the regular season had in the fall, there is palpable excite- it’s ups and downs with wins over ment in the boathouse about what The following weekend Tech was WPI, Delaware, Rhode Island, can be accomplished next season. scheduled to race Holy Cross and UMass and losses to Williams, See you in the fall! Head of the Kevin Oct 11 Head Coach, Heavyweight Men Tony Kilbridge Assistant Coach, Heavyweight Men Evan Thews-Wassell Head of the Charles Oct 18-19 Head Coach, Lightweight Men Will Oliver Princeton Chase Oct 26 Assistant Coach, Lightweight Men Jeff Forrester

Green Monster Nov 1 Head Coach, Openweight Women Holly Metcalf Assistant Coach, Openweight Women Previn Chandraratna Women’s Foot Nov 15 Head Coach, Lightweight Women Claire Martin-Doyle Men’s Foot Nov 22 Assistant Coach, Lightweight Women Amelia Booth

Photos by DSPics, MIT Parents, & Coaching Staff Edited by Will Oliver