History of Rockford Crew Rowing Tidbits and Glossary 1 Welcome to the Rockford High School Crew Team! Introduction and Team History On a cold and cloudy April afternoon back in 1996, eleven brave Rockford High School students took turns venturing into a shell for the first time. (This shell is now in the TGIFriday’s at Rivertown Crossing Mall!) Most had never heard of crew until a few weeks before when signs were posted about the school announcing the formation of a crew team. Yet, they came out of either a sense of adventure or curiosity. Images of rowing portray the sport as fluid and graceful; what they found was a demanding sport that made them feel awkward and taxed their physical limits. Undaunted, they were hooked by the challenge and camaraderie. Grand Rapids Rowing Club member Rick Anderson thought rowing would be a great sport for high school students. Rick had learned to row at the University of Rhode Island from 1968- 1972 and later sculled for the Narragansett Boat Club. 10 years after moving to Michigan, he met up with several GVSU students and they formed the Grand Rapids Rowing Club in 1985. Fellow GRRC rower and Rockford resident, Kathleen Siegfried joined Rick to share the coaching duties. While she was fairly new to rowing, her teaching skills developed from years in the classroom helped speed the new rowers along their learning curves. The first season was spent learning how to function as a high school crew team. They had to deal with a lack of equipment - the few boats available were older than the rowers and were subject to frequent breakage - which had to be shared with another school. Nevertheless, the students managed to learn the basics of rowing. Eventually, they traveled to a regatta in Toledo to test their new skills. The boys launched their four and rowed to the starting line in rough water. The rough water became very rough water as the wind picked up and the regatta was canceled before their race was started - so much for the team's first season. That Fall the Grand Rapids Rowing Club's Board of Directors debated the merits of high school rowing and how to integrate the students into the club. The directors looked favorably upon the student rowers and voted to commit club resources to high school rowing and took out a $10,000 loan to purchase boats for Rockford and Forest Hills' use. Knowing they would have boats for the students, Rick and Kathleen urged the small team to spread the word about rowing. Over 50 students showed up at the organizational meeting and eventually 21 girls and 11 boys joined the 1997 team and established rowing as a viable high school sport. In 1998, over 50 students participated. Fortunately, Sheila Fleming joined Rick and Kathleen to coach. The team also added the Western Ontario Scholastic Championship Regatta to their schedule. An informal parent organization developed to support the team at the regattas and help with fund raising. Well established now, the coaches tracked down and purchased (on credit) a used eight, oars, a trailer, and a new four in the fall of '98. Since then, the team has continued to grow - adding more students, coaches, equipment, and a new boathouse! This growth has been accompanied by many successes and Rockford Crew is a highly regarded competitor in regattas. The team’s successes lead Rockford Public Schools to grant Crew status as a varsity sport in 2001. Qualifying rowers are eligible to receive athletic letters. Crew is primarily self-funded, receiving only some financial support from the school district. For its operational and capital expenses, the team relies mostly on dues, donations, parental support, and funds received from the Rockford High School Crew Boosters and friends in the community. The crew program is managed by the Rockford Crew Boosters, a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation whose purpose is to encourage, maintain, and further the participation of parents, teachers, and adults of the community in active support of scholastic rowing at Rockford High School. The Crew Boosters promote, assist, and support all rowing activities for Rockford Crew with financial assistance, resources management, and consultative advice. The Crew Boosters is managed by a Board of Directors. Rowing Tidbits for Parents (and Interested Rowers!) A Brief History of Rowing Rowing is one of the oldest and most physically challenging sports still in existence today. Like swimming, rowing uses every major muscle group in the body: legs, abdomen, chest, back, and arms. Rowing originated not as a sport, but as a means of warfare and transportation. All of the major ancient civilizations used rowing to advance their cultures, both in war and while at peace. The sport of rowing unofficially began in the 1700s when watermen would race in long barges on the river Thames in England. The sport began its modem incarnation when "gentlemen' created the Oxford-Cambridge race in 1829. The Henley Royal Regatta was started in 1839. The Yale-Harvard race on the Charles River marked the beginning of competitive rowing in the United States in 1852. Rowing became the first organized collegiate sport in the U.S., complete with its own governing body. International championships were first arranged in 1893, and remain under the direction of the Federation International des Societas d’Aviron (FISA). International rowing (and collegiate) competitions are standardized at 2000 meters. Masters championships (both national and international) are contested over a distance of 1000 meters. At the elite level, 2000 meter race times average between 5:20 and 7:30 depending on boat type. Masters races last between 2:50 and 5:00, again depending on boat type as well as age of the contestants. Rowing is divided into two distinct disciplines: 'sweep' rowing, where each oarsman handles one oar, and 'sculling', where he uses two smaller oars. Sweep oared races are contested in 2, 4, and 8 person boats (known as pairs, fours, and eights respectively). Sculling races are contested in 1, 2, and 4 man shells (single, double, and quad). Steering in sweep oared boats is accomplished with the use of a movable rudder. (It is handled by either a steersman (known as a coxswain) who sits in the bow or stern of the boat (depending on the construction and size of the shell), or a rower in bow or stroke seat using a foot-controlled rudder ('toeing'). Singles and doubles are usually maneuvered by a change in pressure between the port and starboard oars. A quad is typically controlled with a foot rudder International rowing is contested in two weight categories for men and women, lightweight and open. Lightweight oarsmen are restricted to a body weight of 72.5 kg/160 lbs. (men) and 59 kg/130 lbs. (women). The average weight of the open class (heavyweight) in international competition is about 92 kg/200 lbs. and 79 kg/173 lbs. respectively. Tips for watching rowing The Events Sculling events include (lx, 2x, 4x) where each rower uses two oars. Sweep rowing events include (2-, 4+, 8+) where each rower uses one oar. Events can be categorized by men's, women's, mixed, lightweight, open, and master’s classes. The Course There are typically six lanes on the race course. If there are more than six entries for an event, heats will be held to determine finalists. The Start Crews are expected to be at their starting stations two minutes before the scheduled time of the race. Once the boats are locked on, the judge at the start will supervise the alignment process. When all the crews are even, the Starter will poll the crews by calling their name. After polling, the Starter raises a flag and says "ATTENTION”. After a clear pause, the Starter drops the flag quickly while simultaneously saying ‘GO.’ In windy conditions, the Starter may dispense with polling and use a Quick Start by simply saying "ATTENTION” and, if no crew responds, immediately raises the flag and gives the starting commands. Crews can be assessed a warning for a false start, for being late to the start or for traffic rules violations, established for the course. A crew which receives two warnings in the same race is eliminated from the event. If a crew breaks equipment in the first 100 meters of the race, it can stop rowing and signal the umpire who will stop the race. The crew will not be penalized. Broken equipment does not include a crab or jumped slide. Once the race begins, the Umpire or Referee follows in a launch. If a crew is about to interfere with another crew, the umpire will raise a white flag, call the crew's name, and drop the flag in the direction where the crew should move. If a crew is about to hit a known obstruction (such as a bridge abutment) the Umpire will raise a white flag, call the crew, and yell 'OBSTACLE' or simply ‘STOP.’ If the Umpire needs to stop the entire race, he will ring a bell or sound a horn, wave a red flag and call out 'STOP' if necessary. The Rules Each crew is allowed one false start - two means disqualification. Crews may move anywhere within the course during the race as long as they don't impede another crew. Referees use flags to signal the crews. A crew has finished the race when its bow crosses the plane of the finish line. A horn is sounded as each crew finishes the race. The Oars People who have two oars in the water are called scullers.