Excerpt from The Boston Globe
The Community Rowing Boathouse on the banks of the Charles River in Brighton has been named the “most beautiful” new building in the Boston area, according to the Boston Society of Architects. The group awarded this year’s Harleston Parker Medal to the boathouse (below), which was designed by Cambridge architects Alex Anmahianand Nick Winton.
To see the full article, go to: http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2009/12/19/brady_family_welcomes_benjamin/
By DON CUDDY
doncuddy@s-t.com
November 16, 2009 12:00 AM
Published on SouthCoastToday.com
NEW BEDFORD - New Bedford has reached an agreement with a nonprofit group in Greater Boston, Community Rowing Inc., to develop a rowing program on the Acushnet River that will be open to area residents and public school students of all ages.
“There has been tremendous growth in the sport in recent years,” Mayor Scott W. Lang said in welcoming the agreement. “If you look at the upper harbor and the river, we have a natural resource here that is unique. We have been working for some time now to take advantage of our natural attributes, and this is another ingredient in the economic redevelopment and cleanup of the river.”
The city hopes to work with CRI to develop rowing as both a recreational activity and as an organized sport, with a view to possibly hosting regattas in the future, the mayor said. “CRI is a top-flight organization, and they will be invaluable in getting this program established.”
Community Rowing was started in the 1980s by rowers from the U.S. national team as a way to introduce rowing to the general public, Ryan Banks, director of operations for the nonprofit said. The organization is dedicated to the belief that rowing promotes “personal and community growth through teamwork, discipline, and physical fitness,” according to its mission statement.
“We have a full program for people of all ages and abilities, including adaptive rowing,” Banks said. “We had 1,700 people rowing this year.”
Membership in the club, which has a boathouse on the Charles River in Brighton, is open to all, he said. “If you sign up for a program, you can become a member.” Community Rowing offers an introductory class that runs for seven weeks for $95.
“The sessions are twice a week for about an hour and a half. That allows people to discover whether rowing is something they are really interested in pursuing,” Banks said. “Teamwork is a huge part of it.”
On Nov. 2, Community Rowing was named as USRowing’s Club of the Year from among more than 1,000 member organizations across the country.
According to Matthew Morrissey of the New Bedford Economic Development Council, Community Rowing will be the managing partner in a collaboration that includes the city, the Harbor Development Commission, the NBEDC and Community Boating in New Bedford.
“This is a phased project,” Morrissey said. “Community Rowing will help to design a program and attract funding. There is tremendous potential here to develop intramural programs in schools as well as walk up programs.”
Creating a crew course for four- and eight-person rowing shells is also envisaged, he said.
“Regattas will attract people to come and stay in the city,” Morrissey said.
In addition, Phase Two of the redevelopment of the Fairhaven Mills site includes plans for a boathouse and related facilities just north of Interstate 195.
“It’s part of the design for the repurposing of what was once an industrial waterway,” Morrissey said. Eventually, Community Boating will take over responsibility for the rowing program, he added.
Mayor Lang said that the program should become operational by next spring. “We already have some of the infrastructure,” he said. “The Seaport Inn and Marina in Fairhaven has already installed launching facilities.”
A press event has been scheduled for Thursday at the CRI boathouse to formally announce the agreement.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091116/NEWS/911160328/1018/OPINION
In Southwest Airline’s fall magazine, they featured Community Rowing as a an exciting destination in Boston, including an article, and an appearance on the city map. Coach Will Congram is also quoted.
Click on images to view full-size.
Agreement brings New Bedford’s rowing dream into focus
By CHARIS ANDERSON
canderson@s-t.com
November 20, 2009 12:00 AM
BOSTON - Mayor Scott W. Lang’s long-held dream to transform the Acushnet River into a center of rowing activity took a step closer to reality Thursday with the official announcement of a partnership between the New Bedford Economic Development Council and Community Rowing Inc.
“This is an economic stimulus type of project, a quality of life project,” Lang said. “I think that it reconnects New Bedford with an important part of its history.”
The agreement with Community Rowing was announced Thursday during a press conference at the organization’s new boathouse on the Charles River in Brighton.
“I see the Head of New Bedford and about 15 other races down there,” said Bruce Smith, executive director of Community Rowing.
Community Rowing is a nonprofit founded in 1985 with the goal of making the sport of rowing accessible to a broad range of people; more than 1,500 people row with the organization each year, according to information on its Web site.
“Rowing is a sport for everybody,” Smith said. “We’ve found that as soon as someone comes down to the water, they’re hooked.”
The first step in the new partnership, Smith said, is to develop a good plan for bringing rowing to New Bedford.
Community Rowing is working with a strategic planner from Harvard on that effort, according to Smith.
Additionally, the organization will begin writing grant proposals in an attempt to secure funding for at least one New Bedford-based staff person as well as equipment and other necessary items, according to Smith.
The required infrastructure to get people on the water is already in place - Chris Corkery, managing partner of Fairhaven’s Seaport Inn, has built an 80-foot-long launch dock that the rowing program can use - and it is possible that students will be rowing in New Bedford this spring, Smith said.
Planning for a boathouse on the former site of Fairhaven Mills is under way, and construction could begin within 12 to 18 months, according to Matthew Morrissey, executive director of the Economic Development Council.
Dredging of the river near Sawyer Street, the proposed site of the boathouse, has already been completed, said Kristin Decas, executive director of the city’s Harbor Development Commission.
If funding can be identified, it would be possible to build a launch dock on the site even before the boathouse is completed, she said.
Over the last three years, the city has worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection to assess the environmental issues along the proposed course and to determine the feasibility of using the Upper Harbor for rowing.
An independent evaluation of the harbor concluded that there is no significant risk for rowers.
Additionally, the city will work with the Board of Health and the EPA over the next several months to develop safety protocols similar to those used on other urban waterways, a release stated.
While students won’t be out rowing until spring, it’s possible that elite rowers might pop up on the river much sooner.
Unlike the Charles River, the Acushnet River does not freeze during the winter, which allows people to row on it year-round, according to Smith.
To keep training on the water throughout the winter, elite rowers from the Northeast have had to travel to warmer states, such as Florida or California, Smith said.
“Now they don’t have to go that far,” he said.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091120/NEWS/911200347
Agreement to bring rowing to New Bedford
The New England Business Bulletin
November 30, 2009 3:01 PM
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - The city of New Bedford recently announced a six-month agreement with Community Rowing Inc. to develop a plan to make rowing available to public school students and community members in New Bedford.
The agreement brings the city closer to realizing a long-held vision of Mayor Scott Lang to turn the upper harbor into a center of rowing activity. “MassDevelopment considers the stretch along the river as a valuable economic asset to the city. The US Rowing Association says it’s a terrific natural course and an EPA official was quoted by the Boston Globe that, ‘If you can row in the Charles, you can row in the Acushnet.’ This is a winning combination for New Bedford,” said Lang.
Based on the Charles River in Brighton, CRI is the biggest rowing organization in the world with 35 coaches and 700 people on the water every day in 150 boats, according to a news release.
Bruce Smith, executive director of Community Rowing told the Standard-Times that the first step in the new partnership is to develop a good plan for bringing rowing to New Bedford. Community Rowing is already working with a strategic planner from Harvard to develop the plan, he said, and will begin seeking funding for at least one New Bedford-based staff person.
Several necessary steps to make the rowing center a reality are already underway including planning to build a boathouse at the site of the former Fairhaven Mills with construction possible within 12 to 18 months, according to Matthew Morrissey, executive director of the Economic Development Council.
Dredging of the river near the site has been completed, Kristin Decas, executive director of the city’s Harbor Development Commission told a reporter. And, if funding can be identified, it would be possible to build a launch dock on the site even before the boathouse is completed, she said.
‘Great’ idea pans out
ON BOARD: Alan Campbell of Great Britain gets prepared to take part in a rowing program at Community Rowing in Newton this week.
By Rich Thompson / Head of the Charles
Saturday, October 17, 2009 - Added 2d 15h ago
Rowing enthusiast Bill Barry of London had a higher ideal in mind when he assembled the world’s greatest scullers for the “Great Eight” sweeps boat last spring.
Barry persuaded eight men with great pedigrees and different nationalities to drop their personal goals and work as one. The concept gained worldwide acclaim when the crew of Ondrej Synek (Czech Republic), Alan Campbell (Great Britain), Lassi Karonen (Sweden), Marcel Hacker (Germany), Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand), Olaf Tufte (Norway), Tim Maeyens (Belgium) and Iztok Cop (Slovenia) beat British powerhouse Leander Club at the Head of the Thames River race in London last March.
The same crew minus Tufte will compete in the prestigious Championship Eights tomorrow (4:09 p.m.) at the 45th annual Head of the Charles Regatta. Tufte stayed home for the birth of his second child. American Warren Anderson replaced him and will sweep from the sixth seat.cw-3
“The idea behind this eight was to say to people in rowing and in sports to use your sport to meet people from different countries,” Barry said. “Get friendly with them, get to know them and spread some friendship around the world because there is plenty of the opposite.cw-2
“I think you can use sports to break down barriers and overcome situations. That’s a wonderful kind of United Nations to have, and I’m pretty proud to be responsible for it. It’s a message to anybody that wants to take it that eight people from eight different countries can be friends together and row together.
“I think there is a higher message in this getting together.”
Barry and his all-star crew attracted many naysayers, especially in Britain. The coach was told he would need a boat the size of the battleship Prince of Wales to host the egos of eight men accustomed to doing things their own way. With just five days of training before their win in London, the Great Eight answered their critics.
“There was a tremendous argument going on in the rowing circles,” Barry said. “The talk (was) about how can a group of scullers get together and change their sport and in just a few days beat the best sweeps.
“The general consensus was 50-50, and I felt we had a number of advantages because the physicality of a super sculler allows him to pull harder for longer. I also think the mental focus of a single sculler is much stronger than a sweep. Those are some of the reasons we thought we could win, especially on the second half of the course.”
London’s Ali Williams is the boat’s coxswain.
Williams currently is participating in a nutritional research project at Harvard, so she has a working knowledge of the 3-mile stretch of the Charles. All of her crew can speak English, so Williams has no problem issuing edicts.
“When you are coxing anybody you have to talk to them a lot and you have to lay down specific things,” she said. “Somebody once said rowers are like big, dumb animals, especially when they are under a lot of stress and pain and their bodies are screaming to stop.
“You’re the one who cuts through that with very few words.”
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/other_sports/general/view.bg?articleid=1205331
Great 8 on Overdrive
FRIDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2009 09:52, row2k.com
by Janit Stahl , photo by Peter Spurrier
The men of the Great 8 already had a marathon two days when they arrived at Community Rowing, Inc.’s Boathouse in Brighton late afternoon Thursday October 15. Iztok Cop (Slovenia), Ondrej Synek (Czech Republic), Marcel Hacker (Germany), Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand) Warren Anderson (USA), Lassse Karonen (Sweden) Allan Campbell (Great Britain) and Tim Maeyens (Belgium), collectively the “Great 8″ and individually the best scullers in the world, were at CRI’s boathouse to share their rowing knowledge and enthusiasm with a busload of Boston City schools students, and several adaptive rowers from CRI’s ongoing outreach programs. After arriving Wednesday in Boston, Coach BIll Barry had them rowing three sessions, (”outings” in British understatement), each about 10k in length on Thursday, then on to public press sessions and CRI.
CRI’s Outreach programs are the foundation of the club, and when the Great 8 was scheduled to come, thanks to the generosity of Peter Dreissigacker of Concept 2, they wanted to connect this awesome International squad of scullers in some meaningful way to the rowing community and to Boston. CRI’s Executive Director Bruce Smith, prior to the event, explained how this kind of outreach is the core of CRI, where “everyone should have a chance to try rowing.” The amount of rowers passing through Harry Parker Boathouse on Thursday is a testament to the hustle at CRI.With only one year in the new boathouse, they are making a statement with a modus operandi from which the somewhat-exclusive rowing community could all learn.
Despite their jetlag, 30k of hard work, and press junkets, the Great 8 boys seemed pretty sturdy, solid and ready for more. It could be the pillows and high thread count sheets at the Liberty Hotel, their digs for the week, or it could just be that these are really tough guys. Or it could be the meals they have to eat during this kind of training. “These guys can eat a lot,” shares the diminutive coxswain Ali Williams, she adds, “they are consuming about 10,000 calories a day.” For the record, there are 6 guys in the engine room of this craft that weigh “over 100 kilos,” shares Alan Campbell. (That’s 220 pounds USA and there is no fat to trim here.) Another ‘insider’ name for this segment of the boat: “The 100-kilos club.” That leaves Maeyens at bow and Cop at stroke looking small in comparison to these goliaths.
It is also Campbell, that when asked how he likes the States, says, “Well, it would be really nice if somewhere really hot invited us to come…like to do so coastal rowing in Hawaii?” The others guys offered their suggestions as well, from the press room table: Bahamas, Bermuda.. and a really short race, they offer. After three rows in bitter 42 degree weather, slightly windy and some drizzle, all of the guys in the boat agreed, though weather is familiar to many of them. It was snowing in Sweden when Karonen left.
If you ask the Great 8 why they are rowing together, their first response is, “it is fun.” This from Karonen, Synek and others. But it also is a break from a grueling training schedule, and a chance to challenge themselves in this new way. Even at the elite level, there was bound to be some rough spots when they first get in a boat together. “I am bow so I see it all, sometimes a smile a little bit but I keep quite,” says Tim Maeyens. Who is the one who messes up the most? Silence, then Warren Anderson takes one for the team and offers with a laugh, “I think it’s me!” Anderson is the youngest in the boat at only 26, Synek is 27. Synek, who has the hardest time with English interviews, shares that “I like this because it is a new experience,” says the Olympic silver medalist at Beijing in 2008, and “it is so much fun.” But, after a little chucking among the guys as the remember training sessions, Hacker gets to the core of how these guys think, “It is simple, first on the finish line in a single, and when we are 8 people in a long boat…first to the finish line.”
“And it is not like we are different people from different countries when we row together.. we are friends,” adds Maeyens. (who may have trying to make amends for his comments about what he sees in bow.) And they enjoy there time together immensely. It is unlikely this talented group will be together again. “It is difficult to arrange all having them all in one place,” says Barry, who coordinates a lot of this with Phil Rowley from Great Britain. To celebrate their periodic reunions (they have rowed only in London so far, this is their first trip overseas to row as a team) they share meals, celebrating that they are founding members of one of the most exclusive fraternities in the World.
What is the post- training meal? “Meat.” says one. “It depends how many beers we are allowed,” says another. Apparently there is some guidelines for consumption for these guys, and they all look to Barry with the word on Thursday’s protocol. “It is a one-beer night,” he responds. Unphased, Hacker motions with his hands on the table a glass the size of a long-stem flower vase, “one beer, about this size.” In response to Hacker, Barry says, “well, you have to control these guys because if you say it is a one beer night, well, there is other alcohol.”
The beer, or any size or number, does not seem to affect thier strength. They were asked, “does anyone say this is too much work?” (after 30k jetlagged) and there was utter silence. Either no one wil admit to fatigue, or these guys are machines. “We bent a rudder today,” said Williams, who says these guys have so much power it is hard to control the boat. They have been rowing in a starboard-stroke-rigged Filippi with Concept 2 oars here in Boston.
Drydale is the only one who continues on a rowing Odyssey after Boston. For Mahe it is off the Philadephia for the Head of the Schuylkill, also to Switzerland, and Turin, Italy for the SIlverSkiff, and two regattas in London. Drysdale is “Athlete of the Month” for World Rowing, and he was asked what he does for jet lag: “As soon as I hit the ground I start training, I don’t get affected much.” So far in Boston, Drysdale and his Great 8 pals have proven that jet lag is nothing to these champions as their day was not done. After speaking to the press, all of the guys went on to their assignments at the CRI boathouse. Cop, Karonen, Synek, Hacker and Drysdale coached the outreach rowers from Boston City Schools, Maeyens and Anderson went to the cold docks to row with area Adaptive Rowers. Concept 2 set up an erg race, and the local students, who had just learned how to erg from the best in the World, took shifts during a 2k piece, with each of the Great 8 taking a spin on the erg. Young and enormously strong, Synek was looking like an easy paddle at 1:25 splits, then he stepped it up a bit. He shares that he has pulled at 1:12 splits. Karonen rowed feet out, with the students struggling to stabilize his massive legs in the foot stretchers. (Didn’t really happen.) Go figure: Mahe Drysdale’s team won. Seems like stacking that team with the current World Champion (in record time) was effective. Anderson, Campbell and Maeyens rowed with the Adaptive Rowing Program at CRI, yet another row on a 30k day, but they were all smiles.
More on the Great 8 during the Head of the Charles, always check www.rowingnews.com, facebook and twitter for pictures, videos and updates!
by Janit Stahl
http://rowingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=502:great8onoverdrive&catid=908:eliteregattas
Marcel in Bow
FRIDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2009 20:31
Photo by Peter Spurrier, Intersport Images
The Great 8 came to Boston to row–it is what they do better than almost every person breathing on this planet. And row they did. After touching down at Logan Airport, they have been at full pressure, Boston-style. Three outings in less than pleasant weather Thursday, then off to Community Rowing, Inc’s gleaming Harry Parker Boathouse in Brighton for some face time with kids from Boston city schools, and some oar time with adaptive rowers.
When these large men walked up the stairs at CRI, there was no mistaking who they were. Sure, it could have been their matching grey New Wave jackets with their names emblazened down the right arm, or it could just be, that in the words of Alan Campbell, the British member of the Great 8, “we have 6 rowers over 100 kilos in the boat.” The Great 8 puts new meaning to engine room, just ask coxswain Ali Williams, who feels that sometimes they are too darn strong for her to control. Picture a jockey with not one, but eight thoroghbreds. No need to go to the stick or spurs, just hang on.
On Thursday, I set as a goal for myself: row with one of these guys. No fear, just ask! And so I did. I was in the process of asking Bill Barry their coach who might be receptive to this, and before he had a chance to discuss with Marcel, I had asked Hacker myself, and off we went. Marcel Hacker, to review, is a German sculler who, dating back to 1994 when he was 17, has been racing and winning all over the World. His best years may be yet to come, but he also had fabulous results from 2000-2o05, peaking in 2001-2003, when he won every World Cup event he entered in a single.
On CRI’s dock, I had a feeling I wasn’t doing anything German-style from the get-go. Carrying the boat, putting oars in oarlocks, and certainly the commands on the water were a tad different. Here’s one: “don’t do that.” Here’s another: “stop” I had never seen these in the coxing handbook and experienced these commands from a bowperson, but I played along as best I could. At one point, Marcel said stop…I did not know that meant a simultaneous (and massive) checking on port–but that was the gist of it. Not having German intuition, (despite my last name, Stahl, I am Polish, and we all know how that goes) I almost crabbed. But with Marcel in the boat it was as stable as a rock. Here’s what I will remember most: After a few strokes, he started to coach me and it was great information. Yes, I was rushing up that slide–I was so psyched to be rowing with a World Champion that I rowed like a novice. He convinced me to slow down. And when we did, and we had a few beautiful strokes, the puddles were spaced so far away they were like giant swirly memories. I just don’t get that run on a normal day.
Back on the dock, I put one foot up to step out. Marcel grunted, something like “get your oar.” I was supposed to open the oarlock before stepping out. I had given Hacker a Rowing News t-shirt but only had a Medium with me. A good sport, he squeezed into the T and wore it under his uni. Back at the boat racks, he wiggled out of it and handed it back to me. I was thinking…is he mad about the oarlock thing? All he said: “This is puny.”
by Janit Stahl
http://rowingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=504:marcelinbow&catid=37:features&Itemid=96
Germany’s Marcel Hacker took an athlete out for a spin at Community Rowing. Photos show CRI blades, and a subsequent story was run in RowingNews, titled “Marcel in Bow.”
