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Charter
To provide information and news for the Parents, Friends, and Alumni of Andover Crew.
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News August 25th. 2010
Coaches for Lowell
Andover crew alumni have helped to grow many rowing programs in the Boston area such as CRI, Wayland Weston and Brookline. Another such program is the Lowell High School rowing where Jennifer Bauer '93 has been the head coach for the past few years. She is working on a doctorate but continues as a coach with the program. The are looking for Assistant and Novice Coaches for the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 school year. Lowell High School crew is a team of over 100 inner-city athletes who have worked hard to build a strong, competitive program. The team’s equipment includes 10 eights, 2 fours, a pair/double, 12 sets of oars, 11 cox boxes and 8 ergs. This past spring they hosted the first-ever USRowing Northeast \District Championships, which brought 40 teams from 8 states and Canada to compete on the Merrimack River. Another first, was the team’s installation of a fully buoyed 2000m course on the Merrimack.
Practice is Monday - Friday 3:15 to 6. Coaches should be in attendance of all races, 8 weeks in the fall and 12 weeks in the spring. In addition to salary, coaches may be compensated you for USRowing certifications.
Experience: Candidates must have collegiate rowing experience. Preferably 1 year of coaching, but will work with the right person. This is a great group of kids who are excited about the sport, come help them win!
Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter to the Head Coach Jessica Murray by email: jessica@http://www.facebook.com/l/54b45eE1lVUFKNakidPh3nYhd6g;lhsrowing.com
For more information about the program please go to http://www.facebook.com/l/54b45eE1lVUFKNakidPh3nYhd6g;lhsrowing.com
Boathouse News
The Boathouse news has started to excite the rowing community. Offers of help are coming in and there are rumors of a Challenge Race between the '03 and the '06 Henley B1 boats in honor of the new boathouse. There were also some pretty fast girls in that timeframe including names like Lind, Coffey and Demers.
Boathouse News! Phillips Academy has entered into an agreement to purchase a property upstream from the I-93 bridge on the Merrimack River. The site will provide better facilities for coaches, rowers and spectators as well as a more shelterd race course. Our thanks to Michael Williams and his team for their wonderful efforts in support of Crew. For a full press release from Andover see the boathouse section below.
Send in your news
We are preparing an update for the website. If you did anything interesting since the end of May please send in a report to andovercrew@andovercrew.net. We prefer rowing stories or stories of the unusual such as Chip Schroeder '07 who has just spent the last 3 weeks in a Mongolian Ger with only the odd goat for company.
Coming soon some news about the boathouse!Amazing Interschol Results!!
NEIRA championships for boys' B2, the girls' G1 and the girls' team.
The boys B3. B2 & B1 were seeded 5th, 1st and 6th! They stepped up and came in 4th, Gold and Bronze.The boys also came in second in the team prize.
The girls G3, G2, G1.....well the girls knocked the ball out of the park! The girls came in Silver, Silver and Gold and took the team prize for the first time since 1998. Way to go girls! Needless to say there was a little celebration and we were the last to leave the park.
Based on where we were at the beginning of the season these results reflect a monumental effort by everyone on the team.
Some videos on youtube thanks to Tom Rauh:
Trophy presentation
Luc goes swimming
First boat jumpsHere are a few pictures from our amazing weekend. If anyone wants high resoluton versions or has pictures or videos that they would allow us to post please email andovercrew@andovercrew.net.
New England Champioships pictures 1
New England Champioships pictures 2
New England Champioships pictures 3
New England Champioships pictures 4
New England Champioships pictures 5
At the beginning of the season Interschols seems so far away and then in the blink of an eye we are packing up the trailer at the end of the regatta. This season we started a little slow but ended well. The boys exceeded our earlier expectations and their seedings to come in second in the team trophy with 4th, Gold and Bronze results and the girls exploded to win Silver, Silver and Gold and capture the team trophy.
Overall we had a great season racing a total of 6 boy’s and 5 girl’s boats. Rowing is a very strange sport. Hours of training to build strength, then stamina and finally speed. Hours in the gym, on the ergs and finally long afternoons on the Merrimack. All for 5 minutes of excruciating effort to cross a line first. It takes a special person to invest all this effort in a sport where success and failure cannot be measured for the individual. I recently listened to a speech from 1965 by George Pocock of boat making fame. He related a story where a reporter in an effort to please a parent wrote in a newspaper article that the athlete was not responsible for the loss because he had rowed twice as fast as everyone else in the boat. Glory only comes if all nine people in the boat perform. The rowers in our 4th, 5th and 6th boats have had a taste of the pain and the exhilaration of racing.
Interschols is the final test of all the effort to see who is the best of all New England. It was partly sunny with no wind so there was no benefit to any of the lanes. We started at 8.30 a.m. with the B3 heat. We were seeded 5th overall and third in this heat but we raced well and came in second. Our G3 raced next and did not do so well but qualified for the final by coming third with the second slowest speed of all the qualifiers.
Our B2 was up next. They rowed clean and tidy to victory and looked every bit in command. In the G2 heat Exeter struck out into the lead and our G2 followed safely behind over the line. So far all our boats were in the finals. Our young B1 also had Exeter in the heat and copied G2 in coming in second and safely making a place in the final. The G1 boat jumped out in front but had Hanover snipping at their heals as they crossed the line first. After the heats we sequestered our rowers in hotel room to stay away from the weather and distractions of the regatta so that could return fresh for the finals.
Coming into the regatta B3 was seeded 5th, B2 1st and B1 6th. We hoped for better. The B3 final had a restart because of a clash of boats very early in the race. This can play havoc with the rushing adrenaline. The race was a tough one for the boat but they beat the expectations and came in 4th. Our B2 surpassed expectations and rowing like kings left the nearest boat 7 seconds behind to capture Gold and become New England Champions. This year for some strange reason the school did not allow our B1 boat to continue our tradition of coming back from spring break a few days early to prepare for the season. This loss of water time combined with the fact that we graduated all of last year’s B1 set a tough challenge for our boys. Our early season performance contributed to us being seeded 6th but in the boys grand final our boat did not perform like a 6th seed. While Kent went out ahead our boat along with Exeter and Salisbury fought hard for the medals. In the last mad dash for the line Andover managed to stay ahead f Exeter but ended up aligned with Salisbury and exchanged the lead with each stroke. On the final line, it was impossible to say who had won silver or bronze. The judges went to review the video for a “photo finish” and declared the times as Salisbury 4.45.619 and Andover as 4.45.621. Now with 1500 meters in 4minutes and 45 seconds the difference of 0.002 seconds translates to Salisbury being 10 mm ahead of Andover at the line. With a camera on the shore measuring 10 mm between boats 100 meters away is miraculous but a placement has to be called and Andover was given the bronze. For these young rowers who stepped up to the B1 this was a tough call but they did us proud. With either silver or bronze Andover captured silver in the team prize with 32 points behind Kent with 36 and ahead of Exeter and St. John’s with 28 each.
G3 was the 5th slowest boat in the morning heats where they finished behind Hanover and Exeter. The G3 that came back to do battle in the afternoon carried a different spirit. They rowed out aggressively to fight for medals and left Exeter and Hanover trailing behind. Only Kent could outpace them as they grabbed the Silver prize. On the times chart our G2 had been 4th in the morning but they also supped of the same aggressive spirit for the afternoon and finished 2.5 seconds ahead of Kent but behind Exeter to capture Silver. A strange possibility was rising before us. The girl’s team trophy had only ever come home to Andover in, I think 1989 and it had been 10 years since G1 took gold. A strange tingling started to run through at least the parent’s veins. I stood with several G1 parents as the boats started off. Kent and Andover were out in front in the first 500 meters. Exeter inexplicably were down by almost 5 seats. We thought maybe the commentator was confused. The red empire rarely moves that slow but as they paddled up the lake like insects hoping on the water in the distance the voice over the air repeated that Exeter was slipping further back and Andover was making the pace with Kent fighting hard to hold the gap. Soon Andover had open water over Exeter and a growing lead over Kent. To the supporters edging closer to the water’s edge to see the race the site of an Andover boat striding confidently towards the line brought an outburst of joy. Crossing the line 3.3 seconds ahead of Kent and an amazing 9 seconds over Exeter the G1 boat nailed the varsity Gold and the team trophy. The Andover girls were New England varsity and team Champions.
A hard fought season with a slow start had closed with satisfaction and some glory for the boys with 2nd place in the team trophy and gold for B2 and the girls with 1st place in team trophy and gold for G1. It is amazing every year to watch the coaches lead these hesitant young children onto the Merrimack, work their magic and deliver humble but confident masters of the waves to Interschols. As we send our seniors onto to college we know that each and every university will be a better place for having accepted one of our rowers.
The Andover crew experience will stay in their hearts for life even though many will chose to spend they college days away from the water. There will also be those who cannot leave the water and go on to compete for their colleges. Our Facebook page has recorded the winning skills of or college alumni most recently Mia Kanak ’06 coxed the Yale varsity women to victory in the NCAA national championships. The best of the best in women’s USA college rowing. Andover rowers will be competing in the Men’s IRA national regatta this coming week. Follow their progress on Friends of Andover Crew on Facebook. If any of you are visiting IRAs, Rosy and I will be camped in the Washington tent so drop by and say hello.
Congratulations to Katie Fanikos and Kristen Faulkner on being invited to national training camp.
Coach Bill Brown elected to Phillips Academy Athletics Hall of Honor
Coach Bill Brown '34 has been selected for the Athletics Hall of Honor. Coach Brown coached basketball, hockey and football and also started a sailing program that assembled their own firefly boats and sailed on Lake Cochichewick in North Andover. In 1954 he coached the golf team to an undefeated year. In 1955, with the help of the Dutch Schoch, the Princeton coach, he assembled a 3 boat fleet donated by Princeton, Harvard and Yale to start Andover Crew. In the mid '70s, even before the Abbott merger, he started a girls' team. Coach Brown retired in 1980 having created a program that won New England Championships and competed at the Henley Royal Regatta. Generations of Andover Crew rowers owe a debt of gratitude to this fine man.
Phillips Academy Athletics Hall of Honor
Summer Camp
There is a new rowing camp this year based at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle led by Luke McGee. Luke McGee is the Freshman coach at UW. In his rowing career he has won Henley, THE Boat Race with Oxford and a world championship with the USA. In his coaching career he has coached freshmen at Brown and the University of Washington. Last year his UW freshmen boat won Pac-10s & IRAs and his boat this year is undefeated and has won Pac-10. Conor Bullis has been an assistant coach at UW including coaching the '08 F4 that won IRAs and set a course record for Cooper River.
I am sure their camp will be exhilarating and exhausting and I am sure it will be a memorable rowing experience.Men's Northwest Junior Development Camps
Andover rower in an F18
We have added some alumni pictures from Olivia Coffey '07 in the Alumni Corner - click here.
The Belmont race scheduled for Wednesday has been moved to Saturday. We will now race B1 to B3 against NMH and B3 to B6 against Belmont on Saturday.
Coming soon - May 15th - NMH
Our next race is with NMH and Belmont at our own boathouse on May 15th. at 12.30 to 15.30. Time flies when you are having fun. It is seems like the crew only just started but this will be the last regular season race before Interschols.
It will be the last day of crew for the lower boats. Come on down and make it into a party.Up Coming Events May 22nd -- Interschols
Now G1 to G3 and B1 to B3 have a short week to hone their skills for the final test; Interschols, the New England Championships. Our boats will be racing against 12 to 18 other schools for the title of champion and for the team trophies. There will be heats in the morning to select the boats for the afternoon finals.
Parent support is essential to success on this day. The rowers can’t eat a big breakfast before their races so they need to be feed immediately afterward. Then they need to stay calm and rested so as to be in prime condition for the afternoon. Win or not they will be very hungry after their finals.
The first Andover race will be the boys’ B3 at 8.40 a.m. This means they will launch onto the water at about 8 a.m. and be back ready to eat by 9 a.m. We have to be ready to serve them food. So we need to be there about 8.15 a.m. to have the food table ready for them. This year the order will be B3, G3, B2, G2, B1, and G1. By the time B1 and G1 are finished their heats we will be feeding them an early lunch.
Interschols offer a special opportunity for the dads to help. We will have a grill going making scrambled eggs in the morning and burgers and hot dogs later on. It is a long day and we need everyone to step up and help to ensure that the table is covered all day while parents of racing boats can leave to watch their favorite rowers crossing the finish line. Come prepared to cook.
The lanes in the heats are assigned according to seeding based on race results in the spring. This year our seeding will be as follows: B3 - 5th, G2 – 2nd, B2 – 1st, G2 – 4th, B1 – 6th, G1 – 2nd. Seeding should carry a warning label like investments, prior performance is no guarantee as to future expectation. In this past weekend’s college racing at Lake Quinsigamond there were many unexpected results. The results will depend much more on the physical and mental well being of our rowers than any race history. This is why our care for them on race day is very important. We should be happy if our boats medal and ecstatic if they capture silver or gold. We race as one whole team and we win or lose as one whole team. The team prizes will be awarded after the last race. The boys have won the team prize for the last three years. Based on the seeding, you would expect that we do not have a cat in hell’s chance of making it four but if you have felt the passion this spring you will know anything is possible. The girls will battle Exeter and Kent for their team prize and again if you have looked in the eyes of our G1 boat, you wouldn’t doubt them.
We have booked a hotel room for the rowers to rest, away from the elements, between the heats and the finals. The buses will take them back and forth. We may need some parent volunteer to go to the hotel to check on them during the day. Please sign up early to bring food at the appropriate time according to the menu at Click here for the Food menu.
We do NOT launch from the same place as the Lake Quinsigamond races earlier in the season. We launch from the state park near the finish line. For directions see Directions.
We will have our tent by the fence near the road. If you are bring heavy items you can pull up by the fence and hand them over. If you are coming later you can unload by the entrance gate. If you need help, come in first and we will round up helpers. There will be a small entrance fee. They will stamp your hand so that you can go in and out.
It will be a long hard day for the students and coaches. Over recent years the parents volunteers have ensured that they focus on the races while we take care of their food and comfort. Other school's parents provide the same support for their teams. All family and friends are welcome to join us especially young alumni who may be home from college by May 22nd See you by the lake!! Go Blue!!
Exeter and Tabor races
We had a great crowd at the races against Exeter and Tabor. We will post more information soon but pictures of Friday afternoon and the Saturday races have been posted.
Exeter & Tabor pictures 1
Exeter & Tabor pictures 2
Exeter & Tabor pictures 3
Exeter & Tabor pictures 4
St. Paul's races
For pictures from the St.Paul's races click
St.Paul's pictures 1 and
St.Paul's pictures 2
Salisbury and Brunswick races
We have an almost perfect day at Salisbury. We will post a report and pictures soon. We updated a link in the schedule table to the to the results. We should mention that our B3 crossed the finish line ahead of all other boats but was disqualified because they crossed into an adjacent lane. This was not bad steering or an attempt to ram the competition but competent steering based on a misunderstanding about the lane path.
We are trying out some updates to the webpage. The main body of the page below will stay the same as we add some new feature but eventually the jump table below will be replaced by the buttons at the top once we have them all working. Rosy was reviewing my html code the other night and became a little carried away and so we are also trying out a new continuous slide show. Please let us know if this slide show has any problems with your favorite web browser.We had a great day at the lake in Salisbury. A big thank you to all the parents and especially grandparents who made the trip. The weather and the great racing made it all worthwhile.
We have uploaded some pictures from Salisbury.
Salisbury pictures 1 and Salisbury pictures 2
Andover Exeter Invitational at Lake Quinsigamond
We have uploaded some pictures from from Lake Q.
Lake Quinsigamond pictures 1 and Lake Quinsigamond pictures 2
This coming Saturday April 24th the boys (B1 to B6) are away at Salisbury racing Salisbury and Brunswick. The girls have the weekend off.Kent races
So the Kent racing was the first race day for the Andover boats. For some reason this year the athletic department forced us to break with tradition and not bring our rowers back a few days early from spring break. This combined with the recent flooding in the Merrimack valley cost us critical water time. The boats have only been on the Merrimack for about 8 days and we have not yet settled on boat lineups. This was most critical for the boys’ team who graduated all of the B1 boat last year requiring everyone to step up a notch this year. But ready or not, race day cometh. The weather was better than expected. The river was running very fast and a following wind meant rowing up to the start was a little tougher than usual and the races were faster than usual.
A big thank you to all the parents who turned out to support our boats and provide food for our hungry rowers. The program has over 100 students this year and today we had 72 of them competing on the Merrimack. We also had quite a few recent alumni turn up to yell “Go Blue” along with Barbara Chase and her husband who brought our favorite sugar treat – blue sharks.
We use floating starts on the Merrimack and in today’s wind and current this provided some challenges for the coaches. The conditions also stressed the rowing technique of our younger rowers. The B4 race had to be restarted because of an early “crab” and in the G4 race our boat suffered a number of “over –the-head” crabs. Luckily the only thing hurt was our race times.
B4 were the first boat off the blocks after a start recall because of an early crab. Our young rowers managed to hold their composure and settled into a solid rhythm to win by open water in a very decent race. Our G4 boat suffered from several cabs during their race. With typical Andover determination, they manage to recover and continued to compete. A few more weeks on the water and crabs will be a thing of the past.
Our B3 and G3 boats rowed well without any crabs but were bested by smoother Kent boats. Hard training will be required this coming week to prepare for Lake Quinsigamond. Usually the coaches teach the boats to row well at lower stroke rates and once the art is mastered, they gradually increase the rate for racing. We are in early stages of spring development.
The B2 and G2 races were closer. Both fought hard to grab the advantage from their opponents and impress the coaches as candidates for the B1 and G1 boats. G2 held on well but lost by the end of the race to faster Kent crew while B2 fought it down to the wire and pulled off an exciting last 500 meters to capture victory by 1 second or about 20 feet.
Our B1 boat that won Interschols in 2009 and silver medalists at the USA national championship graduated the whole boat. This is very unusual. And so we started this year with a completely new boat of rowers stepping up to the B1 including one freshman. Building a boat from scratch will take many weeks. So far we have invested only 8 days on the water. I visited the river on day 2 and watched the race today. There has been a huge improvement but not yet enough to master an experienced Kent boat that started training 3 weeks ago in the sunny south. The B1 boat fought hard for the full 1500 meters but Kent won a well deserved victory and was presented with the Dent Oars after the race. Our B1 will continue to improve and I expect we will be much stronger by the time Interschols comes around.
The G1 were also up against a tough team today but the new girls in the boat have blended quickly with the returning G1 rowers and this race was a very even match. Kent had an early lead. G1 walked back into contention. Coming into the last 500 meters Andover had a slight advantage but Kent made one last desperate drive to grab the lead. Our Andover girls dug deep into their core to find the strength to hold off the attack and crossed the line with only a bowball out in front. A very important bowball. They will remember this race in years to come and no you cannot put a big soccer ball and the bow instead of the little white bowball we use. A win is a win and this was a brave effort. Last year Stewart MacDonald and Tia Doggett ’79 donated a trophy in honor of Hart Perry a much loved past Kent coach who has long been a good friend to Andover Crew. Kent won the trophy in the first competition last year. This year Hart Perry was here in person to present the trophy to our girls for their gritty victory.
All in all a mixed day. If our students wanted a soft life they would not have signed up for crew. Older alumni always say they remember their defeats more than their victories. After today we know how good we are and we know how much we need to improve before Interschols. It will not be easy but if you felt the spirit of our rowers today by the river you would know that they are up to the challenge. We will face some very tough races over the coming weeks but with each week the boats will build their strength, skill and speed. We look forward with great expectations.
For pictures of the Kent races go to
Kent race pictures 1
Kent race pictures 2
Kent race pictures 3Next week we will be racing at Lake Quinsigamond near Worcester, MA. Check the schedule below for teams, time and directions.
If you have not received our newsletter please email andovercrew@andovercrew.net and let us know.
We have added new links for colleges that row and summer camps to the Links list at the bottom of this page...way way down click Links.Strokes thru' the ages
I know we have many alumni who go weepy eyed at the sight of an old wooden boat and cannot believe that the feather light modern oars can propel a boat at speed. Michael Callahan of the Universiy of Washington has written an interesting article comparing the stroke used in 1949 with that of today. To see this article Click here
The 1949 boat merged with the 2009 boat.
Boathouse news
Phillips Academy to Purchase Riverfront Property in Methuen
Academy to purchase 5.8 acres along Merrimack River for crew program
August 04, 2010 —Phillips Academy has entered into an agreement to purchase 5.8 acres of property along the banks of the Merrimack River in Methuen. The site at 620 Lowell Street currently serves as the General GMC truck dealership. The completion of the purchase is contingent upon several factors that are currently being addressed.
The Academy plans to refurbish the site for use by its varsity and instructional crew programs. “The development plan will largely be one of restoring the landscape – it is currently a large parking lot – and sprucing up the building to serve as a boathouse,” said Michael Williams, the Academy’s director of facilities. Other work includes the construction of a boat launching ramp and docks. Given the time needed to acquire the necessary permits, he said, it likely will be about two years before any site work could begin, and another six to nine months before the project is completed.
As a new neighbor in the city of Methuen, Phillips Academy looks forward to working with city officials to ensure a productive relationship between the city and the Academy. The Academy plans to explore all possible partnerships with the local community.
Meanwhile, the Academy’s crew program will continue to operate from its current site in Andover, behind the Greater Lawrence Technical School on River Road, until the site in Methuen is ready for occupancy. Officials from Phillips Academy, the town of Andover and the Greater Lawrence Technical School have worked cooperatively over the last 19 years in an effort to find a mutually beneficial solution to the challenges posed by the current riverfront site. As a result of the joint effort, it has become clear that issues such as cumbersome vehicle and pedestrian access and a substandard building cannot be resolved without a significant financial commitment from the Academy.
Given the investment required to resolve the access issues indentified, the Academy’s Board of Trustees asked the administration to seek an alternative site for its crew program, one that would be much less expensive to develop.
Phillips Academy recognizes the significant energy and time dedicated to this initiative and intends to honor the spirit of what was to be a tri-party agreement among PA, the town of Andover and the Greater Lawrence Technical School. The Academy remains committed to ensuring reasonable access to the river for the residents of Andover and will grant the necessary easements for this access prior to any future sale of its property.
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- All you didn't want to know about crew
- Training & Fun
- How parents help the passion
- Spring Schedule and Directions
- Rowing links - Including tips for spring training.
- Henley '06
- Alumni Page - Andover Crew, the last 54 years
- Alumni Corner - Sample pictures
- Rowing Stories '09
- Rowing Stories '08
- Rowing Stories '07
- Rowing Stories '06
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If your are a rower, please take the time to show your parents how to access this page.
The Spirit of Andover Crew
Crew is a little different from other sports. All the students, boys and girls, everyone from varsity first boat to the sixth boat, train together, practice together, race together. Everyone jumps on the same bus for the bone-rattling trip to the boathouse. Everyone helps with the launches. Everyone shares the same cold wet days on the Merrimack. Everyone shares the same pain, the same pleasure. Everyone will have the same joy as the boat starts to sync and the speed increases. There is no individual effort. There is no individual glory. Only one boat, eight rowers, one coxswain, one shell. A racing boat.
Below is a multimedia section including a video of this year's (07) interschols, Michelle's call and video from Henley '06 and a documentary video about Andover crew made by Katherine Adams '06. Recently we have noticed people referring to Andover crew as a world class program. The shallow reason for such an accolade is probably the recent racing performance such as B1 with two silvers and a gold and G1 with three silvers in the last three New England Championships. We think the program is world class because of the spirit of Andover crew down through all 12 boats. We hope the videos below will help you visit again with the spirit of Andover crew.Interschols '07 Video
Click the links below for Interschol video thanks to Jim Moroney.
Click here for Interschol video part 1
Click here for Interschol video part 2
Click here for Interschol video part 3
Abingdon Race Henley '06 - Michelle's Coxswain's Call: You can feel the spirit as you listen to this race from Henley '06. Abingdon, one of the top English schools, used their fantastic start to take an early lead of over a boat length. Lesser crews would have crumbled. Andover clawed back into the race and then pulled off a tremendous sprint to take the victory.
Click the CONE for a video combination of the coxswain's recording and the TV recording of the Abingdon-Andover race. The video will start with a photograph of the team racing at Henley. The TV footage from www.rowtv.co.uk will appear for the last 500 meters.
Andover Crew video: Katherine Adams created this Andover crew video in the Spring of '04. As you watch this movie I think you will aprreciate that Andover Crew is something very special. We have split the movie into four parts to make it easier to play and download. Please click on the link and it will play using Media Player. You may also right click on each part to download the four files and then use the 'open' command under 'file' to select all four to play as a group.
Andover Crew Video Part 1
Andover Crew Video Part 2
Andover Crew Video Part 3
Andover Crew Video Part 4
Courtesy of Katherine Adams '06
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General Information
Head Coaches:
Girls' Head Coach: Kathryn "Luc" Green
Boys' Head Coach: Pete WashburnGirls' Team Captain '10: Alex Farrell
Boys' Team Captain '10: Charlie WaltersO Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;Walt Whitman
This Website is run by Parents, Friends and Alums of Andover Crew to inform and involve parents and alums in the Andover Crew program
The FALL crew season is the time for fun. Many new students have never been in a rowing boat. The experienced and novice students are mixed together in a process that starts with lots of splashing and little speed through the water. The teams progress with advice and encouragement from the coaches as well as laughter and hard work from the students. Eventually every boat is powering through the water with every oar moving as though the rowers were part of one being. Students who used to run inside at the first drop of rain will soon be happily braving even snow showers for the opportunity to spend the afternoon on the river. Hard to believe? Come and see!
Your students will soon be speaking a new language. You too can learn a little more or understand their new vocabulary
Rowing requires great skill and co-ordination. Here are some extra challenges that a student can try during the school vacation. What about Sculling ?
The program has about 100 girls and boys. They row mostly 'eights' and a few 'fours'
Everyday they are bused to and from the boathouse on the Merrimack River. There is an incredible camaraderie amongst the crew students. Maybe it is the daily bus journey, maybe the shared battle with the elements, maybe the fact that crew is a true team effort? Maybe it is just the shared experience of a few hours together away from the pressure of schoolwork? It is a pleasure to see this happy relaxed group working hard and having fun together.
Spring term is racing season. The competitive spirit kicks in as they start training for races. Andover competes against schools from all over the North East such as Exeter, Kent, NMH, St Paul's, St. John's, Tabor and others. Andover also competes at the New England Interscholastic Regatta (NEIRA) in May.
Spring is also the time for parents and friends to join in with practical help and support. The Saturday races are almost full day events with Andover fielding from 6 to 10 boats against the competition. Supporters travel to the races and provide our teams with food and drink throughout the day. If you have been to any of the races, you will know the extraordinary amount of nourishment required to support a hard racing team. The support and encouragement of the parents and fellow racers contributes greatly to the team. The races are also fun events for students and parents together. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come, even if you can only make it to one of the races. If you live far away you can make a contribution that will be used to provide the food for the races and the end of season barbecue.
Over the years parents and friends have also supported the program with donations of equipment. In the past few years donations have paid for trips overseas, new ergs, new docks, launches and of course new racing boats. With up to 6 racing boats for each of the boys and girls, the hand-me-down boats are pretty old and battered by the time they reach the lower boats even if they are passed on every couple of years. The process needs new boats every 2 to 3 years. This coming spring will have a new girls' boat bought with donations from parents. The boys B1 boat, racing for the fourth season is overdue for replacment.
At the very least, crew will allow your student to have fun, exercise, make new friends and learn a new skill. It may also be the start of a life long passion.
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Training and Fun
Some guidance for the art of erging with skill and style. Read and inwardly digest this guidance and then do the complete opposite and you will have perfection!
Now that the crews are on the water, some people will be catching crabs. If you are going to do something, you might as well excel at it. Here are instructions for catching a really good crab!
For a video of a real-life ejector crab from the MIT website, thanks to Kit H. Click here You will need a mp4 player such as QuickTime or DIV/X.
Catching a crab can be a race stopping event. Check out the youtube video from San Diego at 1 min 24 secs. Click Ejection crab
Diet is very important for all of us. Strenuous sports such as Crew add an extra dimension to diet planning. Eating properly is essential for good health. Some useful advice for rowers and parents bringing food to races can be found in this Training diet guide link. Staying healthy should be the first priority.
Crew first day on the water
Crew after a week with the coaches - see technique instruction
If you want some very light training for crew, you can try simulated crew with this game for your family. interesting board games.
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Parental Support
In the Fall our duty as parents is to make supporting, understanding nods at the comments that crew is "awesome", "tough", "exhilarating" and of course pretend that we understand the new language. We must not comment on the newfound appetites, tendency to dress in layers and almost complete immunity to the weather. In Spring the racing season offers a direct opportunity for parents to participate. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend the race meetings and yell "GO BLUE". The students really appreciate the loyal band of supporters to cheer them to victory. The races are exhilarating, exhausting and appetite creating and that is just for the supporters. Over the duration of the race meeting, the parents provide a hospitality table for our athletes to quench their thirst and quell their hunger after a hard race.
We can have up to 100 hungry students to feed. You would be amazed at the amount of food consumed. Our athletes are very serious about what they eat before and after a race. It appears they really did listen to all the comments about healthy eating that you thought had fallen on deaf ears.
Check out what rowers should and should not eat and when
In Spring we publish a sample menu for the food table. Everyone can join in by bringing food or making a donation to purchase food.
Click here for the Food menu for the May 22nd. Interschol at WorcesterThe most important thing parents can do is provide encouragement and, if possible, come to support the students at Parents Weekend in the Fall and the races in the Spring. A crew program needs good equipment to be competitive. The Andover crew program has also benefited over the past 50 years from parent and alumni donations. Much of our equipment has been acquired with these donations. Hence the funny names on the boats -- "Pete & Jerry", Cashin. Lone Star and Coach Moss. When crews have won the right to attend the Henley Regatta in London, it has only been possible with the generous donations of parents and alumni to pay for a trip that will be remembered for a lifetime.
If you would like to be on our email list please email us at andovercrew@andovercrew.net.
Top 7 Reasons To Be A Crew Mom/Dad
1. Cooking lunch for the kids on the team is like cooking for a small village.
2. The people from the Child Abuse Prevention Center keep calling about the cuts and bruises on the backs of your child's legs.
3. Standing in the rain and mud on Saturdays in April is much better than relaxing at home.
4. What the hell is a unisuit?
5. Your kids haven't gone to bed this early since they were two years old.
6. You can personally keep Johnson & Johnson in business by buying Band-Aids, gauze, and Neosporin for all their blisters.
7. After all these years they finally eat everything on their plate.
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Spring Schedule
The Andover Crew 2010 Spring Race Schedule.
To live is to row, to row is to race, to race is to test the limits. Neira beckons.
A Call to Oars:
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To the full height. On, on, you noblest rowers.
Whose limbs were made in New England show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'Go for myself, my family and Andover Crew!'
(Mostly from Henry V Act 3 Scene 1)
- Apologies to Will Shakespeare.
Possible Andover Spring Racing Schedule 2010 (How many boats depends the other school) Date Day Team Opponent Site Time 10-Apr-2010 Sat Boys B1-B4 Kent Home Results 10-Apr-2010 Sat Girls G1-G4 Kent Home Results 17-Apr-2010 Sat Boys B1-B4 St. Johns,Simsbury,Exeter Away Results 17-Apr-2010 Sat Girls G1-G4 Simsbury,Exeter,NMH Away Results 21-April-2010 Wed Girls G3-G4 Groton Home 1.30 PM 24-Apr-2010 Sat Boys B1-B6 Salisbury & Brunswick Away Results 24-April-2010 Sat Girls No race scheduled - - 01-May-2010 Sat Boys B1-B5 St.Pauls,CRI Away Results 01-May-2010 Sat Girls G1-G5 St.Pauls,CRI Away Results 8-May-2010 Sat Boys B1-B6 Tabor-Exeter Home Results 8-May-2010 Sat Girls G1-G5 Tabor-Exeter Home Results 12-May-2010 Wed Boys B?-B? Belmont Home Moved to Sat. 15-May-2010 Sat Boys B1-B3 N.M.H. & Belmont Home Results 15-May-2010 Sat Girls G1-G3 N.M.H. & Belmont Home Results 22-May-2010 Sat Boys B1-B3 Interscholastics (NEIRA) Away Results 22-May-2010 Sat Girls G1-G3 Interscholastics (NEIRA) Away Results
The teams and supporters arrive a couple of hours earlier to setup for the races.
For pass year results: go to the drop down menu and select the year.
If you do not find the year you wanted, you can try finding the results on row2k.For Past Year's Results on row2k
GO BLUE!!
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Directions:
For direction to all of our racing venues click hereDirections to the boathouse (from Andover) for the Andover crew races.:
Directions to parking for the Andover Boathouse
Alternate NEIRA regatta directions to Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester
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Alumni Corner
New Alum Stories
A day at the office with big sister.
In recent times it has become popular to bring sons and daughter to work for a day. Well Olivia Coffey '07 had the opportunity to spend a day with her big sister Lt. Cmdr. Laurie Coffey '95. There is only room for two in her office but at least she isn't interupted by the phone. The "office" in questions is a US Navy F18. It is about the same length as a Vespoli V1 but it weighs a little more and you defintely do not want to be anywhere near the wake. We all sleep safe in our beds at night because of people such as Laurie Coffey exchange launching a racing shell off a dock on the Charles for launching an F18 off the deck of a carrier.
New Old Stuff: And now for a couple of pictures, one from 2007, another from around 1959 and three more from around 1983 taken from an out of print book about Andover.
Caroline Lind and the US boat with their Gold medals - Lucerne 2007
We think this is from 1959 with Coach Brown, Tom Pollock, Fritz Dulles, Renny Maier, Jerry Secundi, John Allen, John Bissel, Mike Drooker, Bill Anderson, David Stone and Ned Cabot (seated). Thanks to Simon Hyde, Paul Neshamkin, Mike Drooker, Will Taylor, Tom Pollock, Renny Maier and Sam Bach who sent in their best ideas for the names.
Girls crew circa 1983. Please email andovercrew@andovercrew.net if you know the names.
Boys circa 1983. I think the first time we won the Dent Oars. Our B1 brought them home this year too!
The boys crew on the water. 1: Eamon Roche, 2: Jebb (John?) Dogget, 3: Bruce Trask, 4: Max (Mason?) Drake, 5: Chris (Herman?), 6: Alex (Hugo?), 7: Pat Tipton, 8: Steve Hochman and Cox: Jeff Tuller. Thanks to Bruce Trask for his best memories of the names. Editor's guesses in ().Please email andovercrew@andovercrew.net if you know the rest.
From Lissy Abraham '74
Lissy wrote and asked why I only posted the 1974 boys' picture. I answered that we didn't care about the girls (only joking!) and besides they only merged in '74 and didn't do crew until '75. Oh no she said. Prove I said. And she did. Here is the 1974 girls from Lissy's yearbook. More to come from her 1973 yearbook showing girls infiltrated Crew before the merger!.
The first Official girls crew at Andover - Lissy on the RHS.
From Reuben Perin '89
The two photos labeled ‘B1 Class of 89’ and ‘Reading Winners’ were taken in England the week before Henley when we had won the Reading Town Regatta. The other photo, ‘Coach Row at Henley’, is unique because it is of our boat rowing the Henley course, but if you look closely you will see that the stroke seat is our beloved coach Peter Washburn. We rowed the course and even did a few pieces with Mr. Washburn after we were eliminated. He could at that point still put out a decent puddle and not crab in the process. Can’t wait to see everyone at the reunion.
Our B1 boat line-up was:
Bow: Eric Hawn, 2: Nick Lehman, 3: Peter Austin, 4: Ethan Ayer, 5: Cadir Lee, 6: Reuben Perin, 7: John McDougall, Stroke: Chris Schulten,Cox: Cristina Spencer (Olivetti)
Reading Winners
Coach Row at Henley
B1 Class of 89
Several people have expressed a nostalgic connection with the old boathouse that we had to abandon because of vandalism. We took a stroll along the river bank and found the building in remarkably good condition after 25 years. Here are some photographs
The Old Boathouse
The view from the Old Boathouse
The view from the Old Boathouse
For many more Alumni news and memory lane click here.
Who is the handsome young man leading the Andover crew at the 1983 Neira championships? Bob Moss suggested that it might be a young Tom Selleck (aka Magnum P.I.) but the first correct answer was from Ryan Marcelo. Of course this is a slightly younger Coach Washburn. This photo was sent in by Alec Hugo '83.
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Related links
A few links are "unavailable". We have not yet deleted them becasue we are trying to have them reinistated.
- Link to NEIRA 2010
- Erg Competition - Boston
- If you ever wonder why you need a good coxswain
- Rowing fun for those of you who hate stationary erg machines
- Pre-race speech by Canadian coach. Right click to "Save Target as" (Be warned, it includes swear words)
- Rowing songs, thanks to Twickenham Rowing Club
- What do rowers do during Spring Break? Train to be ready for Spring
- Useful page including training and food tips
- Animated rowing technique instruction - Source of gifs (unavailable)
- Rowing board game
- Test your knowledge on a crew quiz
- The School Page - New England Champions '59, '62, '64, '65, '77, '88, 89, '90, '91, '92, '93, '95, '00, '03, '07, '08, '09
- The boats we row - Vespoli V1 racing boat
- New discussion board that replaces Rowersworld
- Rowing results and lots more
- Henley Royal Regatta (Boys)
- Henley Women's Regatta (Girls)
- USA Youth National Championships
- Summer Rowing Camps
- Another list of Summer Rowing Camps
- Community Rowing a wonderful summer competitive rowing program in Boston
- NorthEast Rowing Center - Popular with Andover rowers and college coaches
- Eton College Summer Rowing camp - Across the pond but a world class coed program.
- New summer camp based at the University of Washington in Seattle. Home of the champions!
- Colleges - Places to study while you row
- Top Colleges in the world according to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- Top Colleges in the world according to the Times of London
- History of rowing site
- Curlew rowing - Home of the creator of the erg cartoon
- Leander rowing club - Club of the pink Hippo, Coach Washburn and Henley winners
- Crew 2004 (Credits : Michelle E '04)
- More Andover Crew photographs thanks to Gary Zegel
- More Crew 2004 (Credits : Kate I '05)
- Source of the Valentine pandas & penguins
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Anyone having trouble receiving twitter updates on your phone? If so, you should log in to your twitter account and click on "following". This will bring you to a screen showing who you are following. Under "Direct message" there is a selection for "Devices updates on off". Make sure the "on" button is selected. If "off" button is selected then you will not receive any updates on your phone.
Andover crew Hats - THE definitive fashion statement this Spring
We have re-ordered Andover Crew hats. Every rower and coach has received a free hat. Over 120 hats. Additional hats have been purchased for parents, friends and alumni of Andover Crew. These hats are available for a donation of $15 plus postage if required. Wear your hat when you visit the campus to show your support for the crew program. When we reach a 160 donations, we will have covered the cost of the hats for the rowers.
If you would like a hat please email andovercrew@andovercrew.net. We will email you donation instructions. The hats are lightweight with a built in sweat band.:
Andover Crew Hat - front
Andover Hat - back
Dark blue visor
Light blue visor
We also have a small quantity of dark blue and light blue visors for $10.
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