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Notes on navigating the website:
As an example: Move your mouse over the headings on the top blue line and a drop down menu will appear to show the selections available.
Under "Schedule" you will see the "Food Selection", move the mouse over it and left click to get to the food selection menu page.
Charter
To provide information and news for the Parents, Friends, and Alumni of Andover Crew.
Andover Crew Community
Some of us still use ink and paper while others use Blackberries and iPhones to communicate. You can participate with Andover crew via this web page and the links at the top of this page to our Guest book, our Facebook group, our Twitter feed and our LinkedIn group. You can also sign-up for our email newsletter by contacting us at andovercrew@andovercrew.net. We welcome participation, comments, suggestions and especially stories and pictures of Andover rowers young and old. We are happy to help people reconnect with old boatmates.
Our LinkedIn group is our latest addition. We hope our LinkedIn group will provide the opportunity for the Andover Crew family to provide support for our younger rowers as they move into the world. Our young men and women who have maintained good grades while spending 25 to 30 hours a week on competitive rowing at the countries top colleges have already proved that would be valuable additions to any organization that wants to be successful. Membership is only open to rowers, alumni and parents. Click on the picture to join the LinkedIn group..
News May 19th. 2013
Pictures from NMH May 18th
Pictures of races with NMH and Hingham Page 1
Pictures of races with NMH and Hingham Page 2
Pictures of races with NMH and Hingham Page 3
Pictures of races with NMH and Hingham Page 4
Pictures of races with NMH and Hingham Page 5Parents of B3 and G3 please take note.
Please be prepared to sign up and help at the food table on May 25th.
B3 and G3 will need food soon after their first race in the morning.
Parents who wants to stay for Lunch at the food table,
please email food@andovercrew.net, so we have a head count.
We have posted a link to the results in the schedule Click here to go to the table Schedule table
Racing Season
The racing season is HERE! Now it is parents turn to start the season. Please jump to
to sign up to support the food table and other volunteer race day functions. To sign up to bring food for the food table at the races please click on Food Menu and follow the instructions.This week is boys only race, we need all boys parents to participate and support the food table
Thanks to Lisa we have added more pictures of the races with Exeter, Tabor and Belmont.
Exeter, Tabor and Belmont Races Page 1 by Lisa.
Exeter, Tabor and Belmont Races Page 2 by Lisa.
Exeter, Tabor and Belmont Races Page 3 by Lisa.
Exeter, Tabor and Belmont Races Page 4 by Lisa.
Exeter, Tabor and Belmont Races Page 5 by Lisa.
A special appreciation goes to the coaches for laying out the new course, the stake boat kids who were really shaken and frozen in the stake boats and to Peter McKallagat P'00 &'03 who setup the new finish line on Friday and shivered for 3 hours on watch today.
Click here for Proposed Spring Schedule
Thanks also to all the parents and grandparents who woke up at dawn to support the team and provide hot food. We hope to see even more of you at every race as we move through the season.
Click here for race results posted for Lawrence-Essex race girls and here for boys.
Old News
We had a fantastic 2012 with the boys' team sweeping the New England Championships and the completion of the new boathouse. The coming spring will be our first season racing from the new boathouse on our new race course. The boathouse will make it more comfortable than before but we will still have to contend with the New England weather.
The new course will start well above the island and finish just past the boathouse. This course will be a straight run a little over 1500 m because the water will be fast. We hope to have stake boats to make for a more consistent and reliable start. We will have buoys so that the boats do not follow the river bank as it peels off from straight course.
We have just completed our annual scrub of our links list. Here you will find links to all things rowing from spring training tips to rowing gossip. If you are interested in a rowing summer camp now is the time to sign up. The good ones are full by the end of the month. There is also a link to a list of all the colleges that have rowing programs and websites that offer advice on winter training. Feel free to send suggestions for new links. Click here for Rowing Links - Including tips for spring training.
We have also added a list of links to Andover Crew videos on YouTube. Click here for the YouTube links
Pictures of winter at the Boathouse and spring Erg training at school.
The frozen river beyond the Tang Rock
The boathouse in the setting Winter sunFor more pictures click link below
Winter at the boathouse
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St. Paul's '13 races
For pictures from the St.Paul's Day click link below Thanks to Trant family we have added more pictures of the races with St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School at
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 1.
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 2.
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 3.Thanks to Lisa we have added more pictures of the races with St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School at
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 1 by Lisa.
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 2 by Lisa.
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 3 by Lisa.
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 4 by Lisa.
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 5 by Lisa.
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 6 by Lisa.
St. Paul's, CRI and Brooks School Races Page 7 by Lisa.
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Salisbury '13 races
Amelia, a girls’ coxswain did duty as dock master.
Usually a thankless task but essential to the smooth running of the races.
For the safety of all, the dock master has to help land the boats and keep supporters off the dock.
Our thanks also to Richard Kennelly who was responsible for updating our race board with the results and times.
In future weeks we will also need a volunteer to tweet the results for remote parents.
We also had live commentary from Coaches Washburn and Hurley with a sound system setup by Coach Hurley.Andover and BC High fielded 7 boats while Salisbury brought along 4 boats. We started with the B7 race. The conditions were bright sunshine, flat water with a varying but very light wind. Ideal conditions. The B7 boats ran a clean tidy race staying together but Andover won by 5.5 seconds or a little of 1.5 boat lengths. These boats have some rowers who are new to the sport this spring. This was followed by the B6 race including a Salisbury boat to make it a 3 lane race. Andover again made the pace followed by BC High with open water back to Simsbury. The pattern continued with the B5 and B4 races with Andover getting the better of BC High boats that rowed very well. We should say at this point that there have been some changes in the boat lineups as coaches try to find combinations of rowers to make fast boats. The difference in the times of the boats indicate that the selections are generally good. The next race was B2. Until this race B2 was our best looking boat. This week B2 started out well but in the middle 500 m struggled to get the ratings up with smooth rowing. The BC High boat look very good and the Salisbury boat was very aggressive. This made for a very competitive race with BC High winning by over a boat length and Andover taking second place by half a boat length. Watching this race we knew our B1 would be in for a tough race especially with BC High. Our B1 boat was hungry for their first victory of the season. BC High badly wanted to win at Andover. The three boats took off with gusto and the race became as tight battle between BC High and Andover. As they drove to the finish line it was touch and go as to who would stretch out in the final 15 strokes. At the line after driving hard for almost 5 minutes it was Andover by 0.5 seconds or a deck and a couple of seats. It was an exciting and in the end a happy race. The last race was B3 who again pushed ahead and sealed the day for Andover with open water over BC High and Salisbury. It was a great day of racing with our old friends from Salisbury and our new friends from BC High. The BC High program with their depth and young aggressive coaching staff look set to become a powerhouse of league.
We have uploaded some pictures from Salisbury.
Thanks to Lisa we have added more pictures of the races at
We have added pictures of the races WITH Salisbury & BC High at
Salisbury & BC High Races Page 1.
Salisbury & BC High Races Page 2.
Salisbury & BC High Races Page 3.
Salisbury & BC High Races Page 4.
Salisbury & BC High Races Page 1 by Lisa.
Salisbury & BC High Races Page 2 by Lisa.
Salisbury & BC High Races Page 3 by Lisa.
Salisbury & BC High Races Page 4 by Lisa.
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Andover Exeter Invitational at Lake Quinsigamond '12
The weather started out cold and gray but improved as the day went on. The wind started off as a strong westerly across the course that played havoc with the floating starts. The coaches did their best but Mother Nature was not going to be tamed. The coxswains were severely strained trying to stay aligned for the start and pointing to the finish. Being off point will cost more seats than being off the start line.
All of our boats did very well in difficult circumstances, some of them exceptional well. B1 suffered from an very good start by Exeter and G1 suffered an overhead crab. An overhead crab will almost stop a boat but G1 recovered well and finished fourth. Without the crab they would have finished at least second. Overhead crabs happen to the best of rowers. The measure of a good boat is how fast they recover.
Well done everyone.
We have added pictures of the races at
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 1.
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 2.
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 3.
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 4.
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 5.Plus these pictures by Lisa A.
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 1 by Lisa.
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 2 by Lisa.
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 3 by Lisa.
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 4 by Lisa.Plus these pictures by David H.
Lake Quinsigamond Races Page 1 by David.
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Kent '13 races
We have posted pictures of the Kent races
Plus these pictures by Lisa A.
Kent Races Page 1.
Kent Races Page 2.
Kent Races Page 3.
Kent Races Page 1 by Lisa.
Kent Races Page 2 by Lisa.
Kent Races Page 3 by Lisa.
Kent Races Page 4 by Lisa.
Kent Races Page 5 by Lisa.
Kent Races Page 6 by Lisa.
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Racing April 6th Essex 2013
We woke up to the sun streaming in through the window to invite us all out on the water. Sadly it was a little bit of a trick. Yes the sun was shining but the wind was also doing a live demonstration of freeze drying. It was COLD!
The races today were the very first competitive race at the new boathouse. We have enjoyed the added comfort of the new facilities. Ninety five percent of the time the river by the new boathouse is better sheltered than the old race course. The wind and the mighty Merrimack conspired today to remind us that no matter what we do to have a soft life, nature decides the outcome.
The wind came in from a very unusual direction and combined with the current of the Merrimack to create giant white caps on the early part of the course. We had no option but to shorten the racecourse and start further down river for the earlier races. The freezing wind combined with the splashing spray to freeze our rowers a pale tint of blue. The rough weather also deposited a good quantity of freezing water in the boats that showered down on the rowers as they lifted the boats overhead.Our G1 raced in the first competition of the day with the worst conditions. They struggled in the early rough water but looked clean and steady as they came past the island. Essex had an exceptional G1 that handled the rough conditions a little better and manage to win the race. Our girls looked good and should do better as we move through the season.
Our G2 and G3 boats did even better. The student population comes from across the world to their adopted home of New England. After a few short terms they become New England Andover rowers. Today G2 fought the weather like true New Englanders and beat it down to win by open water over Greater Lawrence with Essex taking third.
Our G3 followed the same hardy example and pushed through to finish 10 seconds over Greater Lawrence and Essex.
Our first boys race was the B3A and B3B racing with Essex. These boats rowed with great composure in the difficult water and wind. At one point it seemed as though the wind moved B3A sideways while still keeping it pointing towards the finish. Both boats finished within a length of each other and with open water over Essex.
Our B2 followed with a confident race taking several lengths of open water over Essex followed by Greater Lawrence. The B4A and B4B had slightly calmer water than the earlier boats. The B4A won with open water over Essex followed by B4B.
The grand finale of the first race day was the B1 competition over the full course length of slightly more than 1500 m. Again the start was in rough water that at times made boats appear as though they were stationary. The wing riggers could not stop the white caps breaking over the gunnels. B1 stayed focused and drove for the finish line to win by over 7 seconds over Essex followed by Greater Lawrence.A special appreciation goes to the coaches for laying out the new course, the stake boat kids who were really shaken and frozen in the stake boats and to Peter McKallagat P'00 &'03 who setup the new finish line on Friday and shivered for 3 hours on watch today.
Thanks also to all the parents and grandparents who woke up at dawn to support the team and provide hot food. We hope to see even more of you at every race as we move through the season.
Click here for race results posted for girls and here for boys.
Pictures of our first Race against Essex and Greater Lawrence boat clubs.
The cold stretch
Pushing offFor more Essex and Lawrence pictures click here
Enjoy!
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Spring Crew
We have added pictures from pre-season rowing at
Page 1
Page 2.
Page 3
Page 4.
We hitched rides with the coaches and could only take pictures of the boats that came within shooting distance. We tried not to interfere with the practice. We owe a thank you to the coaches for giving up their Easter weekend to start the program early. The weather has been kind and river has been smooth. Also a big thank you to the Santoro family for catering Saturday dinner at the boathouse, something we could not have done at our old home.
Welcome to spring racing with Andover Crew. The early weeks of spring are a bit of a scramble as coaches struggle to assemble groups of 4 ports, 4 starboards and a coxswain into a racing machines. Fall is for fun, spring is all about speed.
A high school race is 1500 meters of continuous full blown exertion. Boats go fast when they have rhythm. That rhythm is sometimes elusive. You have to have the correct blend of eight balanced rowers. It takes great physical and mental strength to pour out every last drop of energy in search of the win.
Please remember that your rowers may be in different boats from week to week. Please ask them on Friday if they have been selected to race.
The rowers will only nibble on pre-race food before the race so they will be famished by the time they return to our boathouse. Our job as parents is to provide food as soon as they come off the water to replenish the energy lost in the race. Most parents live very far away and cannot come to the races every week although every year we have people who travel half way around the world to support our boats. We need every local parent to support our races. The boats go faster if there is a crowd yelling GO BLUE! So come on down!
It is wonderful if you volunteer to help but much more important is that you are there to support your favorite rower.
See you by the river!Rowing is a team sport. There is no concept of MVP. It is all about the boat and the greater team. The top G1 and B1 boats are made faster by all the rowers below pushing them to justify their places in the top boats. When any boat captures gold at Interschols they are representing the whole team.
Coaches start out with their best guess at boat groupings. They observe the melding of the crew. They make changes to improve the speed. Eventually they may “seat race” the last couple of places in a boat. This means swapping rowers in and out of the boat to see who can make the difference. Spring racing is serious, there is no room for personal preference. Only boat speed matters.The same philosophy applies to coxswains although it is a little more difficult for the casual observer to see and understand. The first requirement of a coxswain is boat safety. The first racing requirement is to steer well in all circumstances. This is not as simple as it sounds. A 60 ft shallow draught boat is wobbled by unbalanced rowers, pulled off course by currents and blown off course by winds. A long thin boat reacts slowly to steering corrections. A good coxswain looks ahead to sense currents and winds to ensure the best true line to the finish. There is always a race plan but the opposition sometimes has other ideas so a good coxswain has to modify the race plan on the fly. So in one of these serious spring races, the coxswain is steering, calling the rowing rate, watching for changes ahead, telling the boat their position in the race and trying to urge them on with calls that connect with their deep down inner strength. There needs to be a bond of trust between the rowers and the coxswain. All of our Andover coxswains are brilliant. On the water only the coach and crew can tell which coxswain fits best with each boat.
As we work through the spring the top boats are usually stable but the lower boats are changed around from week to week as rowing skills improve. Coxswains in the lower boats are also swapped around to try and share the racing experience. The goal of the season is to create top boats that win medals at Interschols and beyond and lower boats that acquire the racing skills to move up in the coming years.
The kids work very, very hard every day on the Merrimack in rain, hail and even snow. Hours of freezing cold, painful muscles and nasty looking hand blisters. All for a race that last about 6 minutes. That is 6 minutes of extreme effort and pain with glory or failure at the end.
So what can parents do? Provide support and encouragement. Share your amazement at their efforts and if you live within traveling distance you can come to the races to yell “Go Blue!” Everyone is very welcome at all the races. The rowers might not always express it very well but they really do appreciate supporters on the river bank. Of course we guarantee bright sunshine for every race.
Races at home and away are almost full day events. The rowers have to eat very carefully before the races and are always ravenous afterwards. The parents organize a food table for the rowers so that each boat can eat as soon as they have stowed their racing shell after the race. We need a group of volunteers to organize and run the food tables at the races. We will post a menu before each race and look for parents to sign up to bring the food. We have about 7 major races plus Interschols. Four of these are home races. We will need a pair of volunteers each week to be responsible for running the food table. Hopefully we will have enough volunteers to spread this load. If you are willing and able to help organize and run the tables please email Andovercrew@andovercrew.net. We have a number of other volunteer tasks such as finish line judge, tweeting results and taking photographs that will need to be filled.
The racing season is HERE! On Saturday April 6th we will open our season with a race against the local Essex rowing club. Now it is parents turn to start the season. Please jump to
to sign up to support the food table and other volunteer race day functions. We can assure you that every race day will be bright sunshine and 70 degrees. After all this is April 1st.
Early Spring Crew
The boys are preparing for racing season under the watchful eye of Coach Washburn.
For more pictures from erg training click link below
Pre-Season erging.
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Fall Crew
Our heartfelt thanks to all who supported the rowing teams and the boathouse project.
The 2012 year was very successful for Andover Crew. Our boys swept the New England Championships and we completed our new boathouse in honor of Coach Brown, the founder of the program. We are well positioned to expand the program and the events we host at our home course. We hope to see many more parents and alumni at the boathouse during the spring racing season.Oscar Tang is a product of Andover who returned to lead the school with great wisdom to become even better than most thought possible. His "youth from every quarter" mantra ensures that every place is filled with the best possible student. Our lives are enriched because Oscar has touched us all through his involvement with Phillips Academy. Best of all he is an Andover Crew rower. Thank you Oscar Tang.
Click here for Oscar Tang '56: An Andover Life
For Parents' day we had the picture perfect New England fall day. Calm water, crisp sunshine and a bunch of happy kids showing off their new abilities to the audience. All the boats looked sharp and ready for the racing spring. The benefits of our new home were on show for everyone. The spacious functional boats bays and the common room oozing the tradition of Andover crew with the team pictures from 1955 onwards and the coffee tables and bookcases made from an old wooden shell.
From the new super stable dock we could see the full length of the race course as the boats of mixed ability lined up across the river and raced past the dock to give us a little taste of spring racing.
Rowing at Andover is unlike any other sport. In other sports the students are divided into the different levels and students are "cut" from the program. They usually train with only their team. With crew all the "teams" or boats of boys and girls and differing levels leave the school together after class and travel to the distant boathouse. They return like a hungry nomadic tribe towards the end of commons. They speak with strange tongues and their handshake is unmistakable with strong calloused hands.
There are no MVPs in rowing eights. It takes eight rowers and a coxwain to move a boat. You start the race together in the boat. You can’t row faster than everyone else. You finish the race together. You win only if everyone gives their very best. The rhythm of the eight is more important than any rower. Success or failure is shared equally. If you want to be an individual superstar find another sport.
By Parents' Weekend some students have decided that rowing is not for them. Others have been infected with the passion that will propel them to continually strive for the excellence that captures New England Championships. There is only one crew team. The lower boats push the higher boats to do better. The boys and girls feed off each other’s competitive spirit. A victory or loss for any boat is a victory or loss for everyone.
As parents we obviously support our favorite rower but we support the whole team.
In the fall parents have the opportunity to see the sport during Parents' Weekend. In the spring everyone is welcome at the Saturday races and parents have important responsibilities. Parents come to the Saturday races to cheer the boats to the finish line and feed the hungry rowers to recover after the races. With over a 100 students and 12 or more races, a spring race day is a big event. We will need volunteers to take pictures, update the scoreboard, judge the finish line and of course prepare and serve the food. We race in every type of weather except lightning and in New England we usually have every type of weather. So if your favorite new rower has been infected with the passion, plan for crew races this coming spring.
Hands of a girl spring rower
Parents' Weekend at the new William Brown boathouseFor more pictures click link below
Parents' Weekend pictures 1Andover crew is on the Merrimack again with a fresh bunch of newbies. Unsuspecting boys and girls, some whom have never been on a river and most of whom have never been in a shell. Spending afternoons gently paddling on the river may have seemed like a soft alternative to a real sport. Little did they know!
When they watched the older kids, it looked so easy. How come their boat rocks from side to side, wiggles through the water and splashes in every direction? How can eight very smart people be so uncoordinated? How come the boat moves so slowly?
What little do they know? How quickly will they be molded into shape. Some will find it difficult and drift off to lesser sports. The best will learn the passion for the hard smooth rhythm that drives the boat through the water like a shark.
And the poor newbie coxswains. Rowers that pull the boat to one side, the wind that moves the point and the river that never stops stealing the boat. And just when you think you are getting the feeling of the boat, you have to land at the dock. Once again the rowers, the wind and most of all the river seem to conspire to make you look silly. You spend the last 3 minutes of practice wishing you were on the shore but if you are to be a real coxswain, after an hour ashore you will be longing for the river again.
In the spring I envy the coaches their jobs. Hard working crews determined to gain that extra inch of speed. But Fall crew, where blade position seems guided more be the Heisenberg uncertainty principle...well in the Fall I envy their determination and confidence.
By Parents' Weekend the coaches will have transformed chaos to harmony. They will have overcome the fundamental law of the universe to increase entropy. They will have harnessed the enthusiastic drive of the students and calmed it all into smoothly driving the shell through the water. The students will have learnt that they have to strive for the physical strength of Hercules, the grace of Pavlova or Nijinsky (the dancer or the horse) and the mind focus of Buddha. Every little step forward on the path will make them better rowers and better people.
Some rowers will take the Fall experience and move on to other sports. Others will have been infected with the passion and will never shake the river from their hearts.
Crew takes a major commitment from the students in effort and time. They disappear from school in the afternoon and return when most have finished dinner in commons. It is as though they have joined a secret tribe. If you are a new parent you will have found your child talking a new language of port, starboard and crabs. Have no fear, It is not a new version of tweet talk or a new video game but the strange terminology of crew. There is a translation available at Crew Speak
.
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Boathouse News - September 23rd. Dedication Day
The dedication will be on September 23rd. Everyone is welcome to celebrate the opening and house warming of the new boathouse.
We will start the day with an early morning row at 6.30am followed by the dedication at 9 am and a light breakfast. The boathouse will remain open for anyone who wants to row after the dedication or just hang around and feel the spirit of the new home for Andover Crew. Please sign in at this link to make sure we have the correct numbers for breakfast.
Dedication Sign-inThe boathouse is almost complete. Only a few last details remain to be done. The new docks are in. They are everything you would wish for in a set of docks. The only problem is that the rookie coxswains will need to be even more careful not to crash into these docks. The will not be gentle on a boat.
We have added new pictures of the boathouse construction to the boathouse page.
The boat bay is clean and the racks are assembled. The cox box storage area is the best I have seen in many a boathouse. We will have plenty of space to store the launches in the winter and during the season this space makes for very easy access to the boat racks.
What will appear as a complete luxury to the alumni are the addition of changing rooms for visitors and the great and toilets for ourselves. The boathouse has also given us a place to display our history. One wall will have team pictures from all the years. We still need originals of a few years. Another wall will honor team members for their achievements or sacrifices on our behalf.
A fun addition to the furniture are two coffee tables made from sections of a wooden racing boat and two bookshelves made from the stern and the bow.
Here is the link to the Boathouse page
A HUGE thank you to the Andover Crew family of Alumni, past parents and present parents. We started out 2011 with approval for a boathouse project. The goal of raising $6.5 million in the prevailing economic climate seemed daunting. Oscar Tang took the lead in the campaign assisted by the fund raising staff of the school and a group of volunteers. The campaign included mailed information, emails, phone calls and personal visits.
The building season in New England is spring to fall. The building program is projected to take 6 months. We needed to have most of the 6.5 million in hand to start the project. Thanks to the fund raising efforts and the generosity of the Andover Crew family we have raised $5.5 million in time for the school to agree to allow the program to go ahead in the spring.
We still need to reach the final goal of $6.5 million for completion. If you need help or assistance in making a donation please contact Ann Harris at 978-749-4312 and aharris@andover.edu or Sam Darby at 978-975-4152 and andovercrew@andovercrew.net. There are still some naming opportunities.There are three major parts of the project. The building, the site and the docks. The building has operated as a truck dealership. The shell will be stripped down, cleaned and refurbished to house a workshop, boat bays, coach facilities, changing rooms for visiting crews and a large multi-function room that could host an erg practice or training course or an alumni dinner. The site is in sad shape and needs extensive work including re-creation of wetlands, re-grading and tarmac. Last but not least we have to build docks out into the Merrimack to launch our racing boats.
We hope to have all this completed by the fall. If all of our gods smile on us we should be able to throw a party in late September to officially open the boathouse. Mark your calendars now! The boathouse will be a utilitarian racing facility but we want to wrap it in the rowing tradition of Andover. The great room seems to be the best place to do this. We might have team pictures, oars from great races or audio of coxswains’ calls. All suggestions welcome!
It has been a long 5 years since the idea of a new boathouse was first broached. When Coach Brown was asked for his advice he said "just start the program and don't worry about when it will finish". We are sad that we lost him before we managed to finish but it will be a fitting home for his active positive spirit that is embodied in Andover Crew.
Below are some pictures of the early work. Please go to the Boathouse page for more recent updates.
March 10th, 2012: The contractor has started to prepare the river bank for the installation of the new docks. This inlcuded removing some trees for access the docks. We have added a few more pictures:
Clearing access to the Merrimack
Making ready for the new docksMarch 3rd: The dream is real. Work has started on the new site. The site has been fenced. All the surface garbage has been removed. The inside has been cleared to a bare empty sad metal shell. More pictures of this phase are posted on Boathouse Phase 1a
Dozer and digger ready to start
Inside has been gutted to an empty shellSept : The dream is fulfilled. The new boat house is completed.
New Boat House
New Boat House
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Alumni News
Reunion Weekend events:
We had a good group on a walking tour of the boathouse. It is progressing well. The concrete footings for the dock ramps are in place. These will support ramps with much better stability and lower access angle than is possible at our current home. Inside the building the studs are being erected for all the walls. In about another two weeks it will start to transform from an empty truck service bay to a utilitarian boathouse combining Andover efficiency with 55 years of rowing tradition.
On the Saturday morning while most alumni were still fast asleep a band of intrepid crew alumni gathered at the edge of the mighty Merrimack. We had reunion rowers from '57 to '07 and one '10 who helped to complete our full boats.
The weather was perfect and the water as gentle. After a few wobbly maneuvers the boats settled into an Andover rhythm and by the end of the day were almost race ready. The returning boats were all smiles despite an excess of perspiration and newly acquired blisters.
For pictures click link below
Alumni Weekend pictures 1
Alumni Weekend pictures 2We have now posted all the rowing pictures from all the Yearbooks we managed to find. Thanks to Ann Harris for arranging the scanning. We have now posted all the yearbooks tohttp://www.andovercrew.com/YearBook/indexYearBooks.html . Enjoy! We are still missing Yearbooks for the following years 1958, 1959, 1984,1985, 1991 and 2004.
More Alum Stories
Here are some yearbook pictures. Please see if you can guess the year and name any of the people. These are also posted on Facebook. You can email your answers to andovercrew@andovercrew.net or post them in the guest book. See the "guestbook" icon on the top of this page.
1960s?
1970s?
Year?
Year?
Early 1980s?
Year?For more alumni stories click here Alumi Corner
Year Books Andover Crew
We have started digging into the history of Andover Crew again.
Here are some old pictures from Henley:
Henley boat
Three of the boat are here
1959 - First Andover trip to Henley
1959 Andover vs Thames Rowing Club1959 Boat: Bow-Bill Taylor, 2-Chris Miller, 3-Jack Allen, 4-Renny Maier, 5-Dick Masland, 6-Art Burnham, 7-Bill Sanford, stroke-Maynard Toll (Captain), cox-Patrick Cary-Barnard. (Thanks to Bill Sanford)
We have also started a web page for the rowing entries in the Year Books from 1956 when Coach Brown founded Andover Crew. Below is the first entry from 1956. We have now posted all we have on Year Books Andover Crew
We are still missing Year Books for the following years 1958, 1959, 1984,1985, 1991and 2004. If you have a Yearbook for any of these years and are willing to scan it or send it to us to scan please email us at andovercrew@andovercrew.net.
1956 Year Book
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- All you didn't want to know about crew
- Training & Fun
- How parents help the passion
- Spring Schedule, Results and Directions
- Rowing links - Including tips for spring training.
- Henley '06
- Alumni Page - Andover Crew, the last 54 years
- Alumni News
- Rowing Stories '12
- Rowing Stories '11
- Rowing Stories '10
- Rowing Stories '09
- Rowing Stories '08
- Rowing Stories '07
- Rowing Stories '06
- Rowing Stories '05
- Parent Help Sign Up
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If your are a rower, please take the time to show your parents how to access this page.
You can also nagivate using the drop down menu on the top of the screen under the purple line.
There are also nagivation buttons at the end of the 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 appreciate 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:
Boys' Head Coach: Pete Washburn
Spring Crew:
Girls' Head Coach: Joe Bouscaren
Boys: Coach Peter Washburn, Coach Dale Hurley and Coach James (Jigger) Herman
Girls: Coach Joe Bouscaren, Coach Jen Bauer, Coach Noah Warren
Girls' Team Captain '13: TBD
Boys' Team Captain '13: Henry Kennelly '13O 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.
Apart from the school website, this website is the primary source for information. For more interactive and immediate news we have a Facebook group "Friends of Andover Crew". For real time race results we use a twitter account called "andovecrew". We have also started a Linkedin group called "Andover Crew". Membership of these groups is open to Parents, Friends and Alumni of Andover Crew.
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. In recent years we have added a number of new boats for the girls. This past spring we added new boats to the boys program thanks to very generous donations from parents of both boys and girls. Over the winter we had 4 new erg machines donated. All this while we have been raising money for a new boathouse.
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
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.If all this exertion is too much for you and you would rather some very light training , then 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 new found 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 120 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 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 our race If your child has any special food requirements or preferences please have them inform us before the races and email andovercrew@andovercrew.net
To make every race a fun filled success we need loads of help from parent volunteers. Parents can bring food, organize the food table, take pictures, send twitter results and even write up rce day reports for the website. Every little bit of help makes the boats go faster.
Click here for the sign up sheet.Parent Volunteer Sign UpThe 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
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.
The number of boats depends the other schools. We hope to add additional races for the lower boats.
Proposed Andover Spring Racing Schedule 2013 (Times/boats may change) Date Day Team Opponent Site Time/Results 06-Apr-2013 Sat Boys B1-B4 Essex & Lawrence Home Results 06-Apr-2013 Sat Girls G1-G3 Essex & Lawrence Home Results 13-Apr-2013 Sat Boys B1-B5 Kent Away Results 13-Apr-2013 Sat Girls G1-G4 Kent Away Results 20-Apr-2013 Sat Boys B1-B5 St. John's,Simsbury,Exeter Away Results 20-Apr-2013 Sat Girls G1-G4 Simsbury,Exeter Away Results 27-Apr-2013 Sat Boys B1-B7 Salisbury & BC High Home Results 27-Apr-2013 Sat Girls None Free Weekend Home None 4-May-2013 Sat Boys B1-B7 St. Paul's & CRI Home Results 4-May-2013 Sat Girls G1-G5 St. Paul's & CRI Home Results 11-May-2013 Sat Boys B1-B7 Tabor-Exeter Home Results 11-May-2013 Sat Girls G1-G5 Tabor-Exeter Home Results 18-May-2013 Sat Boys B1-B7 N.M.H. & Hingham Away 1 pm 18-May-2010 Sat Girls G1-G5 N.M.H. & Hingham Away 1 pm 25-May-2010 Sat Boys B1-B3 Interscholastics (NEIRA) Away 8 am 25-May-2010 Sat Girls G1-G3 Interscholastics (NEIRA) Away 8 am For past years' results go to Row2k results and enter the year.
The times listed are approximate times for the first racing boat to go on the water. The teams and supporters arrive about an hour earlier to setup for the races.
GO BLUE!!
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Directions:
For direction to all of our regular season away racing venues click here
Following are the directions to the William Brown boathouse:
- Take I-93 North or South to Exit 46 (Route 110/Route 113 toward Lawrence/Dracut)
- Take the Lowell Street/Route 110 exit out of the traffic circle (it is the third exit if coming from I-93 north; it is the first exit if coming from I-93 south)
- Drive straight through the first light and continue on for 1.3 miles
- The boathouse is located on the left
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Related links
We believe all of the links are working again. Please leave a message in the guest book if you have any problems with the links or if you have a favorite link that you would like us to add to our list.
- Link to NEIRA 2013
- 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. It takes a while to load. 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 technical tips
- Animated rowing technique instruction - Source of gifs
- 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, '10, '11, '12
- The boats we row - Vespoli V1 racing boat
- Rowing Illustrated - Discussion board
- Row2k - Rowing results and lots more
- Rowing News - The magazine for rowing
- Henley Royal Regatta (Boys)
- Race for Doggett’s Coat & Badge - Racing boats since 1715
- 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.
- 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)
- Source of the Valentine pandas & penguins
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AndoverCrew on YouTube
This is a list of Andovercrew videos on YouTube by various contribitors in no special order.Oscar Tang: Andover Life
Abingdon-Andover Genley06
Ian Sigal -- Work Ethic
Ian Sigal -- Team Mates
Ian Sigal -- Goals
2011 NEIRA B1 Final
2011 NERIA G1 Final
2011 NERIA B3 Final
2011 National Championships
2011 National
2011 NEIRA G2 heat
2011 NEIRA B2
2011 NERIA G1 heat
2011 NEIRA G2 Final
2011 NEIRA B1 Heat
2011 NEIRA B2 Final
2010 NERIA Trophy presentation
2010 Interschols Luc goes swimming
2010 Interschols Girls G1
2007 Henley Women's Regatta
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Andover crew Hats - THE definitive fashion statement this Spring
We have re-ordered Andover Crew hats. Every rower and coach will a free hat before Grandparents' Weekend. Over 130 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 150 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
We also have a small quantity of dark blue and light blue visors for $10.
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