| Andover Crew 2006 |
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Charter
To provide information and news for the Parents, Friends, and Alumni of Andover Crew.
Email andovercrew@andovercrew.net to be added to the list for our email newsletters.
News from the Summer:
Livy Coffey and Karl Hirt were invited to selection camp for the Junior National Team. Karl rowed for the Junior National Team at Junior World championships at Dornay Lake in the UK. Tori Brophey rowed in the girls National Development Junior B eight that won gold at the U.S. Rowing National Championship Regatta in Indianapolis. Tori was also featured in a Lowell Sun article.
On a sad note, Bob Clark '56 past away while we were at Henley. Although seriously ill, Bob attended his class reunion in early June. He was one of Coach Brown's early rowers. He wore his Andover Crew hat with pride at the reunion and supported our trip to Henley.The exploits of the Phillips Academy B1 boat were widely reported in British and Boston newspapers. This coverage included a full page of the NorthWest section of the Boston Globe was dedicated to an article on the teams trip to Reading and Henley and another article on Coach Washburn and his election to the Leander club. They printed our photographs of the Reading presentation and the boat in action on the River Thames. We also had an article and photographs in the Andover Townsman, the local paper for the school. There will be another article in the Town Crossings, a local newspaper, in the coming week.
Our B1 traveled to the UK to compete at the Henley Royal Regatta. They won the Reading Regatta and were semifinalists in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley. This combined with every girls' and boys' boat taking medals at Interschols made it a most successful season. We also celebrated 50 years of Crew at Andover and honored Coach Brown, the founder of the passion. The students were excited to see Alumni boats with rowers from '56 onwards joining them on the Merrimack in the worst of conditions. They had heard stories of crew being something that stays with you for a lifetime, the celebration was living proof.
Fall Instructional Crew '06
Watch out for the current
It is crowded around here
Insructional Crew '06, click here
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Parents Weekend '06
October 27th: Parent's Day: God must be a rower. How else can we explain the glorious day for Parents' day by the river and the lashing rain for the rest of the weekend. We had a great crowd at the boathouse. Some experienced and relaxed, others new and at least slightly anxious as they watched their precious one row off onto the mighty Merrimack. The kids, trying to look cool and showing off at the same time. Trying to pretend to ignore their parents while stealing glances to be sure they are watching. Everyone had fun.
Crew is not for the half hearted. In soccer you can try to slink off to the side, never call for a pass or always pass the ball on as soon as you have it. Once in the crew boat, you are it until you reach the dock again.
Most sports do just as well whether parents join in or not. Not so with crew. Crew needs supporters - parents, friends and alumni.
Everything from buying equipment to bringing food to the spring races. The coaches and kids make Crew a great sport at Andover, our job, as supporters, is to make their lives easier. The coaches have to drive the buses, maintain the equipment and care for the kids. You could not coach crew unless you loved it.
Crew was founded by Coach Brown in the 1950s with lukewarm support from the school. Castoff boats from Harvard, Princeton and Yale started the program. Parents, friends and alumni have kept it going. You may have seen the plaques on the boathouse and the names on the boats - evidence of the support over the years. If we have two new boats every year, then B6 and G6 are rowing 6 year old boats.
These past two years supporters have donated one boat each for the girls and boys, supported the trip to Henley, almost doubled the dock size. This winter we hope to have two more boats under construction. We hope the boys or girls or both do well enough to warrant a post season competition at Henley or the US Nationals. Each item seems to cost a little over $30k. That is the price of a boat, the cost of new dock and a team trip to Henley. Financial support is unpredictable. We have had good years and not so good years. This past spring three rowing alumni started an endowment in honor of Coach Brown. The goal is to gradually raise money for an endowment to smooth out the ebb and flow of financial support.
The program needs our help in other ways. In the spring the kids have to be careful what they eat before races and have to urgently replenish nourishment after their races. As parents we support both the home and away races with a food table. Volunteer parents bring food and man the table. Some local families also host team dinners on the Fridays before races. We will also be looking for volunteers to take photographs, write for the website and produce newsletters. One lonely person gets to hold the flag at the finish line. If you can't physically make it to the races, you can send money to buy food.
Last but by far the most important support you can provide is to come down to the river and yell "GO BLUE" with all the force and passion your lungs can stand. Race days are a full day event. We race in all weathers except lightning. The passion is contagious. We all have one thing in common, a kid crazy enough to compete in a sport where there is no room for individual achievement. It is truly one for all and all for one. Absolutely everyone is welcome. Mark your Saturdays booked for April and May. Come down to the river.
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Interschol '06
The season has come to an end, but what a glorious end. Our G4, B4, G5 & B5 crews raced very well during the season and our G3, B3, G2, B2, G1 and B1 surpassed themselves at Interschols. I think it is the first year, ever, that every team has won a medal.
We had a fantastic crowd of parents and alumni at Interschols. We had people from Alaska, California, Texas and many other distant places. We had a huge crowd cheering our boats to the finish line.
All of our boats won places in the finals and finished well with G3 – Silver, B3 – Bronze, G2 – Gold, B2 – Bronze, G1 - Silver and B1 - Silver. The G2 girls were awarded the Converse Prudden cup for their first place. We have a photograph on the web.Everyone had practiced hard to be ready for Interschols. The lower boats were first to race in the morning. Unfortunately one of the buses broke down on I-290 and everyone had to be ferried by Coach Washburn in the rally wagon, some passing parents and the last few in a state police car. G3 made it to the water with only, literally, two minutes to spare. Despite the rush they won their heat by almost 5 seconds. Every team made it though the heats. We used a local hotel to rest the teams between heats and the Grand finals. Our parents and alumni ran an awesome food table and were voted the unofficial food table winners by the ground staff who returned several times to confirm their judgment.
G1 and B1 had hoped to earn the right to race in the post season at Henley. They raced well but both came away with very respectable silver medals. B1 ran a hard race and took the lead going for the finish. The big Kent boat came back strong. Andover responded and edged ahead and in the last 50 meters the boats were equal. Each one gaining the lead with their stroke and losing when the other boat pulled. The winner was decided by where the line landed in the cycle of sew-saw leadership. The line judge could not call the result. The judges had to review the photo finish. It took a long, long 7 minutes to decide but in the end the decision was given to Kent. B1 had given it their all but Kent had the edge as they crossed the line. They thought their hopes of Henley were dashed.
However, the British, in their sense of fairness, have defined a schoolboy as someone attending a high school and under 19 years old. The Kent Interschols team had several PGs north the age limit and are therefore not eligible for the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. Our team is also fast, finishing at 4:21.31 and would certainly do us proud on the Thames. On Sunday, after they had unloaded the trailer, Mr Washburn offered the B1 team the opportunity to represent the school as Henley. He has only offered this to a handful of teams in the past 25 years. They jumped at the chance. They had thought their hopes of Henley were dashed.
The B1 boat trained every day for several weeks, transferred to England, captured the Reading Regatta and made it to the semifinals at the Henley Royal Regatta. Our best showing for many years.
The quality of the crew program is founded in the experience it provides for the students and not whther they win races or regattas but this year we are doubly blessed. We graduated a fantastic group of girls and boys and we had one of our most successful racing seasons.
Well Done
We got the cup
For more pictures of Interschols I 06, click here
For more pictures of Interschols II 06, click here
For more pictures of Interschols II 06, click here
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NMH '06
Well, thanks to the Merrimack flooding, we went to NMH in search of safe water. We packed up B1 to B3 and G1 to G3 at 8 AM and headed west. Mr Washburn, ever the prepared coach, even loaded a boat with motor onto the trailer. We joked that it was his escape route in case the trailer was caught in a sudden flood. The caravan arrived at NMH about 10 AM and the boats promptly headed onto the water for a morning practice. Unbeknownst to Mr Washburn or the NMH coaches a power station on the river released water and the river level rose over 12 inches while Andover was happily paddling away. The rising water also brought increased currents and these in turn brought a deluge of flotsam. The Andover coxswains had to run a slalom obstacle course around the floating debris. At the sight of the river speed and the debris the NMH staff decided it was impossible to have meaningful races. Andover took the opportunity to have some additional water time.
The rising water had also risen about the NMH dock so that the rowers would have to wade through waist deep (except for B1) water. Our hosts generously provided their rowers to wade into the water and hand off the boats as our crews came ashore. Hence the strange pictures you will see with more than 12 people carrying the boats ashore. Our hosts offered hot drinks and our parents cranked up our portable food service to provide a midday picnic. Our rapid plan changes meant we had fewer parents than usual but the intrepid stalwarts did an excellent job.
Rested and fed, we thanked our hosts and headed back east.Sadly Spring crew is almost at an end. The B4, B5 G4 & G5 boats might manage a few last days on then river if the Merrimack behaves. The G1 to G3 and B1 to B3 boats have to make up for lost river time to prepare for Interschols at Lake Quinsigamond on May 27th. where we will decide who really are the fastest crews of the Northeast.
How are we going to get to dry land ?
Helping Hand
For more pictures of NMH 06, click here.
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Exeter-Tabor '06
We can do it ... we can do it
We did it
For more pictures of Exter-Tabor 06, click here.
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St.Pauls '06
For more pictures of St.Pauls 06, click here.
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Salisbury April 29th '06
We raced B1 to B5. It was a glorious spring day and beautiful rowing conditions. All five boats won their races. GO BLUE!!
Stepping up
Team Spirit
For more pictures of Salisbury 06, click here.
Lowell April 30th '06
It was A bright sunshiny day on the Merrimack at Lowell. We had competitors from the Cape in the south and Hanover NH in the north and several places in between. Andover girls in G1, G2 and G3 soaked up the energy of the day and transferred it into flying speed on the water. All three boats won their races. GO BLUE!!
Let's have some food ...
run ... run ...
For more pictures of Lowell 06, click here.
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LakeQ '06
Spot the similarity between the following two images.
LakeQ06
LakeQ06
Yes you've guessed it! Andover boys and girls disguising their fair nature and imitating the action of the tiger. Andover B1 leading by almost a boat length and Andover G1 leading by almost a boat length. A thing of great beauty to behold.
For more pictures of LakeQ06, click here.
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Kent '06
Kent06
Kent06
Kent06
Kent06
Kent06
Kent06
Kent06
Kent06
For more Kent06 pictures, images click here.
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Samples from first day of Spring
First out!
To the river the hard way
This is not warm water!
..And we're off.
It was worth it.
The joy of the river
First class coxswain service
Cold, wet and happy
For more first day pictures, images click here.
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Samples from 2006 Pre-Season
Winter Mania!
The last 500m with fan club in support
Another Andover dry rower with Liz '05 behind in disguise
Just a little faster, just a little harder
Dr. Q the galley master
For more Preseason pictures, images click here.
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The Tail of the Merrimack - November
The wind bites your face, the water stings your fingers, the sun is dropping earlier behind the golden trees. Winter is here. Time to drag the dock ashore and stack it for the winter. The crew days are over until the ice breaks in the spring.
Pictures from the last day of rowing - the Tail of the Merrimack. click here.
Photographs from the Head of the Charles, Parents' Weekend and the Tail of the Merrimack will be posted this week.
The winter is for feeding and for erging. First, build the strength, then the stamina and last of all the speed. When the ice breaks we will push back onto the river but not for leisurely days of learning. Spring is for racing. Everything must be perfect, everything must be fast. Everything will be for team, boat and self as one.
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Race Results
For pass year results: you can try finding the results on row2k: at drop down menu, select the year.
For Past Year's Results on row2k
GO BLUE!!
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