Established 1916

 

 

 

By Alex Snyder
Old Gold and Black Reporter

Wake Forest's women's and men's crew teams sure know how to show their competition a thing or two about rowing. In the four years since both clubs received their charter, Wake Forest's rowers have garnered several first-place medals and trophies along with impressive regatta finishes in what is generally considered to be a typically "northern" sport.

Led by men's captain senior Sam Williamson and women's captain senior Jill Coleman, the crew team currently consists of around 25 varsity rowers and two varsity coxswains, who sit in the front of the boat and guide at the rowers. Along with the varsity rowers, there are also 25 novice rowers and 3 novice coxswains who compete in several regattas throughout the year.

Even though last season was the first year of competition, the hard work of both crew teams was rewarded with much success. "We have worked very hard to create a team founded on dedication, hard work and sportsmanship," Coleman said. Last season the women's crew team not only brought home first- place honors in the novice category in a race held in West Virginia, but also made it to the finals of the SIRA regatta (Southern Interscholastic Rowing Association), which is the largest regatta in the southern region.

The men's team also posted a very impressive season, including winning a set of medals in a regatta in Washington, D.C. "Few sports create as beautiful an image as does rowing, but the symmetry that can appear so simple requires a harmony of strength, skill, and cooperation you rarely find demanded or displayed elsewhere," senior crew member Dave Moore said.

This fall, the crew club will be participating in three head races, in which they will enter between two and six boats. Head races test the endurance of the rowers for a distance of about 5,000 meters, and are typically held in the fall.

The spring season is traditionally the most important, consisting of sprint races of 2,000 meters. The crew team usually competes in four-person boats called shells. Currently the team owns one eight-man boat and two four-person boats, and is in the process of having a boat custom-made, which will be ready to go out on the water in October.

Practices for the crew members consist of six land workouts per week, using newly purchased rowing machines, along with three to five practices on the water at Belews Lake, near Kernesrville.

Crew practices are led by Williamson and part-time coach Ben Cook, who rowed at Clemson for four years. During practice, the team races against each other or works on drills for technique. Often the rowers go out for hour-long rows to improve overall strength and endurance.

"Rowing encompasses all major muscle groups and is not only an endurance exercise but has a resistance component as well," Coleman said. "Rowers are thought to be the most physically fit athletes."

The crew teams' strenuous schedules open in a few weeks with The Head of the Chattahoochee race near Atlanta. Both the women and men's teams placed in the top eight last year in this race, and are looking once again to dominate. "Traditionally, our women's team has been very strong," Coleman said. "We compete competitively with varsity programs such as Marietta, University of Tennessee- Knoxville, and Georgia Tech, who has been somewhat of a rival of ours."

Although both men's and women's club teams have gained recognition in the southern rowing circuit for their consistent and outstanding performances, rowing has yet to be recognized by Wake Forest as a varsity sport.

Several area crew teams including Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill have recently become varsity, as is the hope of both the women's and men's crew teams at Wake Forest.

"When I started rowing as a freshman, the club had just bought its first boat, noticeably, secondhand," Moore said. "Last year, both the women's and men's teams won several medals in limited competition. We're keeping fingers crossed in hopes of making the jump to varsity before the handful of us who rowed in the team's first race three years ago graduate." The women's team recently extended a varsity request letter to Ron Wellman, Director of Athletics, but no progress has been made concerning this request thus far.

This semester Wake Forest's crew teams are hosting the Annual President's Cup Dual with Davidson College. Both Davidson's and the Deacon's rowing programs are on very similar levels of competition, thus a friendly dual was established between the two teams. Teams from the Deacs and Davidson will race each semester, with the winning team taking home the cup at the end of the year.

"This semester, we are looking to defeat Davidson again in our dual, as well as make a great showing at The Head of the Chattahoochee again," Coleman said. The race against Davidson will be held Oct. 26, and The Head of the Chattahoochee will be held Nov. 2.