The popular paddling song, “Row, row, row your boat/Gently down the stream/Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily/Life is but a dream,” is hardly the mantra for Saint Louis University’s club crew team. The 30 active members of the squad take their sport seriously.
“We’re here to have fun, but we also take it seriously and look to be as competitive as we can be,” Club President Joe Hess said.
Last month, the co-ed club hit the midpoint of one of its most productive seasons in the 10-year history of the team. This success is thanks, in large part, to a balanced blend of experienced, dedicated leaders and willing, fresh-faced talent.
SLU’s fall slate was capped with a dominating performance at the Head of the Hooch Regatta, held in Chattanooga, Tenn., from Nov. 5-6. More than 50 colleges fielded teams for the regatta, the second largest of its kind in the world.
The Billikens of the boats placed third amongst club teams, racking up 202 total points. They crossed the finish line first in both the Mixed 4 and Mixed 8 races. Those boats were made up of a combination of both men and women rowers.
SLU shared the water with the likes of Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame. Now, the focus has shifted from the fall season’s longer races to preparing for the springtime’s sprint-style competitions. Hess credits a disciplined training regimen and a strong influx of novice rowers for the recent surge of the club.
“Our performance at the Hooch was truly a testament to the hard work we’ve all put in over the past few months,” Hess said.
“It’s rewarding to see that kind of performance in such a prestigious race.”
Considering that the club had only nine members to begin the season, their performance at the Hooch was truly a monumental accomplishment. Club membership is now at an all-time high level, and the future is bright for the program.
A practice schedule that has the team out on the water of nearby Lake Creve Coeur at sunrise five days a week did not intimidate 24 novices from trying their hand at the unconventional sport this year. Hess credits the team leaders’ inclusive and welcoming nature for the high turnout of new rowers. In fact, only one of the team members had any previous rowing experience before arriving at SLU.
“The 4:45 am wakeup calls can scare people off, initially,” said Hannah Beaty, the club’s vice president. “But if we can get them out there on the water just once, that’s when we can hook them.”
Beaty prefers to look on the bright side of the early morning practices.
“It’s early, but it’s nice that you get out of the school zone for those couple hours,” Beaty said. “Plus, the sunrises you see over Creve Coeur are just unbelievable.”
Their fall 2011 “recruiting class” had a varied makeup. It included students from every year in school and two study- abroad students — one from Belize and another a native of Holland.
“We have a really diverse group,” Hess said. “Not only do we have a couple of international students, but it’s cool that we have business students, poly-sci majors and kids studying pre-med. It makes for an interesting group.”
Volunteer Head Coach Scott Allison lends his expertise to help ease the transition for the large group of novice rowers. Allison rowed for MIT during his college career and has served as the head honcho since the club’s inception.
For the time being, the club’s boats have been docked due to the lack of daylight and frigid water temperatures. Meanwhile, they will be urging, rowing on a machine, to train for the shorter races of the springtime.
The team will return from their cold-weather hiatus for their annual training trip to the coastline of Cocoa Beach, Fla., over spring break.
“It’s a really fun trip,” Hess said. “It allows us to get back onto the water and allows us to get back onto the same page for the spring race season.” .
Because the team has established itself as a force to be reckoned with, they are always looking for new members to join the club and keep the momentum going. Hess and Beaty encourage all students with any interest to consider giving crew a shot.
