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Row, Row, Row Your Boats
| Article
# : |
11903 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1987 |
2,317 Words |
| Author
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Eli Flam
Eli Flam is a free-lance writer who has traveled widely in
Appalachia and is a son of immigrants. |
"Ready ALLL," the starter cried from a motorboat idling nearby. "RRROW!"
Six sleek racing shells shot away from the starting line on Philadelphia's Schuylkill River. Ten-foot oars dug into the water. Coxswains called out the pace to facing crews and conned the two-thousand-meter course. Rowers slid back and forth, straining in their furiously clacking seats.
One more of the 110 heats at the forty-ninth annual Dad Vail regatta, reputedly the biggest competitive rowing event in the world, was off to a frenzied start. This spring, singles, pairs, foursomes, and eight-oared crews participated. A record eighty-five colleges, universities, and service academies from across the United States and Canada weighed in. For three blue-skied days, more than 2,500 men and women rowers and hundreds of boosters took over this park-lined stretch of river.
Many thousands of other folks, young and old, are getting their oars in elsewhere as rowing, America's premier sport more than a century ago, undergoes a renaissance. From Baltimore to Bend, Oregon, the net of club, community, and competitive programs has widened. Single sculling is also on the upswing. The handicapped have gotten into the act, too.
Women's crews were a rarity until the last decade; they were not included in the Olympics until 1976. Nowadays women compete with no less fervor than men. One team, Martha's Moms, got involved in rowing simply because they grew tired of only ferrying their teenaged children to and from rowing workouts and races. They formed their own crew and stared winning races
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