Insider Rowing

I really liked the article about rowing at the University of Virginia by Ed Miller in the May 26 edition of the Virginian-Pilot. The author goes fairly deep and gives you more than the same-old same-old about rowers getting up at the crack of dawn for the love of the sport. Mr. Miller gives you 1400 words that covers both the men’s and women’s sides and he asks questions of their respective coaches, Will Oliver and Kevin Sauer. You get a real sense that the two programs co-exist and respect each other, which is a little rare these days considering the women’s team is varsity and the men’s team is a club. Here’s a few random tidbits from the article:

1. The men’s team actually owns the boathouse, and the women’s [varsity] team leases space from them. That’s got to be a totally unique situation in the U.S.
2. The author gives a succinct description of Title IX proportionality and how it relates to women’s rowing at the university level.
3. Here’s an interesting quote: “Tales abound of coaches offering crew scholarships to tall, athletic-looking women who have never rowed before. A Kansas student was riding her bike on campus one day when a coach, impressed with her leg power on a steep hill, tracked her down. Michigan set up rowing machines at freshman orientation and invited women to try out…To hear some tell it, women’s crew coaches are handing out scholarships like candy.”

Handing out scholarships like candy? I think that’s a misconception, and anyone inside the sport knows it’s super competitive to get scholarship dollars these days.

Both teams are also near the top of their leagues. The UVA women’s varsity eight placed 5th at NCAA’s over the weekend, second in the team standings, and the guys won the SIRA varsity eight championship on April 22.

Check out the complete article.