Crusher Casey History

Among Riverside Boat Club’s best oarsmen during the late 1930s and early 40s and certainly its most colorful were three brothers from Sneen, County Kerry, Ireland, Steve, Jim and Tom Casey. In keeping with rowing’s long association with pugilism, Steve, Tom and two other brothers had been successful professional boxers and wrestlers in Ireland, but the seven siblings’ first love was rowing.  They raced victoriously in the 1930’s and it is said that five of them would have competed for Ireland in the 1936 Olympics had they not been disqualified for taking prize fight money.

In 1938, Steve “Crusher” Casey, recently arrived in Boston with Tom and Jim, won the world heavyweight wrestling championship at the Garden, a title he would hold until 1947.  Looking for a place to row, the three gravitated to Riverside, the Boston club with an Irish as well as a boxing pedigree, where they were soon known as “the famous Caseys.”  In 1940, they issued a challenge through the Boston Globe to any four in the country to race them on the Charles.  They were to be joined by another brother once it was accepted.  After watching the Caseys train, however, no one responded until Union Boat Club’s Russell Codman, Jr., a silver medalist sculler in a recent national championships but now 45 years of age, agreed to a singles race.  The Boston Globe sponsored the event, offering $1,000 in prize money.

Former Harvard oar Governor Leverett Saltonstall put up a cup for the winner.  The principals raised $2,000 in stakes.  Arranged for November 10, the race attracted an enormous crowd, reported to have included young Jack Kennedy.  Tom Casey, age 25 and famed for his blistering cadence, finished first, Jim was second, Steve third and Codman fourth.  Tom is said to have gone on to win every race he entered.  As for Crusher, it is testimony to his popularity on both sides of the Atlantic that his statue stands today in Sneen, while in this country his bars, Casey’s in Boston and Casey’s Too in Hull, were favorite watering holes for locals, Irish immigrants and rowers alike.

RBC 2012 Awards

Every year the board recognizes members who have gone above and beyond for the club. This past year, 2012, proved to be no less than extraordinary. Some of those recognized have dedicated several hours over a number of years while others are recognized for work done within this past year.

President’s Award

Development Committee: Dick Gaver, Lisa Kunze, Lynn Osborn, and Severine Imbert de Smirnoff

RBC President, Igor Belakovskyi recognized Dick, Lisa, Lynn and Severine for their tireless effort towards Riverside’s development and fundraising effort. Stepping in as Riverside’s Development Coordinator, Lynn Osborn combined efforts with Dick and Lisa to develop a mission statement for Riverside to guide the membership:

Riverside Boat Club strives to support the attainment of its members’ rowing goals, from recreation to the highest level of international competition, and to promote the art and enjoyment of rowing, by providing safe facilities, quality rowing equipment, and coaching in a friendly, collaborative, social community.

Since then they have taken on countless other tasks ranging from populating the Riverside sub-committees to having facilities drawings produced as RBC looks to the future.

Severine joined the Development Committee to chair the Fundraising Committee. In her first year, with help from countless other members, she helped organized three important events (100th Anniversary Celebration, 9/15 Olympic evening – silent auction, and a stewardship cocktail evening) that has lead to raising $236,721 in 2012.

Service Awards

Mary O’Neill
Mary had dedicated countless hours and years of service previously leading the Building and Grounds Committee. She had to deal with a range boathouse issues from broken urinals, to a broken boiler to managing the energy efficiency of fans in the boathouse. Essentially, she’s helped keep Riverside running! In general Mary helps Riverside be mindful of important concerns and membership contribution while always keeping Riverside’s best interest at heart.
 
Katy Ruderman
At times, Katy is a Riverside more than HPG rowers. 2012 marked her first year as co-chair for Cromwell Cup – by no means a small task. She is also a big reason why the Juniors have been well received in the infancy of the program. Whenever a volunteer task is up for grabs, Katy is the first to email a response to help get the Juniors involved with the task at hand.

Lib Diamond
Lib’s countless years of support for Riverside through her role as Director of Operations at Head of the Charles is no small feat and has been a great asset to Riverside (—as well as a great resource to find out what spot you’re at on the waitlist  for HOCR!). Well over a year ago Lib helped establish a policy for trailer cleanup to help clarify what teams need to take care of post-regatta. More recently she has helped lead the effort to outline a damage policy for the board to reference when equipment is damaged. Also in 2012, Lib lead the effort to formalize the General Membership meeting set-up. Riverside will greatly miss Lib when she moves to Denver in March.

Todd Milne
At the end of 2012, Riverside transitioned it’s communications to GroupSpaces and now has an online Membership Directory. This miraculous feat could not have been done without the hours upon hours Todd put into researching platforms, setting it up, testing it and eventually implementing the change. His role on the Membership Committee has been incredibly valuable and boathouse communications are constantly improving with his guidance and continually maintenance of the the directory.

Rookie of the Year

• Kelly Woodacre

• Antonia Villa

Both Kelly and Antonia stepped up to lend a hand with various volunteer activities. They volunteered so often it was impossible not to have met them along the way – Riverside is lucky to gain members like them!

Team/Committee

9/15 event, An Olympic Evening Committee: Amanda Milad, Antonia Villa, Ed Frankenberry, Katie Ward, Katy Ruderman, Kelsea Gusk, Laurissa Gulich, Mike Farry, Severine Imbert de Smirnoff, Stephanie Bakkum

This exceptional group of volunteers helped organize the first annual silent auction for Riverside. The event was held at Cambridge Boat Club and everything from caters to silent auction prizes was arranged and managed by this group. A total of 75 tickets were sold and the total income was $11,185 for a net total of $6,052.

Mileage

(most miles from Dec 1, 2011 – Dec 1, 2012)

• Ilana Zieff (female)

• Jake Georgeson (male)

Fob Award

(most used boathouse fob)

• Laurissa Gulich (female)

• Tom Keister  (male)

Bridge Award

Women’s Sweep

Concept 2 Virtual Team Challenge

RBC was 2nd place among “non-virtual” clubs behind CRI with 33 million meters from 453 rowers and HAVK Mladost (Croatia) with 23 million meters from 209 rowers. Jake Georgeson and Dorian Weber led team RBC with >730k meters each followed by Cornelia Willis and Sean Wolf >600k meters. Nikolay Kurmakov roared back from an early January vacation to finish in 5th place and was followed closely by Sarah Schwegman, both had >540k. Honorable mention to Sally Ruderman who crushed the U20 field, as well as the rest of us, with 483k. Check out the Concept 2 website for all of the details.

Well done RBC!

Riverside finished in 5th place overall in this worldwide competition of 325 teams. Pictured above: Lucas G.

New members: November 2012

Like our beloved chief Secretary Kit Casey, Dan Polasky hails from Minnesota. He’s currently a research technician in a lab at the Tufts Medical Center doing biochemistry/analytical chemistry/stuff. Dan began rowing at Bowdoin College, the more studious cousin of Bates and Colby, and his favorite rowing moment is placing 4th (medaling!) in the Collegiate Four at the 2011 HOCR. Dan also competed on the Bowdoin Nordic team. He’ll be racing the Birkie this February with several other RBC athletes who have slightly less skill but enough pride to hopefully complete all those k’s (call us for lessons, please?).

Jon Kraus, friend to (or of) the McAuliffe Gig, comes to Riverside after taking time off from URI during a collegiate bout of mono. Jon’s hometown is Milton, MA but he is originally from South Boston. Pending recovery from both the gig and the mono (and the fall catch-up course-load), he’ll return to the program at URI. Jon’s favorite rowing moment was having the opportunity to stroke a 4+ at ACRA’s on the Olympic Course at Lake Lanier.

Don’t look this kid in the eye. Hannah Jeton is an Andover native who joins RBC after rowing at Dartmouth College. She is an Architecture Project Coordinator and Assistant at TROJB. She is an RBC rookie (Caro, sign her up for something), a sweep rower, and can hold one eye crossed. We can only hope that the Dartmouth tradition at RBC is carried on with her membership.

Suthesh Sivapalaratnam is a Post Research Fellow (MD PhD) originally from Amsterdam. He began rowing in 2001 and continues to prefer sweep rowing (of the big boat variety). Last year, he watched what was likely the most controversial Boat Race ever rowed. He is eager to get involved at RBC and is an avid cyclist and runner when not enjoying the bends of the Charles.

Jordan Sullivan is a Mainer, South Berwick to be exact. He’s been living in Cambridge since 2008 and only recently heeded the siren of the stripes. Jordan rowed all four years at Davidson College and his only experience in a single found him in the water. He now does genetic analysis at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard. As luck would have it, Jordan’s favorite rowing moment is also having the opportunity to compete on Lake Lanier. Jordan used to work at a brewery so hopefully he’ll consider joining the ranks of the van Lennep Social Committee.

Katie Melvin is a Florence, Alabama native now working at Composite Engineering. She rowed at Georgia Tech from 2007 – 2011 and her favorite rowing moment is battling it out on the Schuylkill at Dad Vails in 2010 for a silver medal and taking second with just .016 over the third place boat. She’s a sweep rower eager to get involved at RBC and to cite her next best (or next-best) rowing moment on the Charles. She has lived in four cities in 18 months, so let’s encourage her to stay and row for a while.

Jamie Nicole Heinzen is a Neurologist originally from San Clemente, CA. She rowed for 2 years at Oxford, 1 year at Cambridge, and 1 – 2 years at MBRA in San Diego. Her favorite rowing moment is paddling out on the Isis River in Oxford at sunrise with the swans swimming around the boats and the steam rising off the water. I’m sure the geese and sweet sweet scent of bacon near the Hyatt will replace that soon enough. Jamie is a starboard and met her husband, fellow RBC member Evan Labuzetta, in the middle of a “Bumps” race (British collegiate rowing competition) in England. FYI, captains don’t approve of bumping in club equipment so please keep it clean. Welcome to RBC everyone!

Kansas meets Syracuse

Jeff and Lisa

How did it all start?
Lisa: I started rowing as an undergraduate at the University of Kansas in 1978. I signed up for rowing because 2 tall, gorgeous men were recruiting during enrollment. The club had no funding and little equipment. The men and women shared a Pocock 8+ from 1936 that was covered with fiberglass and weighed about 400 lbs. The coach was a former coxswain, so he coached from a small boat tethered to the 8+. Later, I bought a Vespoli 1x in 1985 and since I learned how to scull by watching videos of German scullers, I carried my hands right over left for several months. I often had to race against men as there were few women scullers in the Midwest. Despite the dearth of sculling in the Midwest in the 1980s, I was coached briefly by the Canadian rower, Theodore Dubois, and by Miriam Baer from the Minnesota Boat Club.

Jeff: I started rowing in the 9th grade at Poughkeepsie High School in upstate New York. I had been swimming, racing row boats, and mountain climbing since I could walk, so it seemed like a good sport for me. I had been playing the baritone horn in the marching band, but couldn’t do both band and rowing. I think the band director was relieved. I had a scholarship to Syracuse in rowing. I funded my post-collegiate rowing by coaching. I coached at St. Anthony’s High school on Long Island, the Merchant Marine academy at King’s Point, Northeastern University, and MIT as well as a few other places. I also started the rowing program in Albany, NY where Austin Meyer (who finished 4th in the under 23 2x at the world championships this year) learned to row.

Memories…
Lisa: Memorable experiences, both bad and good, make us better. Only 4 months after teaching myself how to scull I entered Women’s nationals in Corning, NY. I drove 22 hours with my old boyfriend in a VW rabbit. The water pump blew out on the way, a tornado wiped out the motel where I planned to stay, and then I raced Ann Marden in my first heat. Many of my fondest memories of rowing at RBC were of training with the sculling group every morning in the 1990s with coaches Jeanne Flannagan (Olympic 8+ silver medalist in 1984) and Iskra Balcheva (Bulgarian Olympian). There was the ever present smell of chocolate Necco wafers in the basin. One year I drove to the Canadian Henley with Jim Hanley and Jamie Ames. Hanley kept rolling up the window when Jamie was trying to spit cherry pits outside. Two of my best memories are rowing with Jeff in a double at the Foot of the Charles on the morning of our wedding and in June of 2009 after his heart surgery. Winning the HOCR in the master’s women’s 1x after starting dead last was rather fun, too. I have started last 3 times.

Jeff: My most memorable experiences of rowing are of racing. I won the San Diego Crew Classic with Andy O’Brien in my boat twice. I raced with John Condon (former RBC president) many times. Rowing with John is always a memorable experience. He had a lot of enthusiasm. Winning 3 gold medals in a row while not getting off the water at the Master World’s in Belgium was really a highlight. I won the 2x, 4-, and 8+. Lisa also reminded me that I met her at the RBC HOCR party after winning the Master’s 8+ at the HOCR. That was definitely a memorable rowing experience.

Coming to Riverside…
Lisa: I rowed with a women’s 4x in 1988 at RBC, but I officially joined RBC in 1989. A couple of other friends from Kansas had joined RBC a year before me and told me that it was a really great club with nice boats, fast rowers, good coaches, and indoor plumbing. I had raced at Canadian Henley a couple of times prior to moving to Boston and many of the winners were wearing the blue and white stripes that I figured it would be a good place for me to learn how to row fast. Since I had to sell my boat when I moved here, Jim Hanley let me use his boat for racing. I am forever in his debt. Folks on the board discovered that I could repair boats and rig, so I worked part time as the rigger.

Jeff: I joined RBC in 1999. I had been coaching several people at MIT including President Igor Belakovskiy. They had joined RBC and I wanted to continue training with fast people so I joined as well. I was working at Gentle Giant and RBC was a good bargain. I could also keep my boat on the lawn. I drove the trailer for a few years for RBC to help with the rowing expenses.

Seriously, Kastle Kunze?
Lisa: I was leaving Boston to start my residency in orthopedic surgery at University of Michigan in 1997. Teddy Littlefield was still the groundskeeper at RBC and although he liked to paint, his efforts often resemble a Jackson Pollock painting. The B&G people would hide the brushes and paint, but he would just buy more. One day I caught him entering the women’s locker room with paint in hand. I stopped him and told him that I was planning on painting the locker room before going to Michigan. I really didn’t want to do that, but I ended up painting the entire locker room and repairing several lockers. In honor and in jest of my deeds, Marianne Ganzer painted the “Kastle Kunze” sign and put it over the locker room. That’s it.

Current Riverside Project…
Lisa: I am working on the Development Committee, and my primary focus is on program development. It is a long term effort, but this year I have spoken with many RBC members and coaches about how to create good programs. My goal is to initiate changes that will improve our programs and make them financially sound. This will take time and money. Some improvements in the program structure, function, and equipment can be made over the next year, but overall, this is a 5-10 year project. I am so appreciative of the people who have helped me up to this point. If you have ideas about how to make programs run better, I would like to hear about them!

It seems like you and Jeff are always on the go no matter the season. Let’s play a game. I’ll give you a date and weather conditions and you tell me where I can find you.

February, 20 degrees, snow, wind: 5 mph
Lisa/Jeff: Biathlon experience at Soldier Hollow. Lisa scores 14/15 and Jeff 8/15. Neither of us can ski for beans, but we had a blast. Later that day we headed to the Olympic venue in Park City and did the bobsled and zip-lined along the ski jumps. Weeeee.

March, 18 degrees, snowing, wind: 30 mph
Lisa/Jeff: Lifting weights at the Murr Center at Harvard and running into the awesome Sarah Schwegman who is also pumping some iron and demonstrating her exceptional balance. (Note: There may have been some bribery associated with this response.)

June, 72 degrees, partly cloudy, wind: 8 mph
Lisa/Jeff: There is no better day to do 2 minute pieces. We welcome others to share our pain.

August, 91 degrees, clear and sunny, 72 degrees, wind: 2 mph
Lisa/Jeff: Paddleboarding at Marblehead! Lobstas for dinner.

October, 48 degrees, cloudy, wind: 12 mph
Lisa/Jeff: Rowing in the HOCR and cheering others on from the dock.
Lisa: I volunteer with the first aid team for the HOCR.
Jeff: I roam the crowds to talk with the some of the hundreds of rowing people from my past.
Lisa: After the races are over we head to the kickin’ RBC party. We first met at one of the parties so it’s one of our anniversaries.

Results: 2012 Head of the Charles

Event # | Event Bow # |  Stroke finished | time

1 Men’s Grand Master Singles [50+] 10 J. Tracey 10 / 19:58.30
2 Women’s Grand Master Singles [50+] 27 L. Kunze 9 / 22:10.524
3 Men’s Senior Master Singles [40+] 1 J. McGaffigan 5 / 18:48.885
3 Men’s Senior Master Singles [40+] 2 S. Wolf 2 / 22:10.524
3 Men’s Senior Master Singles [40+] 27 J. Bers 29 / 21:24.974
4 Women’s Senior Masters Singles [40+] 2 T. Vandersteel 1 / 20:36.039
7 Men’s Senior Master Fours [50+] 3 E. Frankenberry 2 / 17:58.985
7 Men’s Senior Master Fours [50+] 15 S. Danberg 20 / 19:50.059
10 Women’s Senior Master Doubles [50+] 16 L. Osborn 4 / 20:20.172
13 Men’s Club Singles 27 N. Kuronen 33 / 20:23.809
13 Men’s Club Singles 52 A. Neils 6 / 19:10.049
14 Womens Club Singles 1 A. Booth 16 / 22:05.210
14 Womens Club Singles 14 K. Woodacre 1 / 20:56.319
14 Womens Club Singles 16 C. Mance 26 / 22:34.027
14 Womens Club Singles 23 H. Walters 35 / 23:45.883
14 Womens Club Singles 38 K. Casey 27 / 22:54.382
15 Men’s Club Fours 13 J. Mercuri 3 / 17:07.266
18 Women’s Club Eights 21 H. Jeton 4 / 17:27.306
19 Men’s Master Doubles [40+] 3 K. McDonnell 3 / 17:46.124
23 Men’s Master Eights [40+] 9 G. Milne 9 / 16:04.904
25 Men’s Championship Doubles 18 C. Dyke 12 / 18:13.125
26 Women’s Championship Doubles 1 C. Reddick 5 / 19:11.672
26 Women’s Championship Doubles 8 M. Page 4 / 18:57.787
26 Women’s Championship Doubles 12 M. Foster 8 / 19:32.236
30 Women’s Championship Singles 6 E. Huelskamp 12 / 21:08.689
30 Women’s Championship Singles 9 L. Schmetterling 6 / 20:05.564
33 Men’s Senior Veteran Singles I and II [70+] 25 N. Daniloff 21/25:05.22
33 Men’s Senior Veteran Singles I and II [70+] 31 J. Peters 35/30:31.96
35 Men’s Veteran Singles I and II [60+] 22 J. Hanley 32/23:12.22
35 Men’s Veteran Singles I and II [60+] 26 P. Dale 18/21:57.21
36 Men’s Youth Fours 48 A. Rintell 17/17:54.65
37 Women’s Youth Fours 72 A. Bell 43/21:06.49
38 Men’s Master Singles 1 P. Morelli 2/19:20.91
38 Men’s Master Singles 6 I. Belakovskiy 11/20:06.37
39 Women’s Master Singles 4 S. White 5/22:10.12
39 Women’s Master Singles 8 E. Diamond 9/22:31.82
39 Women’s Master Singles 10 M. O’Neill 11/23:17.39
42 Men’s Lightweight Singles 10 M. Farry 14/19:56.14
43 Women’s Lightweight Singles 2 A. Sneff 4/21:41.82
43 Women’s Lightweight Singles 20 I. Zieff 15/23:17.59
43 Women’s Lightweight Singles 22 L. Gulich 9/22:15.62
DCM4x Directors’ Challenge Men’s Quads 1 Then There Were Four 1/16:08.781
DCM4x Directors’ Challenge Men’s Quads 17 Akamai 30/20:32.052
DCM4x Directors’ Challenge Men’s Quads 28 P. Smith 18/17:58.921
46 Men’s Championship Fours 18 K. Evans 14/17:56.223
47 Women’s Championship Fours 12 E. van Lennep 14/20:48.902

DCMX4x Directors’ Challenge Mixed Quads 7 Chevrons & Stripes 2/17:57.842

Our Boathouse’s 100th Anniversary

By: Richard Garver

Riverside Boat Club’s boathouse turned 100 years old last month.  Its construction is closely linked to the transformation of the Charles River into a park system at the turn of the 19th Century.  To that point, the river’s Cambridge shore between the Brookline (B.U.) Bridge and Watertown was a series of tidal marshes and mud flats, punctuated by industrial sites like The Riverside Press and the adjacent Cambridge Electric Company, between which was wedged Riverside 1891 boathouse, Harvard’s coal yards, and the Watertown Arsenal.  The river rose and fell at least five feet with the tides, sweeping through bridge pilings like a mill race.  In 1905, a Riverside rower was quoted as saying that the club members “find occupation for their leisure moments fishing Harvard oarsmen out of the river” when they fetch up against the Western Avenue Bridge.  “There was a time when a rescue meant the present of a new sweater or a pair of rowing tights, but now it is scarcely ‘Thank you.’ ”  At low tide the river became too narrow for two crews to race abreast.

In 1893, the City of Cambridge issued a plan to turn its riverfront into a recreational facility.  It proposed that the river be dammed upstream from Craigie’s Bridge.  The City would construct an esplanade between the West Boston (now Longfellow) bridge and the Brookline Bridge, a park and swimming beach above Brookline Bridge known as Captain’s Island (now Magazine Beach), and a tree-lined parkway to be called the Charles River Road that would run upriver past Harvard.  To that end, the City acquired most of its riverfront by eminent domain in January 1894.  The property takings caused the wholesale reconfiguration of the Cambridge rowing clubs.  The Cambridge Casino, the forerunner of Cambridge Boat Club, was moved to a site opposite DeWolf Street to make way for the new parkway in 1895.  The Harvard Rowing Club relocated the first Weld Boathouse to a new bulkhead in 1897.  Harvard’s 1869 boathouse was demolished and its crews moved across the river to Newell Boathouse in 1901.

The assembly of the right-of-way for the Charles River Road, which would be renamed Memorial Drive in honor of those killed in World War I following its transfer to the Metropolitan District Commission in 1923, was impeded by the presence of The Riverside Press, but in 1901 the City acquired this section of the alignment.  The taking included Riverside’s boathouse, with the implication that the club would have to relocate to a new site.  The transformation of the river into a recreational lake was completed with the construction of the Charles River dam, authorized by the legislature in 1903 and operational in 1910.

Ironically, these waterfront improvements accelerated the demise of some Charles River rowing clubs.  In 1906, Riverside Boat Club’s Cambridgeport rival, the Bradford Boat Club, moved its boathouse out of the way of the river improvements and the impending construction of a new Cottage Farm (the present B.U.) Bridge.  The park commission served notice in the spring of 1909 that the club must either renovate its building or remove it from the park reservation.  Bradford attempted to raise the money to rebuild within the new parkland but it was soon reported that, “It now looks as though (Bradford) have to vacate the location granted for the boathouse on the east bank of the Charles River just above the Cottage Farm Bridge owing to the lack of funds to meet the requirements of the park commissioners.”  On the other hand, the BAA took advantage of the improvements.  With the Charles River no longer tidal, in 1911 it gave up its floating boathouse on the Cambridge shore in favor of a new boathouse within the park just below the Grand Junction Railroad’s bridge at the site of the present Boston University boat house.

The Cambridge park commission permitted Riverside to continue to occupy its boathouse while planning went forward for the Charles River Road.  It was still in use in the spring of 1911.  At about 1:00 A.M. on May 2, a watchman at the Cambridge Electric Co. spotted a fire in the building and sounded the alarm.  The blaze was visible for miles and attracted a large crowd.  At one point it spread to the adjacent electric company coal bins, but was soon contained.  A Riverside member who tried to salvage club equipment had to be treated for smoke inhalation.  In less than an hour, the building had burned to the ground.  The club lost its boats, including four eights, two doubles, two four-oared workboats, two fours, twenty or more singles, as well as a number of whitehalls.  The fire also consumed seventy-five banners and trophies, including those for national championships won four years earlier at Worcester and in Saratoga in 1894.  As a result, only three of the New England Amateur Rowing Association banners hanging in the boathouse date before 1912.

On May 5, a membership meeting instructed a committee to locate temporary quarters until a new boathouse could be constructed.  The St. Alphonsus Athletic Association, which had recently opened a boathouse on the Boston shore just below the Brookline Bridge (August 2012 Riverside Press), invited the club to share it for the time being.  Riverside considered purchasing Bradford’s old facility, but decided instead to build a new boathouse.  On June 10, 1911, it held a fundraiser at the Scenic Temple, featuring moving pictures, music, illustrated songs and sketches.  Winter quarters were rented on Massachusetts Avenue.  By December, design work was underway and the Cambridge Park Commission was considering the club’s proposal for a site on a small spit of land between Pleasant and River Streets within the projected Captain’s Island Park.  On February 12, 1912, Riverside was granted a twenty-year lease for the site.

The City of Cambridge, the owner of the building when it was destroyed, settled with the club for $7,000.  With these funds in hand, Riverside filed building plans with the City in April, 1912.  Construction on the new structure, the club’s present boathouse, was quickly under way.  It is not clear what rowing activities were carried on that season, but under president Thomas Riley and vice president T. F. Toomey Riverside continued to conduct boxing tournaments, including its annual tournament in Cypress Hall on Prospect Street.

The new boathouse was completed in September 1912 at a cost of $7,600.  Surrounded by mud flats that were soon to form the western end of Captain’s Island, it was a two-story, hip-roofed structure 50 feet wide and 70 feet deep resting of wooden pilings capped with concrete piers.  The first floor housed the club’s boats as well as a training room, showers, lockers and a dressing room.  The second was devoted to a large assembly and dance hall with a raised band area, still visible in its downstream corner, as well as a women’s room and a checkroom.  The section of the Charles River Road and its supporting seawall between Western Avenue and River Street, the last to be constructed, were completed in 1914.  Cambridge’s 1916 Atlas shows Riverside’s boathouse within the newly constructed riverfront parkland, adjacent to the men’s, women’s and boy’s bathhouses serving Captain’s Island.

Results: 2012 Textile River Regatta (TRR)

Open and Masters

M Veteran 1x: Paul Dale
M 2-: 1st: Keir Evans, Brad Sherman
M Master 8+: 1st and 4th
W Club 2x: 1st Beatrice Sims, Chelsea Wakeham
M Open 1x: 1st Jim McGaffigan, 2nd Sean Wolf, 3rd Evan Bailey
M Club 8+: 5th
W Club 8+: 3rd
M Master’s 4+: 1st
W Club 1x: 1st Kelley Woodacre
M Open 4+ 3rd, 4th
W Open 4+ 4th
M Master’s 2x 1st (John Saxelby, Ernest Cook) 6th (Ed Frankenberry, Shameek Sarkar)
M Open 8+ 6th
M Club 2x: 3rd, 4th

Juniors

M Jr 4x: 2nd
M Jr 8+: 16th, 55th
M Junior 4+: 3rd, 27th
W Jr 4x: 7th
W Jr 4+: 11th
W Jr 8+: 15th, 43r

2012 Fall Sweeps Update

The Women’s Sweeps
By: Severine Imbert de Smirnoff

The Women’s Sweep Team is excited to welcome 11 new rowers and 3 new coxswains this fall: Talia, Hannah, Allisaon, Beatrice, Molly, Meghan, Janie (not new), Shana, Carrie, Chelsea, Rachel, Carly, Grace and Mike.  They all bring great talent and enthusiasm to the team.  This fall they have already raced 2 out of 3 of the Head of the Kevins, Textile River Regatta, and the Green Mountain Head.  Looking ahead, be sure to cheer them on at The Head of the Charles in the Women’s Club 8+ and teh Women’s Championship 4+.

The Men’s Sweeps
ByL Jeff Forrester

The Men’s Sweep Team is experiencing a run on masters  for the fall season.  There enough to fill an 8+ and two Senior Master 4+’s for The Charles. The 8+ is expected to be competitive and move further up the rankings.  In the last few years we have placed in the Senior Master 4+ (50+’s), so we are looking for some hardware in that category as well as in the age 60+ boat.  For the young guns, we have a Club 4+ and Champ 4+ entries.  Both are positioned to place quite well, if not win.

The Juniors
By: Katy Ruderman

The juniors are excited to be starting their fourth season as Riverside Juniors!  We have 20 boys and 20 girls this fall.  We completed our first race (besides the world renowned Head of the Kevins) at the Textile  a couple Sundays ago; we raced eights, fours, quads, and doubles.  We have a very young group this fall and it seems that each week someone drops another minute off their 6K!

For the Head of the Charles we have a men’s and a women’s youth 4+ entry (Sunday at 10:05 and 10:36 respectively), seat-racing is under way with many rowers competing for the coveted Charles boat seats.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our creative uniforms at the last two Head of the Kevins, next time we’ll be repping the stripes!

New Members: October 2012

By: Sophie Ordway
Photo Credit: Mike Farry

Victoria Stutz comes to us from Trumbull, Connecticut. In addition to rowing sweep all four years of college, Victoria has a couple summers of sculling under her belt. Her favorite rowing moment is when she crossed the finish line at the Canadian Henley with less than a second lead to advance. When she’s not consulting the general public on how to manage their money, Victoria has put in some work hours with RBC and hopes to help out with fundraising. Before Victoria ever got into rowing, she had the opportunity to play cello with Yo-Yo Ma at the Symphony Hall.

Beatrice Sims is a recent graduate of Brown where she rowed all four years and won NCAA championships her junior year. Because she couldn’t get enough of the sport (like the rest of us), Beatrice spent recent summers with the Quinsigamond Rowing Association near her hometown of North Grafton. She rowed for RBC this past summer along with volunteering at Master’s Nationals. She is also working towards a certification as an Assistant USRowing Referee in addition to her job as a Software Engineer at Vistaprint. While Beatrice obviously has skill on the water in both sweep and sculling boats, she has yet to learn the same finesse on land: She once broke her leg while answering the phone…

Christopher Lyver hails from all over the country and beyond. An honorably discharged ‘veteran’ from the Air Force, Chris spent his high school years bouncing back and forth between Fordham Prep during the school year (where he won most outstanding novice his first year and was captain as a senior) and Pelham Community Rowing during the summers. He rowed recreationally with Fordham University and has trained as far north as Canada and as far south as Miami. His favorite rowing memory is the New York State Scholastic Championships in 2011. He plans to volunteer on the 29th with RBC at Cambridge History Day and is hoping to sign up with some of the regatta committees.

Kelley Woodacre, from Wellesley, MA, comes to us from an assortment of different rowing teams and clubs. She rowed for University of Rhode Island all four years and managed to become Captain her senior year. She also spent a couple summers rowing for CanAmMex and the Boston U23 Development Camp. And if that’s not enough, she’s also spent some time with Community Rowing. We’re definitely hoping she plans to settle with RBC for a good while, as she can row pretty much anything and everything. Her favorite rowing moment is when she won Head of the Charles in the CRI Youth 8+. As a landscape architect for Sudbury Design Group, Kelley plans to bring her skills to the Buildings and Grounds Committee to help make RBC a more sustainable club. In addition to all the rowing Kelley has done the last six years, she’s also an avid skier and rock climber.

Grace Lin is migrating to us from just down the river. She has spent the past four years coxing for MIT, or as she responded, being ‘deadweight’. Of course we all know the real value of coxswains, so we’re very happy to have her with us. We will have to figure out how to keep her out of the Charles, as she’s been in over it ten times. We may also have to give her a new cheer, otherwise she’ll start up the Beaver Call come race time.

Allison Lavigne hails from the Midwest and has been rowing off and on for the past 11 years. She started at Bucknell in 2001 as a walkon and has also rowed with the Masters team for the Greater Columbus Rowing Association. She’s been rowing with the Women’s Sweep program for RBC and hopes to start sculling soon. Her favorite rowing moment was wet launching from the sandy beaches of Long Beach, CA during Masters Nationals. One fun fact about Allison is that before she learned to row in college, she spent her high school years playing tennis and badminton.

Rachel Pettis is originally from Georgia but she’s been a local in Boston since 2008. She walked on to the BC women’s team and has been hooked ever since. Her favorite rowing moment is when she raced in the Club 8+ event in the Head of the Charles. She is currently a legal secretary and hopes to help RBC with the fundraising committee. If you ever find yourself rowing behind Rachel, be sure to ask her where her extra vertebra is that she has endearingly named Fernando.

Ray Firth is making the transition to us from CRI, although he first learned to row on the Charles in 1970 with Northeastern University. He works for Alden Rowing Shells and while he can row sweep and scull, his racing shell of choice is the open water. If you ever find yourself on the water next to Ray on a rather windy day, be careful about racing him back to the dock. He was also an Adaptive Coach for CRI. He’s joined the Masters team with RBC and is looking forward to all the new faces and activities.

Jeanette Saraidaridis has been rowing since 2003 when she first learned at Phillips Academy Andover. She honed her skills at Brown University for 4 years, along with a couple summers at CRI and GMS in between. Jeanette can scull as well as sweep but for now she’s joining the women’s sweeps team. Her favorite rowing moment is the snowstorm during the Head of the Charles in 2009. And while we all may not understand her dislike of cheese, hopefully we can entice her to use her teaching skills to help out with some of RBC’s learn to row days.

Sophie Ordway, also from the Midwest, learned to scull around ten years ago. She spent the following six years sculling, coxing and rowing in a lightweight 4+ for Grand Rapids Crew. She rowed at Marist College for the two and a half years she wasn’t abroad and has since done a little bit of coaching but is looking forward to being back on the water. She’s helping the club out with the newsletter but she would also like to get involved in the Buildings and Grounds Committee. She loves to knit and sew, which is why she works at Gather Here, Cambridge’s first and only Stitch Lounge. It’s hard for her to pin down a favorite rowing moment, but one of the many mornings on the Hudson when everything just clicked in her Varsity 8+ will definitely suffice.