Colby College

Rowing began at Colby during the 1873-1874 academic year. It was the third sport organized at Colby. As described in Ernest Marriner’s “The History of Colby College”, Colby’s first intercollegiate competition occurred when a group of Colby students travelled to Bowdoin for a Croquet match. Baseball came later in 1867. A form of rowing came next and is first mentioned in the 1874 “Oracle”, Colby’s annual yearbook.

The 1874 Oracle identifies the “Colby University Navy” with two separate boat clubs, the Colby Boat Club and the University Boat Club. Both Clubs had their own set of Officers and Board members. The Oracle also identifies a “Boat Crew” for the Senior, Junior and Freshman classes – there is no mention of the Sophomore class. The crew rosters for the class boat crews indicate the two competing Boat Clubs combined their members to form the boat crews for each class. 

The boat roster for each class identifies six members for seats 1 through 6, including a stroke at seat 1, a bow at seat 6, as well as a Captain. No coxswains are identified. The total roster for Colby’s “Navy” identifies 30 total students, but there may have been some members not listed. One year later, in the 1875 Oracle, the rosters include 54 students. There is no mention in the yearbooks of intercollegiate competition or competition between the clubs.

The actual type of boats used is not specified in any of Colby’s publications, although a six person shell was not unheard of at the time. Bowdoin College’s Rowing History identifies their Class of 1861, the Quobonack, as having “a six-oared boat that was forty-two feet long.” The UMass Amherst website describes their rowing program as initially being formed in 1871, and has a picture of a six-person coxless racing shell. It is reasonable to believe that a similar craft could have also been available to Colby at the start of the program in 1874.

Bowdoin’s Rowing History identifies a change in their fleet a few years later; “In 1871, the sophomores at the College purchased their first four, and the College purchased another, the “Forget-Me-Not.” It is unknown what happened to their “six-oared boat.” Bowdoin then competed with their new four. Later in the 1880’s Bowdoin’s crews switched to rowing in eights.

“The History of Colby College” weighs in on the configuration of Colby’s early boats. He states, “There is doubt whether any of the clubs owned a regulation rowing shell, such as Harvard crews then used on the Charles River. The Colby craft were probably very simple boats and there is evidence that the number of men in a crew did not exceed four.” An illustration from the 1875 Oracle depicts a coxless four very similar to sweep shells used by other Colleges and Universities at the time. However, it is unknown if this illustration was produced to reflect what the clubs were actually rowing, or if this was simply for illustrative purposes only. But Club rosters in later Oracle yearbooks identify four persons per boat, including a stroke and a bow, with two alternates. 

Absent any other facts, it is reasonable to believe that Colby’s “Navy” could have started with six person boats and shifted to or added fours.

Marriner also states, “The scene of activity was the Messalonskee Stream, and there it continued, at least in some form of boating, into the 1880's. No Colby boathouse was ever built on the Kennebec.” The Messalonskee Stream reference is interesting as Colby continues to row for part of the year on that same stream. The rest of the year they row on Messalonskee Lake, which feeds into Messalonskee Stream. The Kennebec River reference is important because the campus was located along the banks of the Kennebec in downtown Waterville until the move to Mayflower Hill started in the 1930’s. 

The editors of the 1874 Oracle said the following about the Boat Clubs, who apparently not only faced difficult weather conditions, but also faced some turmoil within the college community:

“The respective boat-crews, which have been organized, have not found as smooth sailing as could be desired. The warring of the elements has confined the prudent sailors in port; head winds impeded all advancement, while the great tidal wave of college opinion threatened to demolish their frail barks. There is now some prospect of a clearer sky and an amicable settlement of all differences that have arisen. A boat-house will be built and the boats already obtained be brought into speedy requisition.” No mention of a boathouse could be found in subsequent Oracle yearbooks.

Between 1979-1881 the University Boat Club merged into the Colby Boat Club to form a single club as student interest was shifting to other activities. The Colby Boat Club is last identified as an official college club in the 1885 Oracle.

However, a few years later in the 1888 Oracle the joy of rowing was referenced as the editors wrote, “Is there one alumnus who does not feel his heart beat faster when he thinks of the evenings he has spent on the Messalonskee?”

The sport of rowing at Colby then went dormant in 1885 for almost 100 years.

In the spring of 1984, Colby had an enrollment of approximately 1,600 full time students. Tuition, Room and Board for the upcoming 1984-1985 academic year was set at $11,700. During the winter, Colby had officially abolished the Fraternities and a new “Commons” organization was being established to provide social life opportunities. Alpine and Nordic Skiing had completed their first year competing in the Division II ranks as a Club sport. Volleyball was not yet even a Club sport. Roberts Union was the focal point for campus life, as it housed the Post Office on the first floor, and Joseph’s Spa, the popular campus restaurant and pub, in the basement. Apple had just introduced the first-generation Macintosh in January 1984, so the vast majority of students were using typewriters for term papers.

Sophomores Jeff O’Brien ’86 and Charlie McCabe ’86 both attended St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA and rowed together on the crew team. They each missed the sport of rowing and the camaraderie which came with the sport. After some discussions, they decided they wanted to find other rowers at Colby and try to start a rowing program. They asked around campus if anyone had experience rowing and quickly found sophomore Janet Booth ’86 and freshman Nancy Steck ’87. They connected and decided to get started.

The first meeting of the students occurred during a meal at Foss Dining Hall. Booth explained she had rowed sweeps for four years at Kent School in Kent, CT, which was an elite high school program. She had recently purchased a single scull and had brought it to Colby. However, she was eager to be part of forming a new club which could row competitively. Steck was still competing in single sculls as a Colby student and was training on her own. She started sculling at age 14 at a local club on Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, and had rowed sweeps at The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, PA. She was a US Junior National Team Contender. Her coach would come up to Maine on weekends for training sessions on the water. She retained hopes of making the U.S. National Team and continued to train but realized the 1992 Olympics were out of reach when she chose “academics over athletics” when she decided to attend a college without a top tier rowing program. She was hoping a new club could provide an on-the-water training partner.

Satisfied that they had more than enough experience with which to start a rowing team, the four collected their thoughts and ideas. O’Brien and McCabe met with then Athletic Director Dick McGee later in the spring. AD McGee was very supportive of the idea but didn’t have many resources to aid the new club. He told O’Brien and McCabe he was aware a rowing team would need equipment, which he didn’t think he’d be able to support financially. He said he would support the club, “…as long as you don’t need a truck.” He did agree that should the students be able to form an active club, the participants would get a Physical Education credit, which was a requirement to graduate. 

Later in the spring of 1984, junior Kim Rogers ’85, and freshmen Phil Purcell ’87 and John Donnelly ’87 joined and helped push the formation of the club. All three were experienced rowers. Rogers had rowed at Philips Exeter Academy (PEA) in Exeter, NH; Purcell had almost a decade of rowing experience, including four years at Kent School in Kent, CT; and Donnelly had rowed with Purcell at Kent School.

The student rowers submitted an application to become a club to the Student Activities Association (Stu-A). The application was accepted for the 1984/85 academic year. As the club started their organizational efforts, they became aware of the Administration’s overall skepticism that a rowing program would be a good fit for Colby. First, the belief was a rowing program would be expensive to establish and run as it would require equipment such as shells, oars, a launch or chase boat as well as waterfront access to a large body of water. Second, some believed that Colby’s location in northern New England’s cold climate would severely restrict a rowing program’s ability to compete against schools who rowed on rivers or lakes which did not freeze, or on rivers or lakes whose ice melted in the spring far earlier than typically happened in Maine. The students realized quickly that they would have to be resourceful if they hoped to get on the water.

Pococks

The group convinced themselves that they could make a go of it. Rogers contacted PEA’s Boathouse Manager (AKA Boatman) at PEA for advice on how to go about finding shells for the new club. PEA’s new Varsity Head Coach Tom Swift and their Boatman eventually agreed to donate to Colby two older, wooden Pocock shells, along with two sets of wooden oars. These shells had not been used for many years; they had been hanging high in the rafters of PEA’s boathouse for quite a while and were already antiques. One shell had been built in 1950, the other in 1952, and the wooden oars matched the boats. It is worth noting that these shells were hand made under the tutelage of the very same George Pocock who was featured in the 2013 book by Daniel James Brown and played by actor Peter Guinness in the 2023 movie version “The Boys In the Boat”.  

Rogers and O’Brien traveled to PEA where they picked up the two Pocock shells and took them back to Colby. In one day during the spring of 1984, junior Rogers and sophomore O’Brien departed Colby in O’Brien’s 1980 AMC Eagle station wagon and drove to Rogers’ home in York, ME, where they switched to Rogers’ family’s eggplant colored 1974 Dodge Power Wagon pickup truck. They built a set of racks on the pickup truck with 2 x 4 lumber they procured at a local lumber yard so they could secure the shells for the trip to Colby.

They then drove to PEA’s Academy Boathouse in Exeter, NH on the tidal Squamscott River where PEA’s boatman met them. As a fulltime boatman he was charged with maintaining and caring for PEA’s fleet of boats. The wooden Pococks, made of western cedar, required constant care. Rogers recalls being very concerned about how the new club would properly maintain the wooden boats once they were at Colby. 

After they secured the two shells onto the homemade racks on the pickup truck and with the oars tied down in the truck bed, Rogers ’85 and O’Brien ‘86 drove from PEA to the Great Pond Marina in Belgrade, ME, where Steck ’87 and Booth ’86 had been keeping their single sculls. Steck and Booth had established a positive relationship with the staff at the Marina. The Marina staff often allowed Steck’s coach to borrow a rental boat when he came up for weekend training sessions with her. 

The Marina was very supportive when she asked if Colby could store two, “new-to-Colby” shells behind the marina alongside the single sculls. With some help in an open area behind the Marina, Rogers and O’Brien offloaded the shells onto saw horses they made, laid the oars underneath and fastened a canvas cover over them for the summer. The new fleet secured, Rogers and O’Brien drove back down to York that same day, switched from Rogers’ truck to O’Brien’s car, and drove back up to Colby. The trip was well over 500 miles and a very full day.

Rogers recalls attending his 5th Year Reunion at PEA in 1986, three years after he structured the deal to bring the Pococks to Colby and being challenged by PEA’s then Varsity Rowing Coach Arthur “Cookie” Gilchrist and the Dean of Students as to how he was able to convince PEA to donate the two Pocock shells. Neither had been involved in the decision to give Colby the 30+ year old Pococks and oars, and they were not pleased the transaction occurred, even three years later. They told Rogers ’85 that PEA had intended to sell the early 1950’s shells for a fair amount of money to TGIFridays, a popular restaurant chain which used old sporting equipment such as rowing shells, tennis racquets, uniforms, baseball mitts, etc. to decorate their restaurants to give them an “old school”, clubby atmosphere. Rogers defended the transaction by explaining that the equipment was better used to assist the start of a new rowing club at Colby than it would have been to have it hanging in some restaurant. The Coach and Dean were still not happy. But Colby kept the boats.

During the summer of 1984, before the club even took the boats on the water, a tree branch fell onto the older 1950 Pocock shell on sawhorses at the Marina and punctured the hull through the canvas cover. The Marina contacted O’Brien and Rogers to let them know of the damage. With no money, O’Brien and Rogers concluded they had to fix the hull themselves, and the repair had to be done before the start of the 1984/1985 academic year if they hoped to be on the water. 

The wooden shells were not easily fixed. The craftsmanship that went into building one of these shells was second to none. The manufacturing process for a new wooden Pocock shell involved steam bending a single piece of native western red cedar into the shape of a hull. The thickness of the hull was only 3/32 of an inch thick. The wooden frames (or “ribs”) inside the hull provided the required structural strength and rigidity to the hull’s thin skin. Rogers and O’Brien consulted with PEA’s boatman about how to perform the repair. They decided they would attempt the repair themselves and planned it out over the summer of 1984.

Schoenbrods 

During the spring of 1984, the club was notified that an anonymous donor raised the funds to purchase two new, modern, fiberglass 4+ shells, constructed by Schoenbrod USA in Biddeford, ME, along with one set of fiberglass Concept II oars made in Morrisville, VT. Jeff O’Brien ’86 recalls the role he played in the purchase of the new shells. One day he found a handwritten note on an index card in his mailbox in Roberts to see the Assistant Director of Purchasing. Checking one’s mailbox was not something students did every day, so O’Brien had no idea if the note had been in there for a day or two weeks. At the time O’Brien had no idea why he was being summoned. He wasn’t sure how or why he might be in some kind of trouble! 

O’Brien recalls visiting the Purchasing representative in his small office in the basement of the Eustis Building. O’Brien soon found out the purpose of the visit was to discuss the purchase of two boats and one set of oars with a large anonymous donation. The Purchasing representative was a bit irritated as this was an unusual transaction and didn’t fit neatly into a typical purchase request. He needed help figuring out exactly what was going on and what he was supposed to buy. The Purchasing rep took notes as O’Brien explained what a shell was, as well as all the specifics the club wanted on the new shells. The two worked through the details, the order was made, and the order for the shells was placed.

Years later it was revealed that Jeff O’Brien’s father, Mr. C. David O’Brien ’58 P’86 P’90, had been instrumental in securing the funds for this purchase. He made significant contributions from his own assets, and also canvassed the parents of other rowers as well as friends of the college to contribute to the purchase. 

Mr. O’Brien served the College in many ways. He was on the College’s Board of Trustees from 1974 to 1984. He served as Chair of the Investment Committee impressive growth in the College’s endowment during his tenure. He served on the Art Museum Committee, and he placed several original paintings on permanent loan to the College’s Museum of Art. He was recognized formally by the College as the Colby “C” Club’s Person of the Year in 1974 and he was honored with a Colby Brick Award in 1977.

Colby Crew will be forever grateful to Mr. C. David O’Brien for generously leading the effort to support the inspired students who began the Colby Crew Club.

The new Schoenbrods were available during the fall of 1984. Shortly after the order for the two 4+ shells was placed, Schoenbrod informed Colby that a boat designed for heavyweight rowers was immediately available as the organization who had ordered it could not come up with the necessary funds. O’Brien and Rogers were happy with the news and modified the order to specify the second boat would be built in accordance with specifications for lightweight rowers. After the boats were delivered, the rowers came up with a way to easily distinguish the difference between the two boats. Rowers quickly found out that a Lightweight crew in the Heavyweight boat resulted in a far steeper oar angle than appropriate; a Heavyweight crew in the Lightweight boat might take on water far too easily!

O’Brien and Rogers convinced the College to agree to let them come back to campus a week early in the fall of 1984 so they could repair the damaged 1950 shell, and also to build docks at Great Pond Marina. The process they used to repair the shell included cutting out a square section of the hull around the puncture so the forward and aft edges of the patch landed on a frame, cutting and inserting a “patch” from similarly thick (3/32”) cedar, ensuring the patch conformed to the contours of the boat by wetting and weighing down the patch, applying epoxy, then sanding the patch to ensure hull fairness. This process took several days, but they got it done. O’Brien was the lead craftsman for this repair. Rogers recalls being quite impressed with O’Brien’s workmanship, especially since neither had ever made that kind of repair before.

Over the summer of 1984 O’Brien had also planned out a set of docks from which the Club could launch the boats at the Great Pond Marina. O’Brien engineered and designed the docks to have three sections approximately six feet wide, made from pressure treated 2 x 6’s, styrofoam blocks and galvanized hardware. O’Brien and Rogers built the docks in time for the start of the fall season. Some Alums recall the dock sections still being a little tippy, and “you did not want to stand on the very edge.” But the docks were efficient enough to preclude the need to wet launch the shells while the Club rowed at Great Pond.

A second repair to that same 1950 hull had to be made during the fall of 1984 season. Rowers were instructed to step on a board fastened on top of the frames when getting into the shell. The thin skin of the hull could hold very little weight by itself. However, a small step board big enough for only one of a rower’s feet sat on top of several frames and was built into the structure of the shell. This small board could carry a rower’s weight. 

At the start of one practice, one rower inadvertently stepped on the skin of the hull and not the step board. He sensed the hull give way, and picked his foot up before he went through. However, he caused an approximate 20 inch long crack in the shell. The shell was alongside the docks so the rowers quickly pulled the boat out of the water. Once again, out of necessity and because the first repair had gone well, Rogers ’85 and O’Brien ‘86 again called PEA’s boatman for advice on how to perform a repair. 

The PEA boatman talked them through a repair process of sanding, applying epoxy and clamping the affected area. Rogers and O’Brien bought all the necessary supplies at a local hardware store and completed the repair, and the shell was ready for use after only a few days. 

In the fall of 1984 the Club advertised around campus to find potential rowers. McCabe and Booth recall hanging up signs around campus in high visibility areas, including on the bulletin board on the first floor of Roberts Union near the post office. They also held an ergometer race in the Athletic Center to gain visibility and create awareness of the program. Approximately 100 students expressed interest in joining the Club. Organizational meetings were held and the alums recall being overwhelmed by the interest. 

Getting On The Water

Jim Clair, a 1979 UMass graduate and Captain of the UMass Crew team, was hired as the club’s first coach. He was employed as a financial advisor to the state legislature in Augusta, ME. He and his wife were living in Hallowell, ME, about a half hour from the Great Pond Marina. He recalls being prompted by someone he knew at a local newspaper about an advertisement Colby placed looking for a volunteer coach. He had a long history with rowing, he had an uncle who competed nationally and had rowed against some of the “Boys in the Boat” Washington Husky rowers. Coach Clair had trained at the national level as well. He responded to the ad and was “hired” as a volunteer. Additionally, Jim Otto who had sculled individually at the club level also volunteered to assist with coaching. 

President Cotter recruited Paul Irgang to be the Faculty Advisor. Irgang lived in the Hillside dorm with his wife Janet, who worked for the College in the Health Center as a Psychotherapist. President Cotter was very aware of a tragic incident which had occurred at UNH a year earlier in the spring of 1983. A sudden squall swamped UNH’s eight boats as they were rowing on Great Bay near Durham, NH. One student was apparently overcome by the frigid waters and heavy wet clothes when he tried to swim ashore. About 12 other rowers were treated for hypothermia at local hospitals. Although Irgang did not have any experience with rowing, his wife Janet recalls President Cotter recruited him “because he was comfortable on the water and a very good swimmer, and Cotter wanted to ensure everybody would be safe.” Irgang ensured the rowers’ safety was the program’s primary concern. 

The State of Maine had specific safety regulations which applied to waterborne vessels. The State Fish and Game representatives who enforced the regulations had not encountered a crew shell with more than one rower, much less multiple shells practicing together, before Colby was on the water in 1984. Among other things, each vessel was required to have a personal flotation device for each person in the boat. At the first encounter with the Fish and Game representatives, the crew explained that they could not wear a PFD while rowing. The only place a rower could store a life jacket was to jam it under a seat, where it would be very difficult to remove in case of emergency. However, rules were rules and the Fish and Game representatives initially required the rowers to each have a PFD onboard. The rowers would cram the lifejackets under their seats before going out onto the water during that first fall season.

Phil Purcell’s family donated a 14’ red Larsen skiff with a 33 Horsepower Johnson motor to serve as a launch / chase boat. Clair and Irgang continued to work with representatives within the State government and the Fish and Game Department, and eventually got permission for the necessary safety equipment, including life jackets and a horn, to be in the chase boat as opposed to in each shell. Coach Clair recalls they “always had life preservers in the small launch.” Colby also instituted a swim test which every rower had to pass. The swim test included four laps of continuous freestyle in the pool, and then 10 minutes treading water.

In addition to Coaches Clair and Otto, the students also performed coaching duties for some practices when the volunteer coaches were not available. O’Brien provided coaching for the men, and Rogers for the women. Steck also provided coaching on the technical aspects. Because Steck was competing in sculling, she complied with her personal coach’s request to not row in one of the boats as the muscle memory for sweeps is different from sculling. But like the others, Steck immersed herself in helping Colby’s program get started. Her Colby teammates remember her sculling coach trying to convince her to spend more time on her own rowing as opposed to spending efforts to start the new Crew Club. She didn’t completely comply and continued to be a driving force behind the start of the rowing program at Colby.

Coach Clair recalls a program just starting up. He first asked who had experience – luckily there were a few. Those rowers were asked to stroke the novice boats. Practices were held at 4:00 in the afternoon. He focused on the basics of the stroke with the novices, often rowing two at a time to maintain the set of the boat. He remembers the students showed up every day and were committed to improving.

The Club’s maiden voyages took place in the early fall on Great Pond. A Men’s boat with O’Brien ’86 at stroke, Rogers ‘85, Purcell ‘87 and John Donnelly ’87 with McCabe ’86 as coxswain, and a Women’s boat of Rachel Brandzel ‘86, Hilary Breed ‘86, Julia Farwell ‘85, Sarah Doherty ‘88 and Janet Booth ‘86 as coxswain took the Club’s first row, which lasted about an hour. The Club was officially making waves!

During Parents’ Weekend that fall the club hosted an event at Great Pond for parents and friends to raise awareness of the club’s activities as well as to raise funds. Light refreshments and a barrel of the students’ favorite beverage were served. The club had one of the old wooden Pococks with wood oars as well as a new fiberglass Schoenbrod with composite oars in the water alongside the docks built at the start of the season. The students did a bit of a show and tell to explain the basics of the sport for people new to rowing, and the differences between the old and new technology. The rowers then went out for a light row. All made it back to the docks safely.

First Competitions

The Club entered several races that fall. Most significantly, the Club’s Women got into the prestigious Head of the Charles, the largest Regatta in the US. On October 21, 1984 the first Colby Crew boat to formally compete in a Head race competed in the Head of the Charles, in the Women’s Championship Fours Division, with Breed ‘86, Holly Harris ‘86, Farwell ‘85, Doherty ’88 and Booth ’86 as coxswain. Booth remembers being very happy they didn’t hit any of the bridges or other boats. However, the Crew did significantly better than anyone had expected, finishing 32nd out of 40 entries. Steck also competed for Colby in the Women’s Club Singles event, and finished in 2nd place. Both of these results were terrific accomplishments for a newly formed rowing program. Steck’s 2nd place finish in 1984 is still, as of 2024, the highest finish by a Colby boat in the Head of the Charles. 

Coach Clair’s connections at his alma mater UMass also got the Club an invitation to travel to UMass for an informal competition against some UMass alumni boats for a training event held on Saturday October 27, 1984. The UMass Amherst boathouse was on the Connecticut River in Hadley, MA. The UMass alumni held this race annually, and affectionately called it the “Hadley Henley”, a playful reference to the annual international event held at Henley-on Thames, England. Using an 8+ shell on loan from UMass, Colby combined their rowers to fill seats for one women’s race and two men’s races. The highlight of the day was Colby’s women winning their race. 

The next day, on Sunday, October 28, 1984, the Club raced in the Head of the Snake on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA. Because hotel rooms were not in the budget, after the races at UMass the Club stayed at the homes of rowers close to Worcester. Phil Purcell’s parents, Alfred and Carolyn Purcell, lived at 197 Stow Road in Marlborough, which was about 30 minutes from the Lake Quinsigamond launch site. The Purcells hosted most of the rowers and provided floor space for sleeping bags. The Purcells’ gracious generosity was appreciated and would be replicated by many other parents over the next decade. 

At the Head of the Snake the Club returned to their own 4+ Schoenbrods and entered two men’s boats and one women’s boat. They rowed against Clark, WPI, Assumption, Holy Cross, Worcester State, URI, and UMass Lowell. Steck also entered the Men’s Singles race as she was the sole women’s singles rower who had entered the regatta. As reported in the November 01, 1984 Echo, The men’s “A” boat of O’Brien ’86, Nagle ’87, George Brownell ‘85, Rogers ’85 and Mary Shepard 88' as coxswain finished in sixth place. The Men’s “B” boat of Purcell ’87, Donnelly ’87, Randy Catlin ’88, Tad Allyn ‘86 with Julie Tarara ‘90 as coxswain finished in tenth place. The Women’s boat with Lucy Lennon ’87 as coxswain [rowers were not identified] finished in fourth. Steck ’87, rowing in the Men’s division against eight men, beat half of her competitors and finished in fifth place. 

The following weekend the Club gained official entry into the 1984 Head of the Connecticut, held on November 6, 1984. When the Club first inquired early in the fall about entering the race, the race organizers told them the race was full. However, good fortune came the Club’s way when the regatta organizers called them back a few weeks later to inform them that one of the Clubs, the Fat and Happy Boat Club, had pulled out of the race and Colby could enter both a Women’s 4+ and a Men’s 4+ in the race. However, the Regatta programs had already been printed, so the Fat and Happy Boat Club was listed against the numbers which would now be on the bows of Colby’s boats. 

Colby’s rowers from that race recall hearing cheers of “Go Fat and Happy!”, “Looking Good, Fat and Happy!” and more from boisterous spectators consulting the Program and shouting encouragement from the banks of the river for the entire duration of the 3.5 mile race.

That first racing season student vehicles, including Rogers’ pickup, were used to get to the races. A Colby van was sometimes available. Insurance coverage was not a particular concern. Per diem money for hotels and food was not in the budget, and neither was gas money. Students picked up food from the dining halls and filled water bottles before they left campus to bring with them. They split the gas. Any stops on the way for food or beverage were paid for by the students. 

The day before a race the students would load the shells onto the vehicles, pack up, and ensure all knew what time they were departing the following morning. On race day, the rowers would meet in the Roberts parking lot early in the morning. The Coach, Irgang and students would drive themselves to the regatta location, rig the boats, and compete in the race. After the race, they would derig the boats, load up the truck and head back to campus. By all accounts the students got themselves safely to the races and back to Colby without incident. 

Coach Clair moved on after the fall season. He remembers that season as being very similar to a start up company. They had to scratch for even the small things and were appreciative when someone helped ensure students got to practice or paid for gas. He remembers the rowers improved dramatically that first year and finding it “so gratifying to even play a small role in the start of the program.”

The Swartz Family, Snow Pond Farm, 23 Libby Hill Road, Oakland, ME

As the fall 1984 season was wrapping up the Club had to come up with a plan to store the shells inside for the winter. Great Pond Marina did not have indoor storage for the shells, and neither did Colby. 

The club landed at the doorstep of Steve and Sandra Swartz, who owned a farm at 23 Libby Hill Road in Oakland with a large barn and 125 feet of shore front on Messalonskee Lake (also known as Snow Pond). Steve designed and built fish hatcheries in the aquaculture industry, and Sandra was a nurse at a local hospital. They had bought the farm in 1981 from Dr. John (Jack) Hornblower Meyer Jr, M.D., who was an anesthesiologist at a local hospital. Meyer had graduated from Harvard in 1971 and was a three-time letter winner for Harvard’s Lightweight Men’s Crew. He had a single scull which he often took out on Messalonskee Lake from his shorefront at 23 Libby Hill Rd.

Several paths could have connected the club with the Swartz’s. Stephen Collins, a 1974 graduate of Colby and retired Editor of the Colby Magazine, lived across the street from the Swartz’s in a house he built in 1977. He recalled often seeing Meyer row his scull on the lake so he knew the shorefront was friendly to launching. He also recalled Colby Track and Field Coach Jim Wescott being a close friend of Meyer. The Swartz’s knew several people who worked at Colby from community interactions. When the club started to inquire about a more permanent home and storage, any or all of these avenues could have connected Colby to the Swartz’s once the club expressed a need.

Once they were approached, the Swartz’s quickly agreed to help the club. The club could store the boats in their barn for the winter and summer. Additionally, the Club could store the boats down by the lake and launch the boats for practice for the spring and fall seasons. The Swartz’s agreed to let the club use the land at no cost, although they wanted to ensure the boats were fully insured. No lease or agreement was ever signed for the seven years the club used their property. Sandy and Steve Swartz recalled that they simply wanted “to be kind.” 

The site perfectly met the needs of the Club. It was only four miles from campus. The barn, built in the mid-1800’s, was long enough to hold Colby’s 4+ shells on the beams which supported the second floor, and the barn door could be closed so long as the bow and stern balls were removed. The 125 Feet of frontage was plenty from which to launch boats, and the field down by the lake was cleared and open, so access and boat storage was easy. The lake bottom was firm enough so the rowers could wade into Messalonskee Lake and wet launch the shells – docks would come later.

The Swartz’s were willing to let the Club have morning and afternoon sessions in both the fall and spring, even though this meant a bunch of college kids were parking in their driveway at 5:30 am for morning sessions. Starting in the spring of 1985, the rowers would meet at Roberts for both morning and afternoon sessions, drive themselves in a school van or high capacity, student owned passenger vehicle, and park to the left of the barn in the Swartz’s driveway. The rowers would walk through the field, past the man-made pond which Steve Swartz had originally built to raise and research rainbow smelts, down to the lake where the boats were stowed on saw horses and covered with a blue tarp. The oars were stored on the ground underneath. In an effort to not wake the Swartz’s at an early hour, the rowers instituted a “no talking” rule until they were past the pond. 

Steve and Sadra Swartz recall the students were very respectful and not ever being impacted with noise in the early morning. The Swartz’s have no recollection of ever being awakened, or any student misconduct. Neighbor Steve Collins also does not recall any “bad news” caused by the club. Of their relationship with Colby’s Crew Club, the Swartz’s recall “being glad we could do it.”

Finding the site at 23 Libby Hill Rd and having the Swartz’s be willing to share their home was a true miracle for Colby Crew. The Swartz’s home was the home of Colby Crew until Dr. Alan Hume and his wife Dorothy welcomed the Club to their home in 1991. Colby Crew will be forever grateful to Steve and Sandra Swartz and their family for hosting the first Home of Colby Crew.

A Curious Case of Fortunate Luck?

In an interesting case of “What Might Have Been”, the property abutting the Swartz’s along the lake had the potential to become the permanent home of Colby Crew. The owner of the property at 23 Libby Hill Road before the Swartz’s, Dr. Meyer, had purchased the property from E. Parker Johnson in 1978. Johnson was a Psychology Professor at Colby and had been Dean of Colby’s Faculty. When Johnson purchased the 23 Libby Hill Rd property in 1955 it included shorefront all the way up to the dam in Oakland. 

In 1970 Johnson had the land surveyed, kept 125 feet of shorefront with the 23 Libby Hill Rd property, and deeded a 2.5 acre parcel extending to the dam to the State of Maine, “…for the benefit of the People of Maine.” However, he stipulated in the deed that the State needed to “erect and thereafter maintain a [livestock]-proof fence along the boundary…”, and the land was to be used “…for public recreational use only… In the event they shall cease to be used for such purposes…the premises would pass to …Colby College”. This deed is reflected in the Kennebec County Registry of Deeds, Book 1515, page 611 and was not changed when Johnson sold the property to Dr. Meyer in 1978.

All of this was still in place when the Swartz’s bought the property in 1981. Up until that time the State had not done anything on the 2.5 acre parcel. It was unused and unattended to. After a few years the Swartz’s decided to raise horses on their farm. The State installed a fence only after the Swartz’s called and requested a fence be installed.

After the club had used the Swartz’s property for a few years the club inquired about the wooded and unused lot next to their launch site. They were interested in potentially acquiring it for the club’s permanent use. They researched the deed to find out who owned it. Once they realized the 2.5 acres had been gifted to the State, but it wasn’t being used, they approached the College Administration about a potential opportunity as they thought the ”…cease to be used…” part of the deed might apply.

Sometime in 1988-89 Colby inquired about the still unused property, as referenced in the Colby Crew Newsletters. The college was interested in the property as it provided easy access to Messalonskee Lake, and if it could be obtained at no cost, the price was right. It was determined a boathouse structure could be built on the property for approximately $20,000 and satisfy all regulations. However, after Colby pursued the matter for quite some time, a clear legal path to securing the property could not be found. The State continues to own the property in 2024, and no further improvements have been made.  

Although this appeared to be unfortunate luck for Colby’s Crew Club at the time, this result later opened the door for Colby Crew to eventually create a new home at the Hume’s. 

Training

Offseason training included weight training and doing sets on Steck’s ergometer. Colby’s free weight room during this period was quite small. Typically, after classes the room was occupied by male athletes from sports such as football and hockey with large rosters. Space in the weight room was limited. Steck recalls setting up her saw horses with a 2 x 6 between them to perform bench pulls and getting odd looks as not only was this an unfamiliar exercise to most, but she was frequently the only woman in the room. Bench pulls required an individual to lie face down on a plank/bench which was high enough off the ground so the arms could fully extend to grab a weighted bar and pull it up. Small groups of men and women rowers would set up one bench and alternate performing that exercise and others, together. Not many other women entered the weight room in those days, but Steck recalls being fully supported by the male rowers.

Steck had her own Concept II ergometer and kept it in a closet at the end of a hallway in her dorm. There was no other place she could keep it and prevent potential misuse. She would unlock the closet door and pull the erg into the hallway to do pieces. After she completed her workout, she would clean it off, stand it up and roll it back into the closet. She graciously allowed other members to use the erg as well, sometimes coaching them on technique.   

During the 1985 spring season, the Club continued its relationship with UMass. The UMass Coaching staff advocated for Colby to join them in the races UMass entered, and they invited Colby to events UMass hosted. With thanks to UMass, and the host colleges, Colby competed in several races. 

Funding

The Club petitioned Colby’s Student Activities Association to provide funding. The Stu-A had a small budget to provide funding for the many campus activities they oversaw and provided the club $400 for that first year.

Students initiated a fundraiser to make money by performing odd jobs for the citizens of Waterville, Winslow, Oakland and surrounding towns under an initiative advertised as, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” with credit for the slogan to the popular rock band AC/DC who produced an album and a song by the same name which peaked at #3 on the charts in 1981. The “deeds” performed included yard cleanup, hauling brush and minor property repairs. The Team made full use of student owned pickup trucks, including Randy Catlin’s light blue and white 1974 Chevrolet half ton pickup truck outfitted with homemade racks. 

Student fundraising efforts and donations from families of rowers resulted in enough funds to purchase a second set of composite oars. For a short time prior to buying this second set of fiberglass oars, rowers used the old wooden oars in one of the two, brand new fiberglass Schoendbrod shells. 

At the start of the 1985 spring season the rowers were wet launching the boats at 23 Libby Hill Rd. Walking a shell into the proper depth for a safe wet launch, and then standing in the frigid spring water waiting as crew members scrambled to get the oars was not a pleasant experience, especially at 5:30 in the morning shortly after the ice melted. As the students exclaimed, “that got old quick.” The club used some of the funds they raised to build a new set of docks. As was done for the initial set of docks at Great Pond, the students bought the material, got ahold of some tape measures, power equipment, hammers, squares and other tools and built the docks next to the lake. These docks were utilized until the club moved to the Hume’s property in 1991.

The club also sold the red Larsen chase boat donated by the Purcells and bought a pre-owned 12’ aluminum boat with a 25 HP Tohatsu outboard motor. 

The students designed hooded sweatshirts and windbreakers which could be purchased by rowers. Lindsay Carroll ‘87 designed a logo for a hooded sweatshirt with two crossed oars behind a large “C”, with “COLBY” above the logo and “CREW” below. The light grey windbreakers with navy collar and cuffs made by Boathouse Apparel had two crossed oars, blades up, with “COLBY” above the oars and “CREW” below on the front left chest, and a diagonal “COLBY CREW” on the back. Dozens of these were visible around campus. This same design was used for the second generation windbreakers but with a reversed color scheme. 

In the fall of 1985, the Club hired John Gemery, a 1985 graduate of Wesleyan University, to coach the Club. Paul Irgang stayed on as Faculty Advisor. Coach Gemery’s father, Hank Gemery, was a Pugh Family Professor of Economics at Colby who taught from 1961 to 2002. He is a Professor Emeritus at Colby as of this writing in 2024. Coach Gemery’s dedication and technical knowledge resulted in quick improvement in the Club’s performance on the water. 

Interest in the Club continued to grow on campus. Approximately 80 students were looking to get out on the water. With only two shells, Coach Gemery conducted afternoon and morning practices for the competitive boats, and often held a second afternoon practice so the novices could get on the water. Class schedules and daylight were the constraints. Some funding for the club continued to come from the Student Activities Association but did not cover the full expenses. 

The club organized an ergathon in September which was previewed in the September 27, 1985, Morning Sentinel. Billed as a “Race to Nowhere Fast”, hype man Paul Irgang explained in the article he expected a total of 90 participants would compete in “The Ergometer Sprint Championship”. They would be competing for prizes, including copies of David Halberstam’s newly released book “The Amateurs” signed by gold medalist Brad Lewis; a watch from Jefferey’s Fine Jewelry; lighted clocks donated by Valley Beverage Distributors, plants, T-Shirts and an assortment of gift certificates from local stores and food services. The October 1, 1985 Morning Sentinel followed up after the event and reported that over 100 contestants participated in “The Championship”, and identified Artie Nagle ’87, Scott Bates ’87 and Sarah Doherty ’88 as the big winners.

The Club also aggressively reached out to the local community to generate interest and support. Irgang approached Domino’s Pizza about a T-shirt idea. Domino’s Pizza had only recently arrived on the scene in the Waterville area and was immediately popular on campus with their guaranteed ”30 minutes or less” pizza deliveries. Domino’s was eager to increase market share and loved Irgang’s t-shirt idea. Colby and Domino’s collaborated on a design for a long sleeve, all-cotton, white crew neck t-shirt with the Domino’s Pizza logo on the front left chest as well as down the left sleeve; on the back was the slogan “Domino’s Pizza and Colby Crew – We Both Deliver”. Those were hot items on campus and generated a lot of student interest in the Club. It is believed this was the first “partnership” a Colby Team had with a national restaurant chain (apologies to TGIFriday’s).

The Club also contacted the New Balance Corporation in Skowhegan, a local Maine based manufacturer of athletic footwear with a growing national market share. Although New Balance couldn’t support the Club financially, they agreed to supply each rower with a pair of running sneakers. The rowers went by van to the New Balance facility in Skowhegan, and each member selected a pair of new sneakers. It is believed this “deal” was the first footwear “sponsorship” of a Team in Colby’s history. With the splashy Boathouse windbreakers, sweatshirts, Domino’s “We Both Deliver” T-Shirts and the New Balance sneakers, the Club had unquestionably the top swag of all the Teams and Clubs on campus.  

The 1985 fall racing season saw the Men and Women compete in both Heavyweight and Lightweight Divisions in three Head races, including the Connecticut, Merrimack and Snake. Additionally, the Club’s Heavyweight Men’s boat had bow marker #27 in the prestigious Head of the Charles in the Men’s Championship Four division, with Toby Bell ‘88 at stroke, Geoff Alexander ’86, Mike Kelley ’88, Scott Bates ’87 and Lucy Lennon ’87 at coxswain. They had an unfortunate incident during the race when Clark’s coxswain steered their boat into Colby’s path, causing the two boats to lock oars for a bit. Fortunately the boats were able to disengage, and both boats completed the race. 

All five of the Colby athletes in that boat recall the final few hundred meters of the race. The club was very excited to have a boat entered in the race and wanted to have as many Colby students there as possible to support the rowers. The event was talked up on campus for weeks, and the club put an article advertising the event in Colby’s student newspaper, “The Echo”. The Student Activities Association planned to have a Colby tent at the race. Since the Head of the Charles was traditionally a 2+ mile long party scene, student interest in attending the race was high.

Coxswain Lennon wore a bright hunting orange, beanie style hat during the race so the boat would be easily recognizable from a distance. When the crew passed Belmont Hill’s boathouse and started the final stretch toward the finish line, they came within sight of the Colby tent on the opposite shore. The rowers all recall a thunderous roar from the throng of Colby students and supporters as they passed the tent and headed for the finish. After the race, on the way back to the Belmont Hill boathouse where they put in, the crew recalls at least one can of beer being tossed to them from the river’s edge by an enthusiastic supporter.

The Team found ways to push each other and boost morale and interest throughout the season. The competition between the Men’s Heavyweight and Lightweight crews was particularly pointed, yet enjoyable. On the water performance during training sessions was close which helped both crews to improve performance. 

The Team was loaded with humorous characters who were serious about their rowing, believed they could compete, wanted to have fun, but above all were committed to ensuring the Team would have a lasting presence on campus. The camaraderie was high. When the Men’s Heavyweights jokingly started calling the Men’s Lightweights “Wispy Critters”, the Lightweights responded by calling the Heavyweights, who averaged 6’4’’ and a lean 210 lbs, “Fat Boys.” The Heavyweights responded with “Herbivores”.

The Lightweights got the last laugh in this sparring contest when Donnelly ’87 found in a local thrift shop four white bowling shirts with red and green accents, and “Herbivores” written in Gothic scroll across the back. Not joking. The reveal of those shirts by the Lightweights at Roberts Dining Hall after a morning practice was pure Hollywood. Donnelly ‘87, Purcell ‘87, Eric van der Mel ‘88 and John Moffit ‘90 walked in together with a serious expression and sunglasses on, went straight to the table where the Heavyweights were eating breakfast, faced the table four abreast in stand-off formation and about-faced together so the Heavyweights could read “Herbivores” on their backs. They were met with wide eyed, gasping, high-fiving awe. Reluctantly, even the Heavyweights had to love those shirts. Some things were meant to be. The Club’s swag, as well as swagger, was elevated to unprecedented heights with the Herbivore shirts!

Colby Supports Bates 

During the winter off-season of the 85/86 season, students from Bates contacted Colby about helping with their plan to establish a rowing program at Bates. Colby’s O’Brien ‘86 and Purcell ‘87 talked with Bates’ Arnold Robinson ‘87 to share notes and ideas. Colby’s club believed that growing the sport in Maine, especially at Bates and Bowdoin, would only help to grow Colby’s program and ensure the program would survive. They recall having a great transfer of ideas on the phone call.

O’Brien and Purcell described to Robinson how Colby started with two Pococks donated by Phillips Exeter. Robinson recalls subsequently contacting Harvard’s legendary Coach Harry Parker to see if Harvard had any unused equipment as they had a wealth of equipment. Parker was happy to donate two of his older shells to the Bates club. In the spring of 1986 Robinson and a few other Bates students drove home from Harvard in a Bates van with two Pocock shells, built in 1944 and 1948, strapped on top. The 1948 shell had been used by the US Men’s Olympic Team to bring home a Gold Medal in the Coxed Fours at the 1948 London Olympic Games. Robinson, then a junior, recalls “one of the most nervous drives of my life” as he drove the van with shells on top out of Cambridge on Memorial Drive and back home to Bates in Lewiston, ME.

First Victories

The spring 1986 sprint season brought on-the-water success to the club, albeit without Coach Gemery as he was spending the semester in Kenya. Paul Irgang continued to support the program as Faculty Advisor and chase boat helmsman. Students critiqued each other’s performance on the water. 

On Friday, April 4, 1986 the Club pulled the Schoenbrod shells and oars off the rafters and out of the Swartrz’s barn, tied them onto a homemade rack on top of a Colby van, and went to UMass Lowell for the Textile River Invitational. UMass Lowell was dedicating their new boathouse on the Merrimack River that weekend. Colby’s Men’s Heavyweight and Lightweight 4+ boats would compete on Saturday against UMass Lowell, Marist and Worcester State. 

After traveling to Lowell on Friday afternoon, the two crews rigged the boats and had their row of the season on the windy and rough Merrimack River before stowing the boats for the night. Following in the Purcell’s footsteps, Tom and Deenie Bell, parents of Toby Bell ’88, hosted the rowers at their home at 125 Indian Hill Road in Groton, MA. After Mrs. Bell served up what would come to be known as “Victory Lasagna”, a homemade cake in the shape of a rowing shell, and ice cream, the rowers slept on couches and on the floor. 

After the weekend the Bells sent a letter to Colby’s Dean of Students expressing their thanks for the student’s helpful behavior. Dean Smith sent a letter back, dated April 14, 1986, thanking the Bells for being “… both brave and kind…” to host the rowers. He also expressed that the College was “…seriously considering making crew a varsity sport,” and was “… committed to funding the many aspects of the program having to do with safety.” 

The next day produced the first two wins in the history of Colby’s rowing program. Both the Lightweight boat of Purcell ‘87 at stroke, Donnelly ‘87, Will Spiess ’89 and Moffitt ’90, with a Coxswain borrowed from Lowell, as well as the Heavyweight boat of Bell ’88 at stroke, Nagle ’87 (Artie had just returned from a semester in London where he rowed as well as studied), John Mullen ’89, Scott Bates ’87 and Lightweight rower Donnelly ’87 shoehorned into the coxswain’s seat won their races with open water on a very rough Merrimack River. The Waterville Morning Sentinel picked up the story of the improbable wins and gave a headline article with pictures of the crews. 

It should be noted that the host UMass Coach had expected to celebrate the boathouse dedication that weekend with a couple of wins. His crews had already been on the water for several weeks before that regatta. Colby’s rowers recall his reaction when Colby, who had literally pulled their boats out of the barn the previous day, beat both his crews. He was not happy. He made his crews run. A lot.

Later in April 1986, at the shorefront of 23 Libby Hill Rd in Oakland, Colby hosted Bates in the first intercollegiate rowing race held in Maine since 1898, an 88 year pause in the action. Bates had only recently started their program and was eager to start competing. Colby loaned the Bates team one of their Schoenbrods for the races. Bates’ alum Robinson recalls being very appreciative of the opportunity.

Irgang had the waterfront prepped for the event. He mounted an American Flag to a tree at the water’s edge, played the national anthem recorded on a cassette tape from a Panasonic boom box powered by “D” cell batteries, and announced the line ups for both squads. It was a humble scene, but the true spirit of the sport and the passion of all the athletes was fully present. 

The rosters of the three Colby boats which raced against Bates were:

Lightweight Women: Britt Moore ‘89 at stroke, Jen Rubin ’87, Elizabeth Thompson ‘89, Jen Gaylord ’88 and coxswain Lisa Beliveau ‘90

Lightweight Men: Phil Purcell ’87 at stroke, Eric van der Mel ‘88, John Donnelly ’87, Will Spiess ‘89 and coxswain Karen Trenholme ’89

Heavyweight Men: Artie Nagle ‘87 at stroke, John Mullen ’89, Scott Bates ’87, Toby Bell ’88 and coxswain Mike Salvador ’87

Colby’s rowers won the races, but the real meaning of the event was to simply have a competition. All the Colby and Bates participants wanted to establish an annual CBB race to help grow the sport at each college, and potentially in Maine. The Waterville Morning Sentinel published an account of the race with several photos. Bowdoin would be on the water the following year, and CBB competition would begin.

The Women’s and Men’s crews finished the year by competing in the New England Collegiate Championships in Worcester, MA on Lake Quinsigamond.

Secure Program’s Future By Becoming Varsity

The club was quickly capturing a lot of attention. The broader collegiate rowing community was impressed that such a young club, run by students and with a very small budget could not only beat larger programs with more support, but win races. The local news media was covering club events. National businesses with local ties were willing to be associated with the club. A property with both waterfront launching capability as well as secure storage capacity had been secured. The students were able to raise funds to cover much of the program’s cost, and donors were supporting the club with new equipment. The Club’s apparel was innovative and very noticeable around campus. Student interest on campus was extremely high. Finally, with help from the Colby Crew Club, Bates had started a rowing program, and Bowdoin was beginning efforts to start theirs. A formal CBB competition was in the making. 

Given the success, the club’s Officers, Purcell ‘87, Nagle ‘87, Catlin ‘88 and Bell ’88 scheduled a meeting with Colby President William Cotter to discuss elevating the club to Varsity status. President Cotter welcomed the four students who were donned in coats and ties into his office where they discussed the program for almost an hour. The four club members explained that a rowing team at Colby could compete and win in spite of being located in northern New England. Bates was committed to their rowing program, and Bowdoin was starting up. The club’s history was one of resourcefulness, meeting needs and being competitive. The club had raised some funding, but not enough to achieve what they wanted to achieve. Attaining Varsity status would result in a higher level of commitment, support and funding from the College, and would ensure Colby student athletes would be rowing well into the future. 

The students knew that Varsity status would likely not come as a result of this meeting, but they knew the first step had to be made. In a cordial meeting in his office, President Cotter acknowledged the determination, commitment, resourcefulness and success of the club. Although Varsity status would not come until 1993, the first step in that process had been taken. 

As Colby’s Historian Earl Smith stated on page 287 in his book Mayflower Hill: A History of Colby College, “The expensive sport of crew, begun as a club in 1984, was beating its oars for varsity status.”

Coach John Gemery returned as part time Coach for the fall 1986 and spring 1987 seasons. The club continued to compete in the Connecticut, Merrimack and Snake Head races in the fall of 1986. The club also sent three boats to compete in the 1986 Head of the Charles. The Women’s Lightweights finished 15th in their division; the Women’s Heavyweights finished in 22nd in a tough field of 28 in the Championship Fours division; and the Heavyweight Men finished 35th in the Championship Fours. 

Two More Firsts

The highlights of the fall 1986 season were Colby Crew’s first two “Head” race wins at the 2.5 mile Head of the Snake Regatta on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA. Both the Women’s Heavyweight and Men’s Novice fours won their divisions, the first wins at a Head race by Colby Crews! Colby’s victorious Heavyweight Women’s four was propelled by Galen Lauman ’90 at stroke, Lisa Collett ’88, Ann Armstrong ’88, Steph Rocknak ’88 and coxswain Kristina Wemple ’90. The winning Men’s Heavyweight Novice boat included Tucker, Brayer, Webb, Shyka and “Herbivore” Donnelly as coxswain. After the trophy ceremony, coxswains Wemple and Donnelly were tossed into the cold waters of Lake Quinsigamond. Both squads brought home to Mayflower Hill Colby Crew’s first Trophies, pewter steins, which were immediately displayed in the College’s trophy case in the Athletic Center.

The Club also competed in the sprints in the spring, including the New England Collegiate Championships on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA. The membership continued to grow. Coach Gemery continued to schedule three practices per day several times a week to accommodate as many rowers on the water as possible. Gemery remarked “It was rewarding to see consistent improvement from all the boats especially in the two victories in the final competition of the fall season. The program is developing as one of Colby’s greater potentials.”

Bowdoin Joins Colby and Bates

During the fall season the club was contacted by a group of students at Bowdoin who were starting a rowing program. From the hall phone (x3029) on the second floor of his dorm (Pierce), Randy Catlin ‘88 talked with Brad Lisle (Bowdoin ‘87) about helpful suggestions when starting up a program. With significant help from some alumni, Bowdoin was on the water the following spring season.

The three small Maine colleges started a Maine Rowing Council to discuss ways to grow the sport of rowing in Maine. During the 1986-1987 winter, the Colby and Bates representatives agreed with Bowdoin that to grow the sport quickly, Bowdoin should host the spring 1987 CBB races. One of the highlights of the 1987 spring season was the first official CBB race, hosted by Bowdoin’s first season club on the Androscoggin River. Bowdoin’s boat storage/launch site was on Water Street in Brunswick, below the dam between Brunswick and Topsham, and almost directly below a railway bridge. Colby rowers recall doing well in that first CBB race. 

Arnie Robinson (Bates ’87) also recalls the post-race celebration. All three clubs enjoyed beverages and good times once the boats were stowed away. The CBB rowing competitions became great avenues for growing camaraderie within the Maine rowing community. This post race tradition continues in 2024.

The Club hired Rob Brooks as a part time Coach in the fall of 1987. Brooks grew up in Waterville and was a recent graduate of Harvard University where he was a letter winner in their Lightweight 8+. He brought valuable knowledge to the program and continued the three daily sessions. He moved on to Law School after the 1987-88 year.

The club competed the Connecticut, Merrimack, Snake Head races. Two Colby boats also competed in the Head of the Charles, with the Heavyweight Women finishing 29th and the Heavyweight Men finishing 35th in the Championship Fours divisions. 

With continued fundraising efforts organized by Catlin ‘88, Nina Colhoun ‘88, Karen Diver ’89 and Forsyth Kineon ’89, mainly through the selling of innovative t-shirts, hosting an ergathon on Parents’ Day, as well as with contributions from students, parents and the college, a new Schoenbrod 4+ was purchased from the Schoenbrod Company in Biddeford, ME. This was the third boat purchased by the club since the original wooden Pococks. The new shell allowed for more rowers to be on the water at one time, which helped to develop inexperienced rowers. 

The club competed in several races in the spring. As reported in the May 12, 1988 Echo, included in the schedule were back to back days of racing on Saturday April 31 and May 1. On Saturday, the rowers traveled to Manchester, NH to take on the host University of New Hampshire, University of Vermont, Brandeis and Notre Dame. After racing, the rowers returned to Mayflower Hill. On Sunday, Bowdoin hosted the CBB regatta in Brunswick.

At the CBB race, the Novice men posted Colby’s best result by winning their division. Chris Swaffar ‘90, Michael Rooney ‘91, Dave Crowe ‘91, Fred Stewart ‘91 and coxswain Kristina Wemple ‘90 lost an early lead to Bates, but came back with a strong finish to win the race,

The 1988 Sprint season concluded at the New England Championships in Worcester, MA. The women's novice team of Kineon ‘89, Resor ‘01, Fowlie ‘91, Sullivan ‘90 and coxswain Diver ’89 had the Club’s top result, earning a spot in the Grand Finals, and placed fourth. Neither the Men’s Heavyweights nor the Men’s Novice boats got past the preliminary heats.

A total of 68 rowers were on the roster during the fall of the 1988/1989 season. The club was student coached; John Mullen ’89, Catherine Giles ’91 and Chris Frothingham ’92 performed coaching duties. Paul Irgang reengaged as the Faculty Advisor and volunteered his time to operate the chase boat during practices and to travel to regattas with the team. Club Officers Jim Connolly ‘89, Karen Diver ‘89, Forsyth Kineon ‘89 and Elisabeth Fowlie ‘91 started a quarterly COLBY CREW newsletter which was circulated throughout the school and alumni to increase awareness and drum up support. Team members recall a Halloween practice at which Irgang was suited up with a Big Bird (Sesame Street) costume in the chase boat for the entire practice! 

To raise funds for the Club, students sold Head of the Charles T-shirts, and held an Erg-a-thon during Parents’ Weekend where 46 rowers rowed 812 miles. These efforts netted $4,300. Four new oars ($200 ea) and two new Concept II ergometers ($635 ea) were purchased using this money. Students continued to keep the equipment ship shape, with Dave Kew ’90, Jim Connolly, ’89, Matt Ovios ’90 and Kendra Smith ’92 doing everything from repairing rigging to building new slings to sanding and repainting blades. 

The Club competed in three Head races that fall, the Connecticut, Merrimack, Snake. Additionally, Colby’s Lightweight Men entered the Head of the Charles and finished 28th.

President’s Cup: CBB Competition Formalized

The 1988 All-Maine Rowers Banquet was held at Bates College on Friday, December 2, 1988. Bates hosted Club members from Colby and Bowdoin. The highlight of the evening came when Bates President T. Hedley Reynolds announced he was establishing the President’s Cup Award, to be competed for by the novice crews from Colby, Bates and Bowdoin. The winner of the new Award would be based on performance throughout the season. President Reynolds sought commitment from Colby and Bowdoin by requesting each College have a trustee serve on the Advisory Committee. Mr. Richard L. Abedon graciously accepted the Colby Club’s request to serve as Colby’s representative. 

The 1988 All-Maine Rowers Banquet was held at Bates College on Friday, December 2, 1988. Bates hosted Club members from Colby and Bowdoin. The highlight of the evening came when Bates President T. Hedley Reynolds announced he was establishing the President’s Cup Award, to be competed for by the novice crews from Colby, Bates and Bowdoin. The winner of the new Award would be based on performance throughout the season. President Reynolds sought commitment from Colby and Bowdoin by requesting each College have a trustee serve on the Advisory Committee. Mr. Richard L. Abedon graciously accepted the Colby Club’s request to serve as Colby’s representative. 

A Formal Proposal to Go Varsity

After the 1988 fall season ended, the Club’s Officers, Jim Brayer ’89, Karen Diver ’89, James Connolly ’89, Elisabeth Fowlie ’91, Forsyth Kineon ’89 and David Kew ’89, submitted a two-page letter in October to President Cotter and the Trustees requesting to move the Club to Varsity status. Subsequently, in January 1989, they submitted a formal, 12 page proposal for the Club to be elevated to Varsity status. Alumni Phil Purcell ’87 and Randy Catlin ’88 worked with the students to develop the proposal. Included in the proposal was a brief History of Colby Crew, projections for the upcoming years, and comparisons of Colby’s equipment, coaching and budget data to rowing programs at Bates, Wesleyan and Connecticut College. 

The Administration reviewed the proposal and acknowledged the continued on-the-water success, even against programs with significantly higher levels of support. They were aware of the popularity of the Club as it had more student athletes than the football team, many underclass rowers and increasing numbers of alumni. They appreciated the sustained student fundraising efforts. They also acknowledged that Bates’ President had initiated the CBB Presidents’ Trophy competition. However, the Administration did not accept the proposal to move the club to Varsity. 

The Club competed in several sprints during the spring of 1989. The CBB race was hosted by Bowdoin in Brunswick, ME on April 30th. Colby’s boats had strong races in all five races entered. The Lightweight Novice Men were Colby’s only winners that day. The Lightweight Women lost an extremely close race to Bates, on a controversial Judges’ decision – no photos were taken at the Finish Line. 

The Club also sent six crews to the New England Small College Championships in Worcester, MA on May 6, 1989. Sophomore Elizabeth Fowlie Mock (Class of ‘91 but moved on to Emory for her junior and senior years to pursue her pre-med major) recalls the club traveling to Worcester with the Schoenbrods fastened onto racks on top of a white Chevrolet van. After unloading the boats at the regatta site, the rowers all headed to her family’s house in Northborough, MA, which was only two exits away on I-495.

A few days prior to departing for the race, as the club customarily did, the students had notified Colby’s Dining Services that they would not be eating on campus the night before the race. Dining Services packed up the correct quantity of spaghetti, sauce and garlic bread based on the meal credits of the students who were going. The day before the race the students picked up the boxes of food at Dana Hall and put it all in the van. 

In Charlie and Donna Fowlie’s kitchen the night before the 1989 New England’s, the 20+ students cooked up a spaghetti dinner. Mr. Fowlie was a United Methodist Minister and was a frequent participant in overnight youth group trips, so the chaotic scene of inexperienced but “helpful” student chefs was not new. After dinner and after the kitchen was clean, the rowers split up to sleep, with some on the floor of the Fowlie’s home, and some on the floor of a kind neighbor two doors down the street. 

Unfortunately the weather conditions the following day were extremely stormy. Students recall seeing two foot whitecaps on Lake Quinsigamond. So, after all lightweight rowers had weighed in and after a slight delay to start the first races, the race organizers determined the conditions were too hazardous to hold the race. The New Englands were canceled, so the rowers packed up and returned to Colby. 

The club again did not have a coach for the year, so students stepped up to coach. Students again stepped up to coach for the 1989/90 school year, including Tom Lewis ‘91 who provided technical guidance. Other students stepped up and drove the safety launch as needed. The Club continued to load the 4+ shells onto the top of a van and drive themselves to races. If the weather was nasty enough to preclude going out on the water, often practice was “held” at Bonnie’s Diner in Winslow. The Club was not able to get a boat entered into the 1989 Head of the Charles.

The on-the-water highlight occurred at the fall CBB race where Colby won two of the four races entered. As reported in the September 28, 1989 Colby Echo, Club Officer and coxswain Kristina Wemple ‘90 described, "Last Saturday in spite of Hurricane Hugo, Colby Crew made an impressive showing at the Head of the Androscoggin Regatta,” which included Bates and Bowdoin. 

On the funding side, the Student Activities Association continued to provide limited funding. To cover the cost of purchasing new equipment and attending races, the club continued to hold fundraising events, including erg-a-thons on Parents’ Weekend. An ergometer was also donated to the club by Kendra Smith ‘92 which she won for being the top fundraiser at a Race for A Cure event held in Boston. The basement of Mary Low became the home to the club’s ergometers. The club continued their “top campus swag” status by designing a “Take me to the River / Drop me in the Water” T-Shirt to sell around campus. The design included four cool characters carrying a boat with the lyrics from the song “Take Me To The River” originally written by Al Green in 1974, but covered by the Talking Heads in their popular 1978 version. 

The ice was late to go out in the spring of 1990. Students initiated creative efforts to get boat time. The club contacted the coaches at University of New Hampshire (UNH) about visiting to use their rowing tanks. The club knew that tank time did not help with the all important set of a boat, but at least it would give them a break from the ergometers. The University of New Hampshire (UNH) liked the idea. In the very early spring of 1990, UNH hosted Colby’s crews and graciously allowed Colby’s rowers to use their indoor tanks. This was a real morale booster for the students as they prepared for the spring sprint season. 

The students searched and then found some open water near campus on the very narrow Messalonskee Stream in Oakland, just below the Oakland Dam and the Waste Water Treatment Facility. This is likely very near too where Colby’s “Navy” launched their boats in the 1870’s – 1880’s. The Crews wet launched and practiced with the 4+ shells on that section. Rowers recall “…rowing for a short stretch and then having barely enough room to turn the boat around.  We had to wade in from the bank into near freezing water, and the slimy mud stuck between your toes for days.”

Rowing clubs at Colby, Bates and Bowdoin were gaining in popularity and numbers of participants. Performance on the water from all three clubs was improving. The All Maine Rowers Council continued to be an effective way for Colby, Bates and Bowdoin to grow the sport together. The clubs got to know each other on a personal level. They would cheer each other on at fall and spring regattas. The CBB races were student organized, and the visiting clubs helped the host club to ensure a successful regatta.

The CBB races were very competitive. All three clubs were growing and improving. Following a tradition started at the very first CBB regatta held at Bowdoin in the spring of 1987, once the racing had completed and the boats derigged and loaded onto vehicles, all three teams would celebrate together with a barbecue and a barrel, provided by the host club. Sometimes the competition on the water would spill over onto dry land. Beverage fueled “boat races” would allow for a raucous rematch of the official races, as would an occasional dizzy izzy. Pre-selected designated drivers served as the “officials”. 

Driving up and down Maine’s highways with shells on top of a van piqued interest. Rowing was still very new to Maine. Colby’s club members recall paying tolls at a Turnpike toll booth and having a toll booth worker exclaim, “Man, those are some big ass canoes!” The rowers began calling the shells “BACs”.

The highlight of the 1990 spring Sprint season occurred at the New England Championships, held at Lake Quinsigamond. The student coached Women’s Heavyweight boat with Kendra Smith ‘92 at stroke, Nive Filipo ‘93, Kate Cain ‘92, future Olympian Hilary Gehman ‘93 in bow and coxswain Shannon Ames ‘91 made the Grand Finals of the regatta. The Kennebec Morning Journal dedicated the entire page 13 to the Club’s success in the Focus section of the Monday, May 21, 1990 edition.

The College led the search to find a new Coach for the 1990/1991 season. They hired Greg Barringer as a part time Coach. He had rowed for Boston University and was an aspiring men’s national lightweight hopeful. Barringer moved on after the fall season. Team members remember the personal gifts he gave upon his departure. 

The Club competed in several Head races that fall. The Lightweight Women 4+ was consistently Colby’s top placing boat. At the Head of the Connecticut, they placed sixth. At the Head of the Charles, the Club had its best showing to date since Steck’s 2nd place finish in 1984 in the “Super Bowl” of head regattas with a very strong 10th place finish by the Women and a 21st place by the Men in the Lightweight Fours Divisions.

The Colby Echo reported in the September 27, 1990 edition of the success Colby had at the Head of the Androscoggin, hosted by Bates. Clubs from Bowdoin and Worcester State also competed. Each program could enter multiple boats in any race. The article describes a total of 55 athletes rowing for Colby in the regatta. The Men’s Lightweight Four of Ben Ames ‘91 at stroke, Stuart Eunson, ‘91, Theo Von Wallmenich '92, and Toby Frothingham '93 with Pam Young ‘91 as coxswain had Colby’s top result, winning their race against seven other boats.

Club President Ames ‘91 and Secretary Shannon Johnson ‘91 both described in the September 27, 1990 Echo the high turnout for the Club during the fall. Among the newcomers were several who had rowed in high school, including one student whose high school team went to Nationals, as well as many who were new to the sport. They both mentioned the depth of the talent had led to increasing competition for seats in the boats.

At the Head of the Charles later in October, the Lightweight Women’s boat was the only Colby boat entered and finished in the middle of their division. In the spring sprint season, the lightweight women had Colby’s top result at the Lake Quinsigamond sprints. With Johnson ‘91 at stroke, Kristen Resor ’91, Kristin Nixon ’92, Sarah “Steiny” Steindel ’93, and Elaine Jorgensen ’91 as coxswain the lightweight women won silver in the Grand Finals.

Move to Eights

The pinnacle of collegiate rowing competitions occurs in the Eight person shells, or “Eights”. Up until 1991 Colby had been competing in Fours. The College agreed to help purchase an eight after discussions with the club. In the spring of 1991, with support from the club, parents and friends of the program, the College bought the Club their first 8+ shell from Schoenbrod USA in Biddeford, Maine.

Unfortunately, not long after the new Schoenbrod 8+ arrived, its deck was inadvertently pierced by an open oarlock of a 4+ being handled into a sling, rendering it immediately unusable. The brand new 8+ shell was brought back down to Schoenbrod’s facility in Biddeford where their repair shop quickly completed repairs. The crews started rowing in the 8+ in the fall of the 1991/92 season and competing in it the following spring.

 The “Godparents of Colby Crew” - The Humes

In 1991 Colby Crew started a new era. Dr. H. Alan Hume was on the Board of Visitors at Colby and was the Director and Attending Physician at Colby’s Student Health Center from 1990 – 2000. He had gotten to know a few student rowers, such as Elizabeth Fowlie ’91 and others, during his interactions at the Health Center. Dr. Hume and his wife Dorothy donated to the College a 10-acre parcel of land in Sidney with 450 feet of shoreline on Messalonskee Lake.  A second donation by the Humes of an additional 100 feet of shoreline resulted in a total of 550 feet of shoreline. This site became the Home of Colby Crew in the spring of 1991 and is still the Home of Colby Crew as of this writing in 2024. It is approximately three miles down the lake from the Swartz’s at 23 Libby Hill Rd in Oakland, where the club had been storing and launching boats since 1984. 

The team started using the Hume’s property immediately in the spring of 1991. With plenty of parking, the students did not have to all pile into one van. The students carpooled or biked down to the Hume's. Fred Stewart ’91 recalls getting up to 10 people in his mint green, 1969 Chevy Impala 327 which he inherited from his grandparents in Kansas. No power steering, brakes or windows; it was bare bones, but spacious. The Team nicknamed this beauty “The Boathouse”.  Shannon Johnson Ames ’91 recalls driving her 1980’s Buick Regal, which was “spacious and floated like a boat,” loaded with students to practice. 

At the start of the first season using the Hume’s property as the Club’s new home, the rowers would wet launch the boats in the lake. Kendra Smith ‘92 recalls visiting Colby’s Maintenance Department to ask if they would build some docks for the new location. Colby’s Maintenance craftsmen jumped right on the request, and very quickly built a set of docks for the new site.

The relationship between the Humes and the rowers was special from the start. The students initially stored their shells on sawhorses at the Hume’s. Not long after the first season started, Dr. Hume decided to build them a “barn” to be used for storing shells and equipment as well as wood which fed his woodworking habit. However, he told the students he was going to build himself a wood storage barn and wanted to simply “add a second bay” for their shells. His original plans were to build the “barn” long enough to store 4+ shells, which had a length of approximately 44 feet. 

Dr. Hume heard the Club would be buying an 8+ shell and believed this might impact his design for the new barn. He consulted Club President Ben Ames ‘91 after practice one day. Ames did his homework and confirmed the length of the new 8+ shell at approximately 60 feet, which was 16 feet longer than a 4+ shell. Using this information Dr. Hume modified his building plans. No further inquiry was made; Ames had the answer. Using that information Dr. Hume built a correctly sized barn / boat house for the club in time for the next season! That “Barn”, built in 1991, continues to serve as Colby’s Boathouse in 2024 and holds many 8+ and 4+ shells. And yes, some of Dr. Hume’s rough cut wood is still drying in there as well.

At the end of the 1990/1991 spring season the Club held an event at the new Hume facility during Graduation weekend. The graduating athletes could be joined in a boat by parents, siblings and/or friends who had rowing experience, and have a row on Messalonskee Lake. By all accounts it was a grand gathering of families on and off the water, and presented for many the first time relatives and friends could row together. 

The Hume’s generosity led to the creation of the Colby-Hume Center on Messalonskee Lake, a beautiful setting that holds a special meaning for the Colby community. Not only does the Hume Center continue to be the home of Colby’s Crew Team, it is also home to woodworking and blacksmithing shops used by students for popular courses during Jan Plans which started in January 1992.

Alan and Dorothy Hume acted as "godparents" to the rowers with their consistent support and encouragement. Their continued support was in large measure responsible for the team’s ability to achieve varsity status in 1993. Dr. Hume was given a Colby Brick Award in 2006. Alan passed away in February, 2020. In recognition of their special place in the Colby community, on September 21, 2024, Colby recognized Dottie and Alan (posthumously) as the Athletic Department’s “C” Club Persons of the Year.

Colby Crew will be forever grateful to the Humes for their exceptional generosity and kind, encouraging presence. As many Colby rowing alums have recalled, “We loved the Humes. The Humes were the best thing to ever happen to Colby Crew!”

Quick But Memorable Meeting With the President

Club Officer Kendra Smith ‘92 recalls meeting with President William Cotter and another club Officer in the spring of 1991 to discuss attaining Varsity status for the rowing program. She recalls sitting in a chair in front of President Cotter’s desk and having a cordial, productive discussion. The students recapped the on-the-water success of the boats, the continued commitment by the Club members to raise funds, and the potential of the new home of Colby Crew at the Hume’s on Messalonskee Lake. President Cotter remembered that meeting well after it ended. After Varsity status was granted to Crew two years later in 1993, President Cotter sent a personal note to Smith ‘92, and likely a few others, with the good news as well as a thank you for the efforts to propel the rowing program forward. 

The College hired Yvonne Widener, a 1990 Northeastern University graduate, in the fall of 1991 to coach the club. She was from nearby Gardiner, Maine, and was an accomplished rower. She was in the stroke seat for some successful Northeastern crews and had also practiced with the US National team.

Widener recalls being extremely excited to become Colby’s coach. She secured an apartment in downtown Waterville behind Notre Dame Catholic Church. Her primary initial focus was to ensure the safety of her crews on the water. Northeastern rowed on the busy Charles River in Boston, as did crews from Harvard, Boston University, Riverside Boat Club, MIT, Belmont Hill School, BB&N, and more. With such high traffic, accidents happened on the water. Widener recalls not only witnessing shells colliding, but also being involved in one accident where she and her 8+ crew ended up in the cold water with one rower pinned under a rigger, but above water, until a launch from another organization arrived. Several people were treated for hypothermia, but all recovered.

She took inventory of the club’s equipment. She recalls the equipment as being in tough shape compared to what she had been using at Northeastern, a well funded Division 1 program which expected to compete and win. Most of Colby’s equipment by this time had seven years of heavy use and had been stored outside during the fall and spring seasons. The students had found ways to fix things which broke but were clearly not trained in how to perform proper maintenance. She recalls regularly spending a significant amount of time consulting with the boat manager at Northeastern and repairing equipment. Gluing parts of boats back together, finding / replacing / tightening nuts and bolts, and rebuilding riggers were all part of the daily activity. 

She also was not satisfied with having only one small launch to watch over up to three crews on the water at one time. If a freak weather event happened on the water and all three boats capsized, as she had witnessed on the Charles, she was concerned of the ability of one 12’ aluminum skiff to get the rowers safely to shore. The frequent, thick fog could also hamper the ability of a chase boat to find crews in distress.

With the help of the students, she pulled together a “Wish List” of equipment and estimated pricing which she thought the program needed. The list included a new Carolina skiff and motor to use as a launch with a price she got from the local boat dealer on Kennedy Memorial Drive, new life jackets, a mega phone, an alert system for the coxswains to have on the boats, as well as a navigation light which could be clamped onto each boat. The list also included replacement parts and spare parts for the existing equipment. Finally, with the new “Barn” built by the Humes, there was room for additional shells. She included a state of the art Vespoli 4+ shell and new Concept II oars on the list as well.

With high hopes, she added as a true “wish” to the list a tank designed for rowing which could be installed in a pre-existing building. Permanent, indoor tanks were common at larger institutions. Tanks were designed with sliding seats and riggers on a stable platform so full-sized oars could be used. Rowers could simulate “on the water” strokes with the tanks. Widener got a quote for $32,776 from the Durham Boat Company in Durham, NH to install one at Colby. 

Coach Widener and club President David (Toby) Frothingham presented the list at Parents’ Weekend in 1991. The students also sent the wish list to relatives, friends, neighbors, rich uncles, lottery winners, etc. The list included the cost for each item, such as an oar, and put a price tag on it. Thus, donors could “donate an oar” if they gave $250, for example. 

The approach worked. With the funding received, the club purchased a new Vespoli 4+ at a cost of approximately $10,000. Once the boats were in house, the club realized that with the three Schoenbrod 4+, a brand new Vespoli 4+ and a new 8+ they had more seats than oars! So, they continued to raise funds to have a fully loaded stable to support 24 rowers. 

Club President Frothingham ’93 recalls meeting with President Cotter to bring him up to speed with the program’s activities. Toward the end of the meeting Frothingham recalls describing the potential safety concern if something should happen to more than one of the boats during a practice and the rowers ended up in cold water. One chase boat could safely and quickly get the rowers from only one boat to shore. If more than one crew were compromised, the rowers would be swimmers for an extended period of time in cold water, which could endanger them.

Cotter quickly understood the concern and asked Frothingham for a suggestion as to what should be done. Frothingham was prepared and handed President Cotter the spec sheet and pricing for a new Carolina skiff and motor. President Cotter took the information and discussed the situation with his staff. The next day President Cotter contacted Frothingham, told him that funding had been secured, and told Frothingham to go buy the new boat! A second launch / chase boat was quickly added.

The acquisition of the new launch would quickly prove to be valuable. In the spring of 1992, during a race hosted by Colby at the Hume Center, a crew from Bates flipped their boat. The new life jackets were tossed from the new launch and all the rowers safely made it back to dry land.

The Durham Boat Company’s tank did not make the final cut.

Widener’s safety focus did not stop there. She required her rowers to wear wool socks versus cotton as they were not only warm when wet, but they also provided better grip on the docks. In the morning she would park her car so that she could use the headlights to illuminate the path used by the students to get the boats to the water. 

Alums recall Widener was very committed to improving the club’s skills. She shifted the off the water training away from the use of a lot of weights to more bodyweight exercises focused on improving leverage. She also focused on improving technical skills for not only the rowers but also the coxswains. She drew maps and preferred course routes for courses such as the Head of the Connecticut and Head of the Charles as there are fast ways to navigate around river bends and through bridges. 

The Club raced in the Head of the Connecticut in the fall of 1991 but did not have an entry into the Head of the Charles.

Widener recalls the immediate, warm welcome and consistent support she received from the Humes. She recalls arriving at the boathouse every day and being greeted by at least one of the Humes and their dogs asking, “How can we help you? What do you need?” If the practice was early in the morning or in the afternoon, the Humes constantly offered their support.

The club made the first boat dedication with the new Vespoli 4+. In the spring of 1992 the club dedicated the new Vespoli 4+ the “DOROTHY C. HUME”. Club members, along with her husband Alan and their two Golden Retrievers and two German Shepherds all gathered at the water’s edge at the Hume’s home as Dottie Hume splashed some champagne over the bow.

Parents of the rowers continued to enthusiastically support the Club. With an increased number of boats, the club wanted to bring more rowers to regattas. Strapping shells on top of college vans was no longer a viable option. The parents of Joe Roy Lizewski ’95 stepped in to assist. His Dad, Joseph, talked with the club about what they needed for a trailer, and what features they wanted. He asked questions, took notes, and returned some months later with a new boat trailer. The club was ecstatic as this action directly enabled more rowers to compete in regattas. 

Coach Widener recalls one unfortunate incident with the trailer. She and her boyfriend were driving the trailer full of boats to Lowell for a race the next day. They were pulled over on I-95 by a Maine State Trooper who informed her that the taillights on the trailer were not working. They got off at the next exit and went to a convenience store where they bought some flashlights, batteries and red mesh trucker hats. They duct taped the flashlights inside the red hats to the back of the trailer to serve as red taillights and made it to Lowell. To top off the journey, that night they got engaged!

When Coach Widener got to the boathouse the next day, the crews were pointing at the flashlights and red hats on the trailer and asked “hey Coach, what’s that?” They eventually saw Coach’s new ring and asked, “HEY COACH! WHAT”S THAT?!” Nobody recalls what happened during that race.

The rowers continued to stay at the homes of rowers when an overnight stay was required. Kendra Smith’s ’92 parents, Tina and Danny Smith, lived in Beverly, MA and hosted the team on several occasions. Sleeping quarters were on the floor of their great room. The Smiths recall the rowers being excellent guests as they were helpful with cleaning up after dinner and quiet at night.

The Smiths were also enthusiastic supporters of the rowers. They would honk and wave from their blue minivan when they passed the club’s van on the highway on the way to a race When the regatta location allowed, they would drive on roads parallel to the racecourse during a race shouting encouragement to the rowers from their minivan! At the CBB race hosted in Brunswick on the Androscoggin, the Smiths even made their way up onto the old railroad trestle bridge and shouted support to the crews from up above! 

Widener returned as coach for the 1992/93 season. By this time she had gotten a job working at a company based in Waterville which owned several ACE Hardware stores in the area. As a double major in both English Literature and Business Administration (concentration in Accounting), she had versatile skills. After practice, she would grab a quick dinner and get to the office at about 6:00 pm. She would run the day’s financial reports from each store during the night, and consolidate them into a management report which could be reviewed the following morning. The process took most of the night. When the reports were complete, she would swing through Dunkin Donuts for a coffee and then arrive at the Hume Center in time to get things ready for early morning practice. She would get her sleep between the morning and afternoon practices.

Widener connected with her former coach at Northeastern to arrange for her Colby Mules a special on-the-water session on the Charles prior to the upcoming Head of the Charles regatta. She wanted them as prepared as they could be. Her former NU Coach, Carie Graves, was a three time Olympian for the US, winning gold in 1984 and bronze in 1976. The US Olympic Committee named her as US Rowing’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1981 and 1984, and she was inducted into the National Rowing Foundation’s Hall of Fame twice as a member of the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Teams. Coach Graves was a big deal in the rowing world. 

Colby’s rowers travelled down to the Northeastern boathouse on a weekend. Widener recalls the kids’ faces when they walked into the Northeastern boathouse, were welcomed by the legendary Coach, and saw all the equipment. At Coach Graves’ insistence, they borrowed a couple of NU’s boats and a launch for the day, at no charge to Colby.

The crews spent time on the water not only having a hard practice but also getting acclimated to the whole Charles River scene and learning the best route through the various bridges. As the crews were wrapping up their training session, one of the riggers on the borrowed NU boat broke. The crew pulled into the nearest dock, which happened to belong to Radcliffe College, a women’s liberal arts college in Cambridge which was affiliated with Harvard. Standing on the dock was Radcliffe’s Coach Liz O’Leary, another legendary coach on the Charles. She had been part of the US Olympic Team in 1976 and 1980 and had coached World Championship teams as well as the 1988 US Olympic Team. Coach O’Leary helped Colby’s crew safely dock and got her Boatman to install a new rigger.

As the Mules pulled back into NU’s dock at the end of the day, one of Colby’s rowers caught the eye of NU Coach Graves. Graves asked Coach Widener about the tall rower and said she was impressed with the rower’s athletic ability. Graves told Widener, “I want that one rowing for Northeastern.” They talked on the dock with the Colby rower about potentially transferring to Northeastern to row. Although the rower hadn’t rowed before, NU’s Coach Graves thought she was a natural. The rower did not end up going to NU, but she worked with Coach Widener on her erg scores and eventually received a full scholarship to Notre Dame University, where she became stroke of their Women’s eight. Coach Widener recalls getting a Notre Dame t-shirt from her former rower.

The lucky Colby rowers who made that trip to Boston had a very memorable day!

Coach Widener’s focus and approach translated to improved performance on the water. The highlight was the Heavyweight Women’s result at the Head of the Charles, only a few weeks after Northeastern hosted them. As a surprise, the rowers and their families special ordered new “Henley style” shirts for the women to wear. In addition to the “Colby” and crossed oars, the logo on the left chest read, “Heavy Women”. Those shirts were worn only for the 1992 Head of the Charles. With the new sassy shirts and bow marker #24, the Women medaled in the Club Fours division!

Securing the Future - Varsity Status For Fall Season

The big news of the spring of 1993 occurred when Colby’s Administration granted Varsity status to Colby Crew at the recommendation of the Athletic Advisory Committee, as reported in an article by Staff writer Peter Duback in the September 9, 1993 Colby Echo. Importantly, Crew was approved as both a Women’s and Men’s sport. After nine years competing as a student run club, Colby Crew became an official Varsity Team. The current rowers and rowing alumni were thrilled! The Trustees would later approve the move in the fall of 1993. 

However, the approval came with two challenges. First, in accordance with the College’s policy, any Team granted Varsity status had to successfully complete a two year probationary period. The rowers were still required to raise funds. That first year the Athletic Department committed to providing $5,500 toward the operational budget. The rowers would have to raise an additional $6,000 - $7,000 to keep the program afloat. Having raised approximately $12,000 during the 1992/93 season, the Team was confident they could achieve that target. 

The second significant challenge to the program was the Varsity status was initially awarded only for the fall season and the Head races. The program was viewed as having two separate seasons and not as a year long program. The rowers would still have to compete as a club for the spring sprint season, when the competition for collegiate Championships occurred. So although the rowers were happy with the news of Varsity status, they still had work to do to secure Varsity status for the spring season.

The students worked with the Athletic Department to transfer much of the logistical work required to support the Team, including registering the Team in races, lining up transportation to and from races, and securing hotel accommodations. Once the transition of the logistical duties was complete, rowers could focus on training and the commitment required to make their boats go faster. Rowers could sleep in hotel beds as opposed to on the couches and floors of the homes of rowers’ parents. With less time required to organize all the details, the students would have more time to focus on rowing, academics and student life.

As documented in the Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes from Friday, October 1, 1993, as the first order of business after approval of the May, 21 Meeting Minutes, President Cotter said the Trustees would …”be asked to approve crew as a varsity sport. He said between 50 and 60 students are involved and the team uses the facilities of the Colby-Hume Center on Snow Pond. Normally it is the policy of the College to drop one sport if another is made a varsity team, he said, but in this case it is an expansion. The net cost of the sport will be about $20,000 per year.”

Later at 8:30 p.m. in the Robins Room in Cotter Union, Dean Robert McArthur introduced to the Board of Trustees’ Educational Policy Committee the proposal from the Athletics Advisory Committee, the Department of Physical Education and Athletics, and the administration, “to elevate Crew to a varsity sport. After some discussion about the incremental cost of this program (to be born after several years entirely within the existing Athletic budget), the proposal was unanimously approved.” 

In accordance with the Athletic Advisory Committee’s recommendation, the Team continued to raise funds to meet the funding needs of the Program. A few years later, with significant support from the Humes and President Cotter, the College would approve full Varsity status for both the fall and spring seasons.

The Athletics Department hired Don Angus, previously an Assistant Coach at Fordham University, to be Colby’s first full time Varsity Coach starting in the fall of 1993. Angus had rowed at Marietta College and graduated in 1992. Angus would coach the Team for three full academic years. The program’s varsity status added credibility to the program and Coach Angus could actively compete against other colleges to recruit student athletes who had rowed in high school. Prospective student athletes would see Colby as not only an excellent academic choice, but one which would also allow them to continue rowing competitively at the collegiate level.

The Team had a different tone during the fall of 1993. As reported in the Colby Echo on October 7, 1993, Co-Captain Chris Rogers ‘94 remarked, "We now have to think and act differently as a varsity sport," said Rogers. "The emphasis is on racing, so that we can rise to the varsity level." Fellow Co-Captain Laura Keally ‘94 acknowledged that although the Team would immediately benefit from increased funding, “...it will take time for the increased support to bring Colby competitiveness up to the level of other schools. Money becomes a big issue in making the transition to the varsity level… To get all the equipment updated it will take a couple of years."

The Team opened up with a good result at the Head of the Textile Regatta in Lowell, MA against schools such as Amherst, Bates, Boston College, Bowdoin, Clark, and some independent organizations such as the Riverside boat club from Cambridge, MA. The novice Men’s Open Four had the top result of the day, winning their race.

The Colby Echo on October 28, 1993 provided details to several other races that fall. At the Head of the Charles, Colby had three entries, Women’s Open Fours, Men’s Open Fours and Men’s Lightweight.  The top result was posted by the Women’s Open boat with a 17th place finish out of 33 boats, less than a minute behind winner Johns Hopkins, earning an automatic invitation to the following year’s race. The Men’s Lightweights finished in 26th out of 41 boats and raced against the US Men’s National Team. The Men’s Open boat finished in 34th place out of 48 entries. Co-Captain Rogers ‘94 and a member of the Men’s Heavyweight (Open) boat stated that “we wouldn't have been able to beat those fourteen boats last year [as a Club]”. 

Colby hosted the fall 1993 CBB race on October 30 and entered five boats. Bates established themselves as the top program at the competition. Colby’s rowers, including freshman Scott Chandler ‘97, reported to the Echo in the November 4, 1994 edition that Coach Angus “... demands 100% from everyone and has a desire to improve the team… I don't know if I've ever taken part in a sport that was more physically challenging than this. [Coach Angus] is making us work, and work even more, to make ourselves better," said Chandler. "We run and lift during practices that sometimes start before the sun comes up. We know [Coach Angus'] reason for making us do as much as we have is to improve this team. You have to respect him, wanting to make us a better team." 

The following weekend Coach Angus took his Colby Team back to his old stomping grounds at Fordham for the final race of the fall. Coach Angus, a former assistant coach at Fordham, said "It will feel good to go back and see the people I worked with in the past," said Angus. "But our job is to go out and beat them." No results from that race are available.

Over the 1993-1994 winter the Team continued training for the fall Sprint season. Just before the spring season started, Colby, Bates and Bowdoin rowers continued to support and compete against each other by holding a CBB ergometer race, as reported in the March 17, 1994 Echo. The race not only gave the rowers some competition, but also served as a fundraiser for all three programs.

As reported in the April 28, 1994 Echo, the Team went to several regattas in the spring, including one with Division 1 schools UMass and Boston College, another with Brandeis, Roger Williams and University of Rhode Island, and another hosted by UMass Lowell with several other colleges. The Women’s novice Four was a winner or contender in each race. The Women’s Open Eight and Men’s Open Four were also consistent contenders. Coach Angus was encouraged. He remarked “This is our first year of varsity of competition and I am pleased with the intensity of training. There is a lot of talent being developed this year and it is really encouraging."  

The rowers of Colby Crew’s Club Years will describe the program’s attributes with adjectives such as resourceful, competitive, persistent, humorous, fun, purposeful, creative and more. They enjoyed and appreciated the sport of rowing and were driven by the dual desire to compete as well as to build the program to ensure future Colby students would have the opportunity to row. No one in that group ever imagined the program could compete at a national level only a decade after its founding. And nobody at the college during the club years could have predicted that the first National Championship won by a Colby Varsity team would come from the Crew program, achieved by the “Dream A Little, Sweat A Lot” Women’s Crew Team in 2003. Nor did anyone dream that Colby would be represented by at least one graduate on the US National Team for 16 of the 17 years between 1999 – 2016. 

Many of the Club Alums have stated that they learned as much or more from their experience in the Club as they did in any classroom setting. The undergraduate “Crew Club Curriculum” included organizing events to raise money, keeping track of club funds, finding ways to get new equipment, repairing existing equipment, recruiting rowers, interviewing and hiring coaches, coaching on the water when no coaches were on staff, getting vans and food from the school for regattas, driving themselves to races and practices, designing uniforms and swag, consulting with Bates and Bowdoin to help them as they started up their rowing programs, and not to mention training for and winning races.

Nancy Steck Blanks ’87 summed up the experience when she said, “I find myself recalling the crew program often as I have gone through my life. When something seems impossible or too much work to do, I catch myself thinking of that club in its early days. It's also been a great reminder for me when one way doesn't work, I have to be resourceful, creative, and come up with another option. I ask myself, ‘What would people like Jeff O’Brien, Phil Purcell, Randy Catlin, and the others do?’”

The support of the Parents and close friends of the rowers was central to the students continuing to work to ensure the program’s survival. They generously supported their rowers and literally opened up their homes to the students. Paul Irgang was the program’s biggest advocate early on and very creatively got the program noticed. The Coaches were critical to the success of the program, not only improving performance on the water but also for their resourceful and selfless efforts to support the rowers. The Swartz’s provided Colby Crew’s first home, which was the scene of many memorable firsts for Colby Crew. The Humes were the right people at the right time for the program, and their “can-do” attitude perfectly embodied the program and propelled it forward. President William Cotter not only supported the formation of the program and advocated for the program to elevate to Varsity status, but he ultimately saw Colby’s Crew Team start to compete for national titles in the late 1990’s.

This article was written by Toby Bell '88 in August of 2024 with edits provided by Stew Stokes and support from:

Kim Rogers ‘85

Geoff Alexander ‘86

Jill Booth ‘86

Guy Holbrook ‘86

Charlie McCabe ’86

Jeff O’Brien ‘86

Hilary Breed van Dusen ‘86

Lindsay Carroll Alexander ‘87

Nancy Steck Blanks ‘87

John Donnelly ‘87

Louisa Bell Paushter ‘87

Phil Purcell ‘87

Lucy Lennon Tucker ‘87

Ann Armstrong Baines ‘88

Randy Catlin ‘88

Steve Nahley ‘90

Ben Ames ‘91

Shannon Johnson Ames ‘91

Elizabeth Fowlie Mock ‘91

Fred Stewart ‘91

Kendra Smith ‘92

David Frothingham ‘93

Hilary Gehman ‘93

Laura Keally Heywood ‘94

Chris Rogers ‘94

Katie O’Neill ‘04

Arnie Robinson, Bates College ‘87

Janet Irgang, Coral Gables, FL

Steve and Sandra Swartz, Waterville, ME

Stephen Collins, Oakland, ME

Jim Clair, Head Coach, Colby Crew Club 1984-‘85

John Gemery, Head Coach, Colby Crew Club 1985-’87

Rob Brooks, Head Coach, Colby Crew Club 1987-’88

Yvonne Widener Taylor, Head Coach, Colby Crew Club 1991-‘93

Stew Stokes, Colby Head Coach of Rowing, 2000-Present 

Katie Donahue, Colby Associate Director and Head of Special Collections and Archives 

The Colby Echo

The Colby Oracle

The Kennebec Journal

The Waterville Morning Sentinel

The Central Maine Morning Sentinel

Middletown Press (CT)

“The History of Colby College”, Ernest Marriner, Colby College Press, 1963  

“Mayflower Hill: A History of Colby College”, Earl Smith, Colby College, 2006

Kennebec County Registry of Deeds

Town of Oakland, Maine, Administration Office

Richard Whitmore, Colby Faculty Head Coach, Emeritus

Bob Coppola, Colby Associate Athletic Director, Development, and Director of Athletic Fundraising

Danny Noyes, Colby Associate Athletic Director, Communications and Digital Strategy