December Newsletter

Jingle Mingle

Join us Sunday, Dec.15 from 12-5pm at Hunter College High School (71 E. 94th St. New York, NY 10128) for a day of food, fun and friendly competition.

Compete against 15 other teams to see who can finish a marathon on the rowing machine in our Ergathon!  Gorge yourself on delicious treats in our bake-off!  Participate in and cheer for individual events including a kids race, a masters race, an adaptive race and a parent/rower race!

Sign up by Friday, Dec. 13 to participate!

Fall Regatta Highlights

This fall our teams attended four regattas: the Head of the Passaic, the Head of the Schuylkill, the Head of the Charles, and the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta.  Though successful at each, the highlights of the season include the following:

• -The Manhattan Varsity Girls finishing 1st out of 12 crews at the Head of the Passaic with a 10 second lead over the competition.
• -Almost all of the Queens Varsity team boats finishing in the top half of their 50-boat events at the Head of the Schuylkill.
• -The Manhattan Varsity boys pushing through a broken oar handle at the Head of the Schuylkill to still place in the top 75% of the pack.
• -Competitive Adaptive rower Margaret Rajnic placing third at the Head of the Charles in the Mixed Legs-Trunk-Arms event.
• -The Row New York staff boat placing 8th out of 47 teams at the Head of the Charles Regatta.
• -Manhattan Varsity girls coxswain Rachel Livermore executing a flawless Head of the Charles race despite a busy river and intense turns.
• -The men’s masters’ 2x finishing in a solid 12th place at the Head of the Charles.
• -The Queens Varsity quad earning a gold medal at the Braxton despite 40mph winds and white caps on the course.
• -The Queens Novice team having their first full regatta experience at the Braxton regatta while cheering on the varsity rowers.

Each of the coaches wishes to express how impressed they are with each of their teams.  The level of development both on and off the water has been extraordinary this season as well as the commitment to the team as a whole. Everyone is excited to move indoors to the warmth of the erg room to get those 2k times down!

Halloween Row!

On October 31 the Queens boathouse had their annual Halloween Row.  Middle school, novice and varsity athletes were placed into mixed boats during practice…while wearing their Halloween costumes.   Witches, pirates and even a gorilla made it out onto the water for a truly unique practice.  The younger girls got to experience varsity intensity, rose to the occasion and all performed well.  Candy was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Academics

After two years as the Director of College Readiness, Dairse JeanBaptiste took over the role of Director of Academics early this fall.   In order to develop college readiness, Darise has designed a program that integrates SAT and SHSAT math and reading concepts, homework tutoring and short readings that center on the skills students develop as rowers — tenacity, delayed gratification and community building to name a few.

The current reading selections for each team are:

Middle School

-The Running Dream – A young adult novel about a high school track star who loses her leg in a car accident but finds the inner strength to carve a path toward happiness and success.

High School Novice

-The Pull of Gravity – How do we support the ones we love even when it appears they’ve abandoned us? The protagonist of this novel is a teenager whose obese dad leaves his family for an adventure in self discovery.

High School Varsity

-The Red Rose Crew – A classic in the world of rowing; discusses the trials and triumphs of crew and what it means to overcome hardship.

Academics are held in three locations throughout the city: Row New York offices in Long Island City, the Hansborough Recreation Center on West 134th St, Manhattan and the Hamilton Grange Library on West 145th St, Manhattan.  We would like to give a big thank you to the staff at all locations for being so welcoming and supportive!

What’s coming up in the winter season!

• Jingle Mingle- Sunday, December 15th 2013
• Strong Island Sprints at St. Anthonys in Long Island- February 2, 2014
• St. Valentine’s Day Massacre at Pelham- Saturday February 8, 2014
• Crash B’s- Sunday February 16, 2014

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• Want to volunteer? Email Jennie@rownewyork.org

• Want to get involved on the parent committee? Email Tom@rownewyork.org

• Want to Learn to row? Email Matt@rownewyork.org

• Want to tutor? Email Darise@rownewyork.org

• Want to host a company retreat, holiday party, birthday party or wedding at the Peter Jay Sharp Boathouse? Email Megan@rowenwyork.org