A biting chill and icy breeze greeted the 15 founding women of Wittenberg’s first Crew Club as they arrived at Griggs Reservoir along the Scioto River in Columbus, Oct. 27, to participate in the Jack Speakmon Memorial Regatta.

The first major competition for the newly established club, the Speakmon, a three-mile head-style annual competition, sponsored by The Greater Columbus Rowing Association (GCRA), attracts more than 30 high school, club and college teams from around the Midwest, including Denison, Xavier, The Ohio State University and Case Western University.

“Since the team’s founding this fall, these dedicated women have had their eye on the Speakmon,” said Julie Parsons, club adviser.

Hundreds of rowers and their supporters filled the banks of the river to cheer the participants and size up the competition during the daylong event. Some rowers carried their $5,000 to $20,000 shells to the shoreline, while Wittenberg borrowed its boats from the GCRA

For months prior to the race, the Wittenberg team, under the direction of Kristin McIntyre and Steve Lopez, both experienced former OSU rowers who are volunteering their time to coach the crew club, traveled three and four times a week and on weekends to Columbus to practice.

Although the team hopes to be able to practice closer to campus in the spring, the current logistics and equipment requirements prevent it.

“It’s an expensive sport, which not only requires incredible physical strength, but also a boat and a trailer,” Parsons explained. “We’re looking at all the possibilities.”

Despite the limited resources, frigid weather and being novices, the team made a strong showing in the three races it entered at the Speakmon. In the first race, the women finished 10th out of 11. In the second, they finished fifth out of eight, and in the last race, in which they had two boats, Wittenberg finished second and fourth out of five.

“The Speakmon gave everyone a taste of what the competition looks like,” McIntyre said. “As a team, we did very well. We were up against crews that do two workouts a day and that are on the water six days a week,” she added. “I think this is a testament to [Wittenberg’s] dedication.”

Discussion about starting a women’s crew team on campus began last year. Kim Jackson ’04, club president, and Jennifer Lykens ’04, club vice president, both were interested in rowing, but Wittenberg didn’t offer crew, so the duo decided to organize a crew club.

They approached Student Senate about being recognized as a club, found an adviser and advertised around campus.

By May 2001, 13 women had signed up, including Lesley Baker ’04, Alison Banks ’04, Megan Epner ’03, Alexis Grates ’05, Andrea Hawkins ’04, Kristen Herpel ’04, Jen Hider ’05, Abbe Lindscott ’03, Anja Moessner ’04, Alison Smock ’04, Sarah Steepleton ’04, Carrie Warvel ’04 and Katie Warvel ’02.

The club’s members then joined the GCRA and participated in a five-day clinic in Columbus to learn the fundamentals of rowing.

“None of us had ever rowed before,” Jackson said, “but the second I started doing it, I fell in love with it. It takes a lot of time and commitment, but I think everyone gets so much out of it. Crew really is a lifestyle.”

Jackson also said she is excited about spring training and about getting back on the water. Between March and May, the team plans to participate in five regattas in five different states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The club will also welcome 10 new rowers and will train intensively for six to eight hours a day at Camp Cooper in South Carolina during spring break.

“Doing crew and rowing has changed my life and my time at Wittenberg,” Jackson said.“It’s so rewarding, and it really is a metaphor for life.

When you row, everyone faces backward except one person, so you have to trust someone else and work together to get where you need to be. It’s something I’ll do for the rest of my life.”

— Karen Gerboth ’93