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All Oars Pointed at UMD Rowing Club

BY ASHLEY GAUGLER
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER

Bryan Lamb, a business finance major, and Bryan Kobach, a biology major decided one day—after a spontaneous stop at the boathouse and conversation with Bonnie Caste, the woman who would later become their head coach—to start the first ever UMD Rowing Club.

“Did you know that Duluth once produced more international and Olympic rowers than any other city in the nation?” Lamb asked.

Duluth was once a thriving metropolis for the sport of rowing, but has become a shadow of its past self.  

Now rowing is coming back to Duluth, and will make its first appearance on the UMD campus.

The UMD Rowing Club, sponsored by Duluth Rowing Club, has a $100 entry fee in exchange for the use of the Duluth Rowing Club’s equipment. This equipment consists of eight, four and two-man boats. However, the UMD club will primarily be using the eight-man boats, for both competition and practice. These boats run at $25,000 a piece, not including the oars, which are $600 each. Both the boats and the oars are very light-weight, made of high- quality carbon fiber, which makes them perfect for rowing competitions.

To train for these competitions, also called regattas, the team will practice three to four times a week. Practices will consist of getting everyone in a boat rowing and getting comfortable with the kinesthetics of the sport; such as the rowing technique, getting comfortable with dipping the oar into the water at the right angle and falling into the rhythm of the rower in front of you.

The two captains of the team, Lamb and Kobach, are passionate about getting people excited and having a lot of fun, not to mention getting ready for regattas, the first of which will be held on Oct. 15  in Illinois. Regattas sponser teams from all across the country. The regattas that the UMD Rowing Club will be competing in will host teams from colleges near by such as Marquette, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Iowa State and the University of Illinois. The ultimate regatta is held in Boston and is called the Head of the Charles. All of the best teams race there, because it is the largest competitive race in the country.

Lamb and Kobach both hope that someday they will be able to lead the UMD Rowing Club there as well. The two UMD students took an interest in starting this Rowing Club on a whim, but with passion. In the beginning of the summer neither of the captains knew much about rowing, but after a summer of training and studying they knew what they needed to do to start a club. Both Lamb and Kobach trained all summer at on Lake Superior to prepare for the season and although they said rowing was fairly easy to adapt to, they also agreed that it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

“I caught so many crabs that first day, I could’ve opened my own Red Lobster,” Kobach said with a smile.

The term “catching crabs” refers to sticking an oar in the water and not being able to release it. When the oar fails to come out of the water, all of the forward momentum of the boat is focused on the offending oar, rigger and oarsmen behind it. If someone catches a crab, it looks as if the oar had hit a crab swimming in the water, stopping the oar dead in the water. Crabs are almost always devastating to the boat’s speed and may even cause a small boat to flip.

As the two captains discussed their progression in rowing talents, they described their ideal team member.

“Always a student before an athlete,” Kobach stated.

“Someone with a good attitude, who’s a hard worker and determined,” Lamb added.

Not so fast ladies, this club is looking for you too. They are starting up a women’s team at the same time as the men’s team.

“[The UMD Rowing Team has] very encouraging coaches who made it easy for me to want to be part of the team,” said Cedar Schimke, a member of the women’s team.

Both teams aim to be involved in three Regattas before the season ends on Oct. 30. The two team captains will be at informational tables outside of Kirby Plaza over the next few weeks to answer any questions and sign up potential crew members.

Ashley Gaugler is at
gaug1002@d.umn.edu

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