Lycoming Crew

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Rowing is a fall student club activity at
Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA.
Time frame is basically 2 months (Sept/Oct),
2-3 hour commitment per outing.
Level of participation is up to student
(i.e. sign up for 1/mo, 1/wk, 2/wk, whatever).
An outing requires 8 or 9 students plus coach.

Contacts:
Club President/Captain - Jason Purdy (x4974)
Vice President - Laura Taylor (x4728).
Treasurer - Lindsey Carr (323-9550)
Faculty Advisor - Robin J. DeWitt Knauth, Religion Instructor (x4298; knauth@lycoming.edu)
Volunteer Coach - Geoffrey Knauth (570-326-3822; geoff@knauth.org)

November 2002 Elections - Congratulations to New President - Jason Purdy
New Vice President - Laura Taylor
New Treasurer - Lindsey Carr

Spring 2003 Stargazing - Congratulations to Sarah Mann,
outgoing president and outstanding Crew Club member from graduating class.

Crew T-shirts, very stylish, are now on sale for $12, limited sizes. Wind shirts have also been designed.

Anticipated Events, Fall 2003

Last week of August (first week of classes):
    Crew Table at the Student Activities Fair
    Organizational Meeting in the Gym
    Swim tests
    Basic rowing technique instruction on the Ergs
    Sign membership and waiver forms
    Sign up for rowing time slots
    Transport the Eight to WBMBA in Duboistown, rig it, and row!
        (We'll need at least 9 people to help with this, plus a big moving van.)
    Crew table at the Campus Carnival (Sunday August 31st, 12-6 pm in the Quad)
    Weekend Rowing Clinic with CPRA or Susquehanna Univ Crew at Shamokin Damn?
    Classic Rowing Video Night
September - Let's get out Rowing on the Susquehanna as much as possible!
    Crew-sponsored night at JP's?

Jason Purdy, Laura Taylor and Keith Zielinski are running workout sessions in the Gym.

Sunday September 28th - Kings Head Regatta: coach is coxing and rowing in this with CPRA
(Central PA Rowing Association).

Friday October 10th, 3:30 pm - Clean-up work at the West Branch Motor Boat Association
Saturday October 11th, 8 am to noon - Dock take-out at the West Branch Motor Boat Association (where we launch) - all help appreciated. Saturday work day includes lunch.

Weekend of October 18-19 - the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston: coach is coxing, umpiring, and helping with a coxing clinic for steering the course. Check it out at http://www.hocr.org/.

Spring 2004

Sunday, February 22, 2004. CRASH-B Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston, where world class rowers gather in the winter for fun competition. The 1999 winner Rob Waddell from New Zealand was also the world champion in the single scull at FISA World Rowing Championships on the water, which in 1999 were in St. Catherine's, Ontario, Canada. It was the first time the world erg champion was also the champion in the technically demanding single (the erg is a test of raw strength and endurance, but the single demands that you row well). Waddell won again in 2000 in the International Final, after which a collegiate swimmer from Brown very nearly rowed faster in the College Final.

Easter Weekend Clean-up at the West Branch Motor Boat Association (where we launch).
Friday & Saturday, 8 am - 2 pm, putting in docks. All help appreciated. Free lunch on Saturday.

Past Events - Club History

2002-2003

In the fall we got out at least three times on the Susquehanna (Sept. 8, 15, 29), sponsored a night at JP's with the band 'Slightly Askew', had a P.D.R., helped with clean-up at the WBMBA, stored the boat, and elected new officers. Our new president is Jason Purdy. We also had regular workout sessions at the gym throughout the year. In the winter we did a Krispy Kreme Doughnut sale.

2001-2002

Our president, Sarah Mann, organized three outings in the fall of 2001, one to transport and rig the boat, and two rows on the mighty Susquehanna. Here are some pictures. In the winter of 2002 we met at the gym 6-7 a.m. every MWF, for circuits, running and erg workouts. People were also doing additional workouts on their own. Gregory Hutchison, student teaching in Williamsport, was our visiting coach from PSU. A 25-hour ROWATHON (held on Oct 27/28 - the night that daylight savings time came into effect - thus the 25 hour day) was organized to raise the money to pay off the boat to the Susquehanna Rowing Program. This was a huge success and a great time was had by all. Oh - and we paid off the boat, too. Zach Ritter won the top prize for most meters rowed, followed closely by coach Geoff Knauth. Sarah Mann came in third, followed by Robin Knauth.
Gregory Hutchison was a "visiting coach."

2000-2001

Dean Saunders became our faculty advisor.
Geoff Smith was our president, Zach Ritter our vice-president.
We designed T-shirts and applied for matching funds from the student senate to help pay for the boat.
Saturday, September 23, 2000, 1 p.m. - Boat rigging and first outing, with six rowers and a coxswain. Here are some photos.

1999-2000

The Lyco Crew was officially on the water for the first time this fall, emphasis on fun.
The boat was de-rigged in December, and the web-site created.
Winter group work-outs were held in the gym, proper rowing techniques demonstrated on the erg.
Geoff Smith took over leadership from Jane Dunn, the club founder.
We rigged the boat on March 24th for the spring, but early spring 2000 rowing sessions were postponed due to high water and lack of a dock. A couple of seats are missing along with part of a backstay from the stroke-seat rigger. Some boat repairs are needed! By the way, here's a link that shows a Schoenbröd rigger under stress. And another link explains the proper assembly of a Schoenbröd rigger.

1998-1999

The club was founded by Jane Dunn, and a Schoenbröd sectional eight plus eight oars were obtained from Susquehanna University coach Brian Tomko for $1000 on credit. Fund-raising activities were begun to pay back this sum to Susquehanna.

Goals

As a club program, our main goal is fun. But part of fun is doing well, and that means getting in shape, learning good rowing technique, and building a team. Winning races is also very nice. If you don't win a race, at least you want to know you had a great race and gave it all you could.
Ideally, we would like to find at least eight rowers and a coxswain who can get together with a coach on a regular basis, because that makes the best use of the equipment we have (an eight). Building fitness though winter training on ergometers and other standard equipment will contribute to overall health and performance.

Workouts

Rowing is a highly aerobic sport. Winter workouts should be aerobic (about 60-65% of your max. heart rate). If you want a very crude estimate (assuming you're of college age), just take your pulse for ten seconds. During exercise, you should get a count between 20-23. Anything you do at this pace should be for at least an hour, preferably two, whether it be cross-country skiing, jogging, swimming, walking or running up-hill, rowing on the ergometer, or even (hey!) aerobics.

If you want to build strength through weights, your leg muscles (quads/thighs) are the most important, followed by strong lower back muscles, and then lats and arms. Be very careful about your back! I know a lot of national team rowers who pushed themselves too hard with weights (especially during the 1992-96 cycle) and now have back problems, so if you do anything with weights, I want you do be especially careful to protect your back from injury, and this means getting proper coaching in technique with weights, knowing your limits, and listening to your body.

Resources

Starting in the fall of 1999, Lycoming has a Schoenbröd sectional eight obtained from Susquehanna University, as well as two Concept-II Model C ergometers. Two more ergs are on the way, probably Model Bs.

The Buildings and Grounds Crew has been incredibly helpful in moving and storing the boat.

This winter we are grateful to Harold Hurwitz for offering his barn along the Susquehanna to store the Eight.

We are grateful to the Student Senate for providing matching funds for the purchase of the Eight.

There is a local community group - the Central Pennsylvania Rowing Association - rowing out of the Bucknell/Susquehanna U. boathouse at Shamokin Dam (down Rt. 15 past Lewisburg, about a 45 min. drive) that we could potentially hook up with for some joint events, along with the rowing programs at Bucknell and Susquehanna. The CPRA rowing schedule is now up on the web - possibly a very efficient way of scheduling things: <http://rowpa.org/members.htm>.

Directions

The rowing is done upstream (west) of Williamsport on the Susquehanna River, courtesy of the West Branch Motor Boat Association in Duboistown. To get there from Williamsport, cross the Market Street bridge (Rt. 15) to the south side of the Susquehanna River, turn right (west) on Rt. 654, proceed 2.0 miles, take a right on Summer Street. The location across the railroad tracks, #10 Summer Street, on the opposite side of the river and 1/4 mile downstream from the Hiawatha riverboat dock. Here's a map, courtesy of MapQuest, which suggests crossing the Maynard St. bridge instead:

People

Geoffrey Knauth, our volunteer coach, moved to Williamsport, PA, in August 1999 after twenty years in Boston, when his wife Robin Knauth accepted the position of Old Testament professor at Lycoming College. Geoffrey and Robin have two children, Alexander and William. Geoffrey started rowing in 1974, and coxed at Rumsey Hall School, Choate Rosemary Hall, Harvard College, Riverside Boat Club, Cambridge Boat Club, Boston Rowing Center, and on the U.S. National Team. He's served on the Regatta Committee of the Head of the Charles®, and is on the Board of the C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships. He was men's captain at Cambridge Boat Club before moving to Williamsport. He works full-time as a computer programmer for British Aerospace Engineering.
See GSK home page.

Current Faculty Advisor Robin Knauth took up rowing (sweep) in 1989 with the Carnegie Lake Rowing Association in Princeton, and then took up sculling out of Harvard's Weld boat house in Cambridge from 1991 until 1996, when she married former US National Rowing Team coxswain Geoffrey Knauth and joined Cambridge Boat Club (rowing a double is more fun). In 1996 she also competed in the CRASH-B Sprints (finishing 2000 meters in ca. 8 minutes) and ran the 100th Boston Marathon with Geoffrey in ca. 4 hrs.

Jane Dunn '00 organized the Lycoming Crew in the fall of 1998 and was its first president. She got the spark for rowing while studying in Brisbane, Australia.

Geoff Smith '01 was the second president of the club, now off to medical school.

Gregory Hutchison was a visiting coach from PSU in 2001-2002 while student teaching in Williamsport.

Sarah Mann '03 was our third president in 2001-2002. She rowed singles for three years at Cornell and other locations. She also plays soccer and volleyball.

Zach Ritter '03 was vice president of the club in 2001-2002, and won the top Rowathon prize last year.

James Outten was crew captain at Franklin & Marshall College and would like to help out this year.