Making Waves

Making Waves

CAMPUS

ATHLETICS

BETSY VERECKEY

ONo one dreads long New England winters more than Dartmouth’s rowers. During an especially long winter, they might not return to practice on the Connecticut River until April, putting them at a significant disadvantage.

“In terms of our competitors, we’re the farthest north,” explains Wyatt Allen, head coach of the heavyweight rowing team, which finished ninth overall in the country and fifth in the Ivy League last year.

A new $7.5-million, donor-funded renovation to the team’s training facilities at the Friends of Dartmouth Boathouse is expected to compensate for weather challenges. It will create a new wing to house moving-water tanks, commonly found at many top collegiate rowing programs.

“Not having moving water limits how effective your training can be,” says Wendy Bordeau, coach of the women’s team, which cracked the top 20 last year.

The new tanks are far more valuable than the current still-water tanks in Alumni Gymnasium. They mimic outdoor conditions and let coaches give hands-on assistance while students row. Holding 16 athletes at a time, the tanks allow team members to learn to row in unison and hone their technique. The new space will also house 30 indoor rowing machines—ergometers—and consolidate all training to the boathouse, allowing two teams to practice simultaneously.

The new equipment adds another selling point for recruits. While Hanover’s winters are tough, coaches have historically touted conditions on the Connecticut River. “We’ve got over 40 miles of rowable water—that’s a longer stretch than most places—and in my four years here, we’ve never had a practice where we couldn’t go out on the river due to wind,” says Allen. The renovation, scheduled for completion at the end of 2019, includes a makeover of ventilation systems and locker rooms.

Dartmouth’s rowing program has come a long way from its humble, albeit creative, beginnings. In 1937, oarsmen carved a hole through a frozen Occom Pond to create their own rowing tank with a makeshift barge.

Tucked into the pines as a place of respite for the team, the 1980s-era boathouse gradually morphed into the team’s training grounds. Like the renovation, it was constructed solely with alumni donations. “Our goal is to give the best possible experience to undergrads,” says Andre Hunter ’83, president of Friends of Dartmouth Rowing.