Joseph D. Boyle Memorial Ergathon Results

This year's ergathon was a huge success! Thanks to all of our donors, we were able to independently raise $14,216.44. With the university's matching gifts, we will have donated $42,649.32 to the Harper Cancer Research Institute!

This would not have been possible without everyone's generosity. Thanks to all of those who donated their time and money to this event. Pancreatic cancer is extremely underfunded and misunderstood. The contributions made will go a long way in research efforts to fight this disease.

R'Irish!

Updated Schedule and Winter Training

The spring schedule for the 2016 season has been posted! The team is continuing to train indoors as we prepare for the upcoming season.

This past week, 14 members of the Varsity and 4 members of the Novice travelled to Newport Beach in California for a week of on the water training. The highlight of the week came on the final day, during which the team scrimmaged Orange Coast College. The Notre Dame 1V defeated OCC's 1V in all of the pieces. The team has now returned to South Bend to begin a new semester and resume indoor training.

Also, be sure to subscribe to our new email list! Doing so will allow regatta results and other updates to be sent directly to your email. The subscribe button can be found in the main menu.

 

MSU Scrimmage Reflections

Below are two reflections on the Michigan State scrimmage. One is by a Varsity rower, John Kelty, and the other by a Novice coxswain Alex Kruszewski.

"Harmony, balance, and rhythm. They’re the three things that stay with you your whole life. Without them civilization is out of whack. And that’s why an oarsman, when he goes out in life, he can fight it, he can handle life. That’s what he gets from rowing.”  - Daniel James Brown. The Boys in the Boat

The inaugural “Battle for the Paddle” was a satisfying opportunity to have our practice course, the St. Joseph Rive in South Bend, crowded with boats and color and competition, the banks and the bridges lined with cheering spectators. It was an exciting day, and Notre Dame performed well, especially considering how easy it may have been to fall prey to complacency. It is, after all, where we practice.  But the Irish oarsmen were focused and raced hard.  We may not have achieved all that Daniel James Brown speaks of in the above quote regarding “Harmony, balance, and rhythm” but we improved. The Notre Dame Rowing Team has turned an important corner in its historic development. Our victory in the first-ever “Battle for the Paddle” gives us additional confidence going into the “hidden” season of winter erg work.

After the race, I had a chance to socialize with members of the Michigan State University team. Perhaps it is simply a characteristic of the athletes attracted to the sport, but each of the young men and women with whom I spoke were articulate and thoughtful, and each was a committed athlete and competitor. That said, one cannot suppress the very special nature of our team, of Notre Dame Crew. I will always be honored to be among those counted as members of Notre Dame Rowing Team.

- John Kelty

 

For the novice crew, the Michigan State head-to-head scrimmage was really the perfect capstone to a strong fall season. After several long head races it was nice to get out on the water lined-up right next to a competitor and race in five sprints. As a coxswain, getting out on the water for sprints was great because the boats being close together got me excited to race, and, in turn, my rowers got excited as well. In the first piece my boat’s focus was really just to beat the Michigan State crew, and we were able to achieve that goal. However, the day included five races, which incentivized us to beat Michigan State by more and more each race. This mentality of having a stronger race each and every time we get out on the water is something that we are really excited about, and want to carry into the spring season with us as we shoot to finish at the top of every race, including ACRAs. All in all, the scrimmage was the perfect capstone to a strong fall and led to my boat being so enthused with rowing that we actually have already been gathering together to watch the GoPro video recordings that we took of the scrimmage to help us reflect on the scrimmage, remember the collaborative motivation and unity we felt during those races, and learn more about where we can improve in our surge through rigorous winter training to win ACRAs at the end of the spring.

- Alex Kruszewski

 

 

Michigan State Scrimmage Results

This past Saturday, the ND Men's Rowing Team took on the Michigan State Spartans in a scrimmage on the St. Joe. The scrimmage consisted of 5 races approximately 1500m long. The Irish emerged victorious, winning the point total by a score of 28-2.

We would like to thank Michigan State for traveling down to race, as well as the supporters we had there cheering us on. This scrimmage was our last event of the fall, officially ending the season as we head into winter training. We will continue to post and update the website throughout our training season.

R'Irish!

Alumni Racing this Fall

We had a number of our Alums racing around the country during this fall season!  We are happy to say they are alums of Notre Dame Rowing and they still have a passion for the sport.

  • John Younger stroked the Marin 8 to a second place finish at the Charles!  They were just a few seconds behind a boat full of British Olympic Medalists.
  • Mark Davis was in the same event in the Chinook 8 and placed 9th after starting 51st
  • The Notre Dame "Olden Domers" Women raced three separate boats at the Head of the Schuylkill.  They were able to fill two 8's and a 4 and one of the eights placed 3rd in their event!
  • Khalil Shalabi raced in a 4+ with Texas Rowing Center at the Charles.
  • Marc Gwadz also raced for Texas Rowing Center in a quad at HOCR.  One race wasn't enough so he also raced in an 8 for Potomac Boat Club.

Thanks for the updates and keep racing hard!

Head of the Eagle Results

This past weekend, the team traveled to Indianapolis to compete at the Head of the Eagle. The Varsity entered a two eights and a four, while the Novice entered four eights and a four. All boats competed in the head race, with the eights also doing a 1000m sprint in the afternoon. There was a strong wind on the reservoir, with large waves rolling across the majority of the course (many tall enough to come over the gunwales).

The highlight of the head race was the 2V bringing home the gold in their category, beating Grand Valley, Purdue, and Michigan. The 1V came in 4th in the Varsity A race, and the V4+ placed 10th in their race.

The 1N came in 5th in the Novice A category, while the 2N, 3N, and 4N came in 4th, 11th, and 7th, respectively, in the Novice B race. The N4+ came in 7th in the Novice 4 category.

As a whole, the team performed significantly better in afternoon. The 1000m sprints were organized so that the 1st place from the head race went up against 2nd place, 3rd raced 4th, and so on. The 1V got another shot at Purdue, who finished in 3rd place in the head race. Eager to get another shot, the 1V beat Purdue's 1V by 6 seats. The 2V turned in another impressive performance, this time beating Illinois' 1V decidedly. All of the Novice eights also won their head races.

Our strong finish in the 1000m dual sprints ended our day of racing on a great note, giving us some momentum heading into winter training, and optimism for the spring season.

 

 

Head of the Charles Collegiate 4+ 2015: 1st out of 46 in 17:09.6.

The following are two perspective pieces from the Head of the Charles. The left column is by our bow seat, Joe Boyle, and the right by our coxswain, Caitlin O'Loughlin.

"As a coxswain, the title 'Head of the Charles Champion' carries a special amount of pride. This course is commonly known as being a 'coxswain’s nightmare.' However, anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for a big challenge - I knew it could be dominated. I studied the course for weeks and weeks like I had the biggest exam of my life coming up. And I did - The Charles is the true test of mental and technical strength for a coxswain and her crew. I made some crazy decisions during the course of this race, some of them still make me nervous to think about, but we had a job to do. Each time I made a decision like this and called on the guys to do insane things, they trusted me to do my job and I trusted them to do theirs. Only because of this were we able to capitalize on the weaknesses of other crews, make the gutsy decisions, and walk away as champions.          

     While the coxswain’s perspective on the HOCR is unique, the pride I carry has much less to do with my personal accomplishments and everything to do with us rising to victory as a single unit. I could steer the most aggressive and perfect course in the world and still place dead-last without four insane, driven, and strong guys sitting behind me. I will never forget how I felt as I was screaming under Eliot bridge that we were going to win this (ahem) race. At that moment, we were not in first. Those last 700 meters decided our fate, and I am still so incredibly proud of the guys in my boat for how they attacked those last 700 meters. Sometimes I still can’t believe we won, but I am certainly damn proud to be a part of this team."

- Caitlin O’Loughlin, Class of 2017

"Winning the Head of the Charles was one of the best accomplishments of my life. Our result was the culmination of a summer's worth of hard work combined with a month's worth of disciplined training in our lineup. The race itself was thrilling and dramatic, including the passing of four crews and a momentary clashing of oars with Middlebury. Although we couldn't have known this during the race, we only captured victory over Trent due to an epic sprint and a tight final turn taken by our coxswain. This just goes to show that no race is over until the horn sounds!      

     While impressive in its own right, our victory symbolizes more than a simple triumph over 46 other teams. The whole crew wore purple socks and ribbons in memorial of my late father, who passed away from pancreatic cancer a year ago this week. I suppose we had a slight advantage with a guardian angel acting as a sixth member of the crew. I am incredibly grateful for the team's continued support of my family and the fight against pancreatic cancer. As coach said before we pushed off the dock Saturday, "this race is about more than yourselves." I think we all discovered what it means to push yourself for more than personal gain. This win represents a huge step forward for the program, and I couldn't be happier to have been a part of it. R'Irish!"

- Joe Boyle, Class of 2016

 

 

 

 

Head of the Charles Champions!

In one of the most impressive performances in Notre Dame Men's Rowing history, the Varsity 4+ took first place in the Men's Collegiate Four category at the Head of the Charles. Reed Curtis (stroke), Bryce de Venecia (3), Matt DiDonato (2), Joe Boyle (bow), and Caitlin O'Loughlin (coxswain) knocked off four-time defending champion Virginia to bring gold to South Bend. The V4+ posted a time of 17:09, winning by a margin of 3 seconds. Congratulations to our four rowers and coxswain for their historic accomplishment!