Now Visitors—Not Just Serious Scullers—Can Row, Row, Row Their Boats In Philadelphia
The picturesque row of historic buildings that face Kelly Drive and light up the waters of the Schuylkill River at night has long been synonymous with Philadelphia postcards. What many don’t know though is that Boathouse Row, home to Philadelphia’s rowing community, is a leading epicenter of the nation’s championship aspirations for the sport. It is a magnet for the grass roots development of national and world championship medalists and has been home to a long list of Olympic competitors and coaches.
Rowing on the Schuylkill River
Photo by J. Handley
The boathouses are home away from home for more high school competitors than any other U.S. city and a foundation for the nation’s first and largest community of master’s athletes. Philadelphia hosts nearly twice as many regattas as the closest competitor city, Boston. What’s more, new rowing programs such as Rowing Adventures on Boathouse Row now offer fun and easy ways for residents and tourists to try this popular sport.
How It All Began:
Historically, the Schuylkill River became attractive to rowers after the construction of the Fairmount Water Works, where the dam slowed the water down to a calmer current and provided space for a wide, mile-and-a-quarter course that still exists today. That course produced a long list of legendary champions, starting with the famous family of U.S. rowing: John (Jack) Kelly (father of Grace Kelly) and John B. Kelly Jr. and including such legends as University of Pennsylvania coach Joe W. Burk and Anita DeFrantz, who now serves on the International Olympic Committee.
And Away They Row:
These days, the biggest change on the river is the growth of the sport itself, predominantly in master’s and women’s rowing. As a result of Title IX, the number of varsity programs for women has doubled. Master’s rowing is also gaining rapid popularity. Competitive rowers come to Philadelphia where they know they’ll get Olympic-caliber coaching. In addition to hosting more regattas than any other U.S. city, Philadelphia is also home to two of the nation’s largest – the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate rowing competition in the world; and the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the oldest and largest high school regatta in the U.S. Both events take place every May.
Not Just a Spectator Sport:
Thousands of visitors gather in Philadelphia for the regattas, for both the festival atmosphere on the riverbanks and the skill on the water. Anyone interested in rowing can sign up for a variety of learn-to-row programs offered by several boathouses and other groups. Now there’s an even newer option for tourists and residents who may just want a quick taste of the rowing life. A new rowing program, Rowing Adventures on Boathouse Row, offers a one- to two-hour lesson and ride on the Schuylkill River, led by some of Philadelphia’s rowing legends.
Experts Weigh In:
The following experts give insight into Philadelphia’s rowing scene:
- Mike Teti, three-time Olympic competitor and coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team, (609) 658-9957
“Philadelphia is absolutely the epicenter of rowing in the United States. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got a great facility up here in Princeton (headquarters for the U.S. Olympic team). But Philly has everything – you’ve got high schools, colleges, Division I, Division II, elite-level rowing, master’s rowing, even handicapped rowing. What I miss about Philly are all the characters and the mix of people that make up the Boathouse Row community.”
- Peter Cipollone, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist and athlete’s advisory council representative to the U.S. Olympic Committee, (609) 933-8852
“As far as I’m concerned, Philadelphia is really the cradle of the U.S. Olympic rowing team. There’s just an incredibly rich tradition of not only producing crews that have gone on to win Olympic medals, but also individual athletes, many of whom may have gone on to row elsewhere, but got their start right here in Philly. I’m a lifetime member of the Penn athletic club and I really have to say, I learned most of what I know right there on the Schuylkill River.”
- Ted Nash, 10-time Olympic competitor and coach; gold medal winner at the Rome Olympics; coach of six Olympic-medal teams; twice a member of the U.S. Rowing Hall of Fame; and founder of the National Women’s Rowing Association, (609) 654-2811
“When it comes to elite level, competitive rowing, there is no other region that can touch Philadelphia in terms of the depth in the sport, both in the number and the quality of the competitors who row here. All told, there are now about 2,000 rowers out in this river every day. Some row or scull twice a day, so up to 3,000 trips a day were counted in our city mileage accounting system.”
- Renee Hykel, silver medalist in the lightweight double sculls at 2005 International Federation of Rowing Associations (FISA) World Championships in Gifu, Japan, (610) 613-2726
“My rowing career began in Philadelphia when I was a freshman at St. Joseph’s, and at every stage of my career, from a college novice to an international competitor, the Boathouse Row community has provided me with the means to achieve my goals. Philadelphia can support everyone from the Olympic dreamer to the recreational rower just as they have supported me throughout my own rowing career.”
- Clete Graham, Commodore of the Schuylkill Navy, the governing body for Boathouse Row and the first amateur sport organization in the nation, (215) 851-0406
“We have the largest intercollegiate rowing event in the USA, drawing more than a hundred colleges and universities from North America; we have the largest high school rowing event in the country; and we host twice as many regattas as any other city in the nation – including the Dad Vail Regatta.”
- Dan Lyons, 1986 World Championship gold medalist, 1988 Olympic competitor and president of Team Concepts Inc., (610) 909-1411
“Philadelphia’s boathouses, as a group, are the oldest in the country, and some of the oldest in the world. The only other place that has the same number of boathouse are Oxford and Cambridge in England, but theirs are not in clusters, and none of them have the stature, the age, or the beauty of what we have down on Boathouse Row.”
- Brett Johnson, spokesman for U.S. Rowing, the national governing body for the sports of rowing and sculling, (609) 751-0707
“There’s no question that Boathouse Row, through its numerous programs, has had a major impact on U.S. rowing throughout the history of the sport. Philadelphia has been instrumental in the development of the sport at all levels, from high school to adaptive rowing to the national and Olympic teams.”
- Julia Nichols, double sculler with Renee Hykel, silver medalist in the lightweight double sculls at 2005 FISA World Championships in Gifu, Japan, (617) 767-1138
“The depth of the rowing community here is second to none. There isn’t any other city that has this many boathouses, all right next to each other like this, which makes for a strong community. There are just so many great people here, and it’s really wonderful, how enthusiastic and supportive everyone is.”
- Amy Winner, brand manager for Nielsen-Kellerman Co., a Philadelphia-based designer and manufacturer of performance electronics for rowing, (610) 447-1555
“The potential financial impact of the sport for the city and the region is tremendous, and it has yet to be fully understood. They host so many regattas, they bring thousands of spectators, as well as athletes, to the area. A study of a new boathouse built on the Cooper River, just over the river in New Jersey, shows that it alone generated more than $8 million in revenue for surrounding towns. Philadelphia’s boathouses, obviously, would dwarf that.”
- Craig Dodson, gold medalist in the 2005 U.S. Rowing National Championship Regatta, recently moved from Minnesota to hone his rowing skills in Philadelphia, (651) 336-1354
“There’s just such a high concentration of rowing clubs in this one specific area, and that combined with the fact that Philadelphia is the closest city to the National Training Center...results in a higher concentration of competitive athletes here than there are anywhere else, really. This particular stretch of river has some of the better training conditions, in that it’s not open to a lot of motorboats and so it’s dominated by shells and coaching boats. There’s also just an aura about it, with a history and tradition of elite-level athletes coming out of this area that continues to this day.”
Get Rowing:
There are plenty of opportunities for those interested in giving rowing a try. Here’s a look:
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