The College Boat Club of the University of Pennsylvania is the

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

program for

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Rowing, which is located in the Burk-Bergman Boathouse at #11 Boathouse Row on the historic

Boathouse Row Boathouse Row is a historic site which is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the east bank of the Schuylkill River just north of the Fairmount Water Works and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It consists of a row of fifteen boathouses housi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Its membership consists entirely of past and present rowers of the University of Pennsylvania. It hosts both heavyweight and lightweight varsity men's teams and an openweight varsity women's team. The Wharton Crew Team, however, rows out of Fairmount Rowing Association (FRA). College Boat Club was founded in 1872 by the school's students, shortly after the school's campus was relocated from Center City to

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Although there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the n ...

. College Boat Club was admitted to the

Schuylkill Navy The Schuylkill Navy is an association of amateur rowing (sport), rowing clubs of Philadelphia. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States. The member clubs are all on the Schuylkill River where it flows ...

in 1875.

History

University Barge Club

The history of rowing at the

began in 1854 with the foundation of the

University Barge Club University Barge Club of Philadelphia (also known as UBC) is an amateur rowing club located at #7 in the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Hi ...

Founding of College Boat Club

In 1872, University of Pennsylvania ("Penn") students founded the College Barge Club to provide an alternative to the school's first boat club, the

, and to focus on preparing students for intercollegiate competitions. The Club later changed its name from College Barge Club to College Boat Club. In the club's first year, it had only 20 members, mostly sophomores from the university's graduating Class of 1875. At first, the Club rowed out of the Quaker City Barge Club. However, College Boat Club grew quickly and was able to build its own boathouse in 1874. In 1877, sophomores from College Boat Club were victorious against seniors rowing out of

. By 1879, the club was the base for most Penn crews, and members were rowing in intercollegiate competitions. In 1893, College Boat Club opened membership to alumni as well as enrolled students. In 1904, the Club admitted alumni crews as far back as 1899. Currently, membership for alumni is limited to former varsity rowers.

Competitions

The crews of College Boat Club compete in several regattas throughout the rowing season. The three most competitive regattas are the Eastern Association of Rowing College (EARC) Championship, the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship, and the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

. As of 1997, the women's crews compete in the NCAA Division I Rowing Championship instead of the IRAs.

EARC Championship (Eastern Sprints)

The Penn heavyweight men's eight has won the

Eastern Sprints The Eastern Sprints is the annual rowing championship for the men's Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) in Northeast USA. Participants The teams include all of the Ivy League schools as well as others such as Georgetown University, Sy ...

six times: 1955, 1962 (tied with

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

), 1986, 1991, 1996, and 1998. The lightweight men's eight has won 5 times: 1951, 1952, 1955, 1976, and 2019.

IRA Championship

Penn, along with Columbia and

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

, founded the

Intercollegiate Rowing Association The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs College rowing (United States), intercollegiate rowing between Varsity team, varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, whil ...

and competes annually in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship, which is the most competitive race in American collegiate rowing. In 2004, Penn finished fourth in the grand final for the Men's Freshman Four w/Cox and fifth in the Men's Open Four w/Cox grand final. In 2005, Penn finished third in the Men's Varsity Lightweight Eight and fourth in the Men's Freshman Eight. In 2006, the Men's Freshman Eight finished third. In 2017 and 2019, the Men’s Varsity Lightweight 8 finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively. In 2008, the Men's Open Four qualified for the grand final, but finished sixth. The last time that the Penn won the Ivy League Championship at IRAs was 1992, when Penn tied Dartmouth. Penn has won the Ivy League Championship eight additional times in 1898, 1899, 1900, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, and 1989.

Henley Royal Regatta

Penn Crew has competed at the prestigious

. In 1994, College Boat Club won the

Ladies' Challenge Plate The Ladies' Challenge Plate is one of the events at Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. Crews of men's eight-oared boats below the standard of the Grand Challenge Cup can enter, although international standa ...

. In 1991, Penn won the

Thames Challenge Cup The Thames Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's eights at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from a single rowing club A rowing club is a club for people intere ...

. In 1955, Penn won the most prestigious of all prizes at Henley, the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing (sport), rowing competition for men's eight (rowing), eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male cr ...

. Penn also won the

in 1951 and 1952.

National Collegiate Rowing Championship

The men's team won the

National Collegiate Rowing Championship The now defunct, short-lived National Collegiate Rowing Championship, often simply called the "Cincinnati Regatta," was a championship for men's and women's collegiate rowing, held in Cincinnati, Ohio, between 1982 and 1996. It pitted the winners o ...

in 1991.

1955 crew

The 1955 Men's Heavyweight 8, coached by

Joe Burk Joseph William Burk (January 19, 1914 – January 13, 2008) was an American oarsman and coach. Raised in Delanco Township, New Jersey, he graduated from Moorestown High School in 1930. At the University of Pennsylvania, Burk rowed in the ...

, won at the

Henley Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

, and the crew's speed drew attention and acclaim internationally. One source highlights the accolades as follows:

Coaching staff

Penn has enjoyed the tutelage of many of the best rowing coaches of all time including Rusty Callow,

, Ted Nash, Stan Bergman, Brendan Cunningham, and Hudson Peters.

Ted Nash

In 2004, former Penn coach Ted Nash became the first person to participate in 10 Olympic games as either an athlete or coach when he was appointed as a coach on the 2004 team in Athens. This is a record for any member of any US Olympic team, regardless of event or sport. During his first games at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Nash raced in the gold medal-winning coxless four boat. In 2008 he showed no signs of slowing down as he returned again to the Olympic stage in Beijing as coach of the heavyweight men's coxless pair.

Stan Bergman

Stan Bergman coached the Men's Heavyweight Rowing Program to numerous championships at all levels. He is held in extraordinary regard in the rowing community, and beyond, for his success with his crews on and off the water.

Women

* Head coach: Bill Manning * Assistant coaches: Kumari Lewis, Allyson Baker

Heavyweight men

* Head coach: Albert “Al” Monte * Associate head coach: Phillip Brunner * Assistant coaches: Fergal Barry and John "JOB" O'Brien * Boatman: Mike Guerrieri

Lightweight men

* Head coach: Colin Farrell * Assistant coach: Taylor Brown

Gallery

file:1901 University of PA Crew.jpg, 1901 crew File:Penn Rowing Club at Boathouse Row.jpg, Aerial view of #11 Boathouse Row, College Boat home File:College72.png, College Boat Club,
#11

, in 1972. File:CollegeBC1904.jpeg, Crew launching shell of College Boat Club boathouse in 1904.

Prominent members

* Ted A. Nash (former Penn Coach) -

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

(gold medal) &

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

(bronze medal) US Olympic Teams and US Olympic Coach from 1968 to 2008 * Louis Lombardi, Jr., '15 - 2010 US Junior Team, 2014–15 US U23 Teams, 2016 US Senior Team. American actor, songwriter and record producer * John A. Pescatore, '86 -

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

(bronze medal) & 1992 US Olympic Teams * Hugh Matheson, '84 - 1972, 1976 & 1980 Great Britain Olympic Teams (silver medal) *James E. Moroney III '75 - 1972 & 1976 US Olympic Teams *Luther H. Jones, '72 - 1968 & 1972 US Olympic Teams *John Hartigan, '63 - 1968 & 1976 US Olympic Teams * Harry Parker, '57 - 1960 US Olympic Team and US Olympic Coach 1964-1984 * John B. Kelly Jr., '50 - 1948, 1952, 1956 & 1960 US Olympic Teams

Rowers with one Olympic team appearance

These include:

References

External links

* *
College Boat Club
on wikimapia.org {{Portal bar, Philadelphia Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Philadelphia Buildings and structures completed in 1874 Gothic Revival architecture in Pennsylvania Boathouse Row Schuylkill Navy Sports clubs and teams established in 1872 1872 establishments in Pennsylvania Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Historic district contributing properties in Pennsylvania Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Boathouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania