:''This article features terminology unique to rowing. For further information see main article

Glossary of Rowing Terms In competitive rowing, the following specialized terms are important in the corresponding aspects of the sport: Boat classes In competitive rowing events, abbreviations are used for different boat classes. ;Weight: *L, LWT or Lt: Lightweight ...

'' PLU Crew is the varsity

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

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The team was founded in 1964 as a joint program with

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

. Today the team consists of Men's and Women's programs for both Varsity and Novice rowers, and competes as a member of the

Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference The Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) consists of seven NCAA Division II and III member schools in USRowing's Northwest region. Its mission is to provide for the advancement of small college and university rowing within the Pacific Nort ...

(NCRC) and

Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are no ...

(WIRA).

History

Following the demise of the PLU-UPS rowing club, Pacific Lutheran rowers formed the Lute Varsity Rowing Club in 1965. PLU Crew first received national notoriety in 1967, when

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

requested the return of their old shell the " Husky Clipper," which the Huskies had used to win at the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. In exchange, UW arranged for

Green Lake Crew Green Lake Crew (GLC) is a public rowing club in Seattle, Washington (USA), jointly sponsored by the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department and the Rowing Advisory Council. The program is located on the southern shore of Green Lake at the Gre ...

to donate a shell, the "Loyal Shoudy" to the PLU team. Faced with no means of transporting the boat from north

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

to PLU's home course in south Tacoma, team Commodore/Captain Jim Ojala devised a plan for the team to row the shell from

Lake Union Lake Union () is a freshwater lake located entirely within the city limits of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a major part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which carries fresh water from the much larger Lake Washington on the east t ...

, through the

Ballard Locks The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, or Ballard Locks, is a complex of locks at the west end of Salmon Bay in Seattle, Washington's Lake Washington Ship Canal, between the neighborhoods of Ballard to the north and Magnolia to the south. The Ballar ...

and down Puget Sound to the

Tacoma Narrows The Tacoma Narrows (or the Narrows), a strait, is part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. A navigable maritime waterway between glacial landforms, the Narrows separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the city of Tacoma. The Narrow ...

. After several months of endurance training, contacting the Navy and Coast Guard, and obtaining a parade permit to walk the shell through North Seattle from Green Lake to Lake Union, the ten team members prepared to embark on their journey. The stunt resulted in the team receiving coverage of the event from the

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

newspaper, as well as national rowing magazine

Rowing News 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 att ...

. PLU Crew in the Sixties
/ref>"Way Enough!" Recollections on a Life of Rowing by Stan Pocock, The team received a major setback after its boathouse burnt to the ground in Spring 1975. History After the Boathouse Fire
/ref> In 1998 the team moved up the lake to its new boathouse, located at Harry Todd Park in Tillicum. The team shares the boathouse with UPS and Commencement Bay Rowing Club (CBRC), a Masters and Juniors program. The team's last red cedar shell, the Marjory Anderson, was refurbished in 2004, and was located for display in the new college bookstore beginning in July 2007.

Meyer Cup (Men) and Lamberth Cup (Women)

April 13, 2013, marked the fiftieth annual Meyer-Lamberth Cup. The

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wa ...

between PLU and cross-town rivals

Rowing is the oldest annual dual regatta on the west coast of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Meyer Cup Results (men's varsity eight) *PLU: 29 wins *UPS: 27 wins Lamberth Cup Results (women's varsity eight) *PLU: 27 wins *UPS: 16 wins

Lightweight Program

PLU's lightweight rowing program have achieved some successes in recent years. In 2002, the Men's Lwt 4+ traveled to the annual Dad Vails Regatta in

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 ...

, winning their event, and consequently a small college championship. 2002 Dad Vail Results
Though the Men's team has not returned to Dad Vails since 2002, they have since won the NCRC title in 2005 NCRC 2005 Results
/ref> and 2007. NCRC 2007 Results
/ref> Not to be outdone, the Women's Lwt4+ won the 2004 WIRA Championships at

Lake Natoma Lake Natoma is a small lake in the Western United States, along the lower American River, between Folsom Dam and Nimbus Dam in Sacramento County, California. The lake is located within the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area which maintains the fac ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. They followed up their win with second-place finishes in the event in 2005 and 2006.

Head Coaches

*Paul Meyer+ 1964-1965 *J.R. Goerke+ 1965-1966 *Jim Ojala 1966-1969 *Norm Purvis 1969-1970 *Ralph Neils 1971-1972 *?? 1972-1973 *?? 1973-1974 *Dave Peterson 1974-1985 *Bob Trondsen(M)/Elise Lindborg(W) 1986 *Jeff Glenn(M)/Elise Lindborg(W) 1987 *Doug Herland 1988-1991 *Doug Nelson 1991-2000 *Sarah Halsted 2000-2003 *Tone Lawver 2004-2011 *Thomas Schlenker 2012-2014 ++ *Tara Brunsfield(M)2014-2015 ++ *Lori Cark(M)2015-2016 *Dave Harvey(M)2016-2021 ++ *Andy Foltz(W) 2015-2022 ++ *Lizzie(W) 2022-2023 ++ *Sienna Mathes(W) 2023-2024 *Matthew Oclander(W) 2024-Present ++ ++ denotes a non-PLU graduate

All-Americans

*1993 *Brian Erstguard '93 *2004 *Lauren Rutledge '04 *2005 *Katie Schlepp '06, *2006 *Katie Schlepp '06 *Erin Wolf '06 *2007 *Amber Iverson '09 *2008 *Kat Jenkins '09 *2009 *Kat Jenkins '09 *2010 *n/a *2011 *Abby Smith '12 *2016 *Hannah Peterson '19 *2017 *Hannah Peterson '19 *2018 *Hannah Peterson '19 *2019 *Hannah Peterson '19 *Madeline Woods '20

National team members

*Sarah Jones '93, competitor in the Women's 8+ at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and in the 2- at the

2004 Athens Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. *

Doug Herland Douglas "Doug" John Herland (August 19, 1951 – March 26, 1991) was a 1984 Summer Olympics bronze medal Winner, coxing the Men's Pair with coxswain (2+) event. Following his successes at the Olympics, Herland began the " Freedom on the ...

'73, Bronze medalist coxswain in the M2+ at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. *Bjorn Larsen '03, Silver medalist in the ML4- at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

. *Elise Linborg '84, competitor at the

1996 Atlanta Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Current Fleet

*Spirit of Olalla: 8+ Pocock X *Scott Laio: 4+ Pocock K series *Doug "Herly" Herland: 8+ Pocock K series *Stille-Intensitet: 8+ Pocock K series *Urokkelig Makt: 8+ Pocock K series *Valborg: 8+ Pocock K series *Valkyrie: 4+ Pocock K series *Idunn: 8+ Pocock K series *The Spirit of '02: 8+ Pocock

Former Fleet

*Gracias San Pedro: 4+ (Prototype Pocock Shell with golf-ball style dimples. Never went into production.) * Husky Clipper: 8+ *Lagprestajon: 8+ *Loyal Shoudy: 8+ *Marjory Anderson: 4+ *Parodi: 8+ *Return of the Sleipner: 8+ *Sleipner: 8+ *Beauty and the Beast: 2- -vespoli *Lorraine: 2- -vespoli *Grødprinsess Anne (aka "The Frog"): 4+ Vespoli ultralight series *Paul Hoseth (aka "Våt Drøm"): 8+ Vespoli Mill. series *Kristin Shay Paulson: 4+ Vespoli Mill. series *TNT: 4+ (Prototype for the Pocock K4+ series of racing shells)

References

External links

*
2004-2005 Media Guide

2005-2006 Media Guide

2006-2007 Media Guide

2007-2008 Media Guide
{{Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference

Crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...

Rowing clubs in the United States