Raffi Salbashian and the Rye Crew Club Push Off

– By Jim Byrne –

Endurance, strength and precision teamwork are all necessary components to find success in the physically grueling sport of crew.

You also have to wake up before the rooster to practice, but that's something Rye junior Raffi Salbashian could care less about. The hardest part in getting Rye's first official crew club in the water was dealing with the Board of Education, Central Administration and all the other red tape that needs to be cut in order to get a new sport off the ground.

But, Salbashian was diligent in completing this mission and, according to Athletic Director Rob Castagna, “he spearheaded the interest in putting the team together. He was the catalyst for this whole thing.”

Salbashian was able to get 15 other Rye students to join the club, which practices at the Greenwich Water Club, Monday through Friday, before each school day begins. “It's better practicing before school rather than after it,” said Salbashian. “Everyone is more awake during school and then we have much more free time afterwards.” The club is open to any student at Rye, but they have to fund themselves in order to participate.

The Greenwich Water Club also facilitates the Greenwich High School varsity and junior varsity teams, which the Garnets will be following to regattas where they will compete against schools in Connecticut and New Jersey. Rye's first regatta will be at the Greenwich Water Club, Saturday, March 24, where they will row in the Erg-A-Thon. After that, they will race at the Greenwich Invitational, Saturday, April 7.

With a relatively inexperienced roster, there may be some bumps along the way for the Garnets. Of the 16-man roster, all are juniors and younger, and only four members have prior competitive rowing experience. Salbashian, junior Ali Kane, sophomore Kohl Brinkman and eighth grader Dylan Walker will have to share their knowledge of the sport with their teammates, something Salbashian couldn't be happier to do.

“It's just a great feeling that all the work has paid off,” he said. “I've been trying to get this done since last May.”

Although Salbashian has hopes of the club sport evolving into a varsity one for next year, Castagna was skeptical, but feels there certainly is a chance of that happening at some point. “We'll approach that cautiously,” he said. “There are no varsity teams in Section 1 as of now, and of course we would need funding from the Board of Education for it. It's a pilot program right now, so we'll see where it goes and evaluate it from there. The kids are really excited about it though.”

Aside from the critical aspect of retrieving necessary funds from the Board, the team would need to find a coach as well as a facility willing to house them permanently in order to become a varsity sport down the line.

For now however, Salbashian is happy with what he has already achieved. “I couldn't of done it without my teammates.”