RHS Crew Team
Flying High Across the Water

– By Rita Wong –

They’re out of bed and in the car before 5 a.m. Some will doze off again during the ride to Cos Cob. Once there, they shrug off the stupor of sleep and rouse sluggish muscles to start the morning routine. The heavy boats are lifted to the dock edge, launched, and the oars slip into the water. Shivering in the clammy chill of predawn darkness, the rowers work in unison to move smoothly across the Mianus River. They maneuver through the enveloping fog and listen to the hum of trucks on I-95. So begins another practice for the Rye High School Crew Team.

The RHS crew program began two years ago with a handful of students and a staff coach at Greenwich Water Club (GWC). The current spring team consists of 17 coed rowers and coxswains. Grouped in boats of two, four or eight, the team practices 1½ hours every weekday morning, often in inhospitable conditions. Family and friends are impressed by the team’s rigorous training schedule, especially as they compete in only three or four regattas per season.

Stan Nelson, the father of one of the rowers, has been the volunteer coach for the past four seasons. With tremendous energy and the enthusiasm of a former collegiate rower, he is a one-man operation, handling both the administrative and coaching responsibilities. Motoring alongside the team, he keeps it all together, directing drills, shouting out instructions on technique, and pushing the team to work harder. “Rowing is a very technical sport and it can take years to master. It’s difficult to relay what I’m teaching to a large group in multiple boats that are also rowing in different styles (scull & sweep). But the kids work very hard and are determined to learn.”

The parents of these athletes are determined too, determined to keep the program alive. Affiliated with RHS as a “club,” it is totally funded by the parents. The team uses the facilities of GWC and rows on boats borrowed from Greenwich High School. The parents chip in with carpooling, supplying food for the regattas, and, most importantly, providing a boisterous cheering section at the competitions.

Involved since the second season when their son Drew joined the team as a sophomore, Cynthia and Lou DiPalma have been dedicated supporters, organizing the entire non-coaching side of the program. Like other crew parents, Cynthia recognizes that the sport “builds wonderful team spirit and camaraderie among a diverse group of students. They develop a great sense of pride and accomplishment in training and competing.”

Despite its graceful appearance, crew is a surprisingly strenuous sport which requires both physical strength and cardiovascular endurance. Good rowers are among the fittest athletes. Yet, no matter how great a rower may be, he or she is only one part of the whole. A perfect rower in a boat of four or eight means nothing because as Ian Miller, a senior who will crew on a Division 1 team for Bucknell this fall notes, “the team is only as strong as its weakest rower.”

Crew redefines the concept of teamwork, demanding precise coordination from all its participants. It is a complicated blend of strength, technique, pacing, and synchrony. Achieving that elusive chemistry of balanced physical and mental discipline can mean a spot on the winner’s stand.

And the winner’s stand is exactly where the RHS Boys’ Varsity 4x (Benno Stein, Drew DiPalma, Brian Cronin, and Eric Jonassen) celebrated when they placed first at the St. Luke’s Invitational in Norwalk May 10. Fighting buffeting winds, they confidently navigated the winding 1,200-meter course to finish well ahead of their competitors. A day earlier, the Boys’ Novice 4+ (Ben Lee, Harry Cohan, Chris Reifsnyder, Brian Connors, and coxswain Jacob Mann) surprised many, perhaps even themselves, with an exciting finish in the Varsity category of the 1,500-meter Glastonbury Spring Regatta. Due to cancellations, the novice team raced up a division and placed second against three other boats of more seasoned oarsmen.

These two finishes marked significant improvement in a challenging season which saw a rearrangement of the boat lineups due to the annual RHS fall/spring sport shuffle. Because crew is such a team oriented sport, maintaining a consistent group of rowers is a key element. Although the roster fluctuates from season to season, a core group of athletes has been returning to row both fall and spring. Given the untold hours of grueling practice for just a few minutes of race time per regatta, why do they do it?

It’s hard to pinpoint but the rewards seem both simple and abstract. From “seeing the sun rise during practice” to “when the team comes together, it’s one of the best feelings,” these students get a special kick out of rowing. Anyone can crew but crew is not for everyone. It takes a high level of commitment and the acceptance that you’ll never be an MVP. For those who get hooked, the spirit of teamwork and the magic they experience pulling in unison on the water more than compensates for all the hard work.

Despite his busy schedule with career, family and coaching, Nelson still manages to sneak in a little bit of water time for himself. He sees crew as more than just another sport. “If I can instill the proper technique, work ethic, and love for the sport, then these kids will be able to use it as a life experience which will help them be successful in whatever they do.”

These RHS athletes aren’t thinking that far ahead, even though crew may factor into their selection of college choices. For now, they’ll willingly sacrifice sleep for those moments when, as freshman Chris Reifsynder put it, “we work as a team and fly across the water.”