Women Alums Step Up for the Truck

Following the harrowing brake failure of the SU Women's truck (while pulling a full trailer - thankfully uphill!) the decision was made by Coach Justin Moore that a new towing vehicle just could not be put off any longer. SU Women's Assistant Coaches Alicea Kochis and Andrea Buch were in the vehicle during the time of the failure and were able to maneuver the truck off the road safely.

A call to arms was made to the SU Women Alums to help offset this unexpected cash outflow. The university fronted the money but the expectation is that the truck must be paid for by the alumnae.

A huge shout-out to the following alums who initially stepped up to help out:

Lynne Della Pella Pascale came to the rescue with a multi-year financial commitment. Lynne is pictured in the vintage photo above - far left standing, with the red bandana.

Other contributions were made by
Maura McEnaney, a SU coxswain who wrote in her contributing note, "I once landed a boat on the dock and crushed it, so I am happy to help with the truck"
Bonnie Nault
Diane Kulpinski

Thank you to these four women for leading the charge!

So the update is $1,125.00 in and $18,875 to go.

Here is a photo of Coach Kochis, safe and sound in the new towing vehicle for SU Women's Crew


Women alums....
We need you.

Please consider a donation to help offset the cost of this non-glamorous, but extremely important equipment purchase. Donations can be made by writing a check to Syracuse Women's Rowing and sent to Coach Justin Moore at:

Manley Field House, 1301 E. Colvin St., Syracuse, NY 13244

Thank you!

1977 - the year that wasn't, Part Two

There were six seniors on the squad in 1977, but for whatever reason, Lyvers was the only senior who had come into the program with high school rowing experience who was still on the team in ’77. Recalling the foundation they had built, Mark said “there were six people who went all the way through the four years. Not all were on the varsity, but there was a core group of non-recruited people who did something for the rowing program while they were there, and their passion and love for the sport brought success.” One of those seniors, John Watson, would deliver a remarkable - and very rare - performance at the IRA.

The 1977 varsity eight was a pretty stable boat. The lineup didn’t change after spring camp, the boat made up of medalists - and champions – from frosh crews in previous years. Still, despite the evident talent in the boat, early in the racing season it just didn’t seem to completely gel, to come together and make the leap from freshman to varsity national champion. It wasn’t a personality issue, as Lyvers remembers the crew had “good chemistry”; it certainly wasn’t a lack of power – the crew had that in spades. What was missing, what they needed to make the transition from fast freshman crews to winning at the varsity level was technique. In retrospect Lyvers deemed a lack of finesse, technical proficiency and polish were the limiting factors. Mark recalled the boat had a “tremendous amount of power…We won races by overpowering other crews, but that only got us so far when we got to elite level; we needed a different level of expertise. That was the difference maker in that crew. Physically, [we were] probably more powerful than any other crew in the nation but we lacked on the technical side.”

The team stayed at Longbranch for spring camp, trading the trip south and warmer weather for more water time. While it was typical early March weather for upstate New York (chilly, cloudy, and one day of steady rain), the snow held off and the crews piled up the miles. After breaking camp, SU’s first race was scheduled for early April in Boston, and the competition was none other than the legendary Harry Parker’s Harvard Crimson. Coach Sanford had been talking with Parker for several years about the possibility of an early season race as a way for both crews to test their speed. Things had finally come together in early 1977 with the coaches agreeing to a home-and-home. The 1977 race was held in Boston at the rather unique distance of 2500 meters. The race was lengthened to allow for Syracuse’s lack of water time, with Sanford requesting, and Parker agreeing to the longer course.

While the day started out well enough with the second freshman eight rowing steadily away from Harvard for a close 2 1/2 second win, they were to be the only crew to head home with new shirts in their bags. Harvard managed to sweep the rest of the events, defeating the JV and first freshman by more than ten seconds. Due to an injury, the first frosh had a last minute lineup change that resulted in only one row for the crew before race day. The Varsity event was considerably closer, with SU trailing the Crimson by 3.2 seconds, proving it could compete with the cream of the EARC.

Winter Training - The SU Women

Woah. Check out some of these images from the winter training trip.

Thank you to Coach Andrea Buch for posting these on the SU Women's Rowing Facebook page!

1977, the Year that Wasn't

We're starting another chapter in the history of Syracuse Rowing; this one is 1977; the Year that Wasn't

here's the first section...


1977 - The year that wasn’t

Nineteen seventy-seven was going to be The Year. The Year that Bill Sanford’s Varsity finally brought the IRA championship back to Longbranch after 57 long years. The freshman under Drew Harrison had won the Regatta the previous year after a second in 1975 and a third in ‘74. The program was growing too, with three full varsity eights and more than two freshman boats on the water when what passed for a Syracuse ‘spring’ began. The talent was there, and the big eight, led by captain and stroke Mark Lyvers, was determined to deliver on its promise.

Lyvers had been in the ’74 frosh eight, which had finished third behind Cornell and Wisconsin at the IRA. The atmosphere at the end of the 1974 IRAs was exciting; the varsity had improved dramatically from previous years and the team had grown in numbers and commitment. Half of the freshmen stuck around for the summer and rowed in the Chargers program, and their effort paid off ; SU’s ’75 varsity eight boated four sophomores.

Apparently this wasn’t what the upperclassmen expected. According to Lyvers, the insertion of four sophomores into the varsity eight created a bit of tension between those new guys and those who had been there before. Before 1975, there’d been a sense – not quite an unwritten rule or tradition, more of a feeling that you earned your spot – at least in part – through seniority. Upperclassmen somehow ‘deserved’ those varsity seats more than sophomores, a concept that was foreign to the new guys on the varsity squad.

Whether it was the tension, a lack of maturity, or just not enough talent, the varsity didn’t really come together as a crew in 1975. 1976 was considerably better. SU had done very well in the Cup races, sweeping all events in the Goes Cup, winning the Varsity and Frosh races against Rutgers and both Varsity races over Brown. Despite all that success, when the Championship Regattas began, something seemed amiss. The Varsity failed to make the finals at the Sprints, but recovered somewhat for the Packard Cup where they defeated Dartmouth and MIT.

At the IRA, that spark seemed to have dimmed again, with the varsity finishing fourth in their heat. In the repechage on Friday, Syracuse finished 1.8 seconds behind winner California, earning a spot in Saturday’s Grand Finals. But that was it; in a race won by the same California crew in a time of 6:31, SU finished last in 6:39.8.

The varsity’s performance in the Sprints and IRAs were undoubtedly affected by Lyvers’ previously-undiagnosed case of mononucleosis. The varsity stroke had been pushing hard all season, trying to battle through what seemed to be fatigue and exhaustion from training. The crew was working very hard, and everyone was spent after practice; as the stroke, Lyvers was also the heart and soul of the boat, and he expected a lot from himself. While Lyvers battled through the season, it is apparent in hindsight that the illness had taken its toll, and races on consecutive days left no time for recovery.

What are all those Brits doing in Crimson?

Interesting article from my favorite newsmagazine - The Economist - on Brits rowing in US college crews and vice versa. There's a bit of an answer to the title question too...

http://www.economist.com/node/21542444