Nauset Horizons
Get Your Row OnWednesday, December 14, 2011 By Ryan Fitzgerald
Nauset Crew is in its first year at Nauset Regional High School (NRHS), and is already enjoying great success. The rowing team is coached by Alyse Demary and Brett Fournier, and currently has nineteen members on the roster. The Nauset rowing team holds four practices a week on Long Pond in Brewster. Their fall season just ended with the team competing in the South Shore Novice Challenge Regatta on Neponset River in Boston. The 2.5 mile course started at Victory Park in Dorchester, and went all the way to the finish line underneath the I-93 overpass. The Nauset boys team placed second out of four teams just behind first place Hingham High School. The girls team took first place out of five teams finishing with a time of 20:47, only 11 seconds ahead of Milton High School. Not bad for a team in its first year of competition. Even though the team had so much success, rowing is a very expensive sport. The beginning cost for the team is $20,000 or more, and a new, eight man racing shell can cost $30,000 or more. According to Coach Fournier, the team is seeking donations to keep the program up and running and is raffling off a 13 foot Boston Whaler from Nauset Marine for fundraising. The initial idea of starting a rowing team at Nauset began last spring. “I was contacted last spring by John Rivers [retired Nauset teacher] and Al Flanders [runs Orleans Sweeps Sculls a small rowing club in Orleans] about the potential of starting a program at Nauset” Coach Fournier says. Mr. Rivers presented the idea to Principal Conrad and he was supportive of the idea. Even though the rowing team is inexperienced they are in good hands with their coaches. Coach Fournier is the founder of Cape Cod Rowing and has been coaching rowing since 1994. A meeting took place last spring to see how many students may want to be a part of the team, and over 25 attended. Nauset Crew gained support over the summer from parents. “Over the summer, parents Terry Burke, Barbara Garside, and Carol Mindrebo worked on the many logistics involved with starting a program. Barnstable Rowing Club donated some older equipment to help the program start and 20+ kids have been learning how to row for the Fall season”, Fournier says. There are two rowing seasons, one in the spring and one in the fall. The spring racing season consists of 1500-2000 meter sprint races while the fall races are 2 or more mile endurance races. Rowing is a complete team sport where each of the eight rowers and the coxswain (the person in charge of navigation and steering) must work in total unison to be successful. It is a sport that requires upper body strength and is a great cardiovascular workout. |