Gillin Boat Club

Last updated
Gillin Boat Club
Location2200 Kelly Drive, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Home water Schuylkill River
Established2002
Navy admission 2004
Membership200 [1]
Colors Crimson   and Gray  . - These are the official hex colors as per the university's graphics guidelines.
Website sjprep.org

Gillin Boat Club is the rowing program for St. Joseph's University Rowing and St. Joseph's Prep Rowing. [2] [3] It is situated at the 1,000-meter mark of the Schuylkill River race course in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gillin Boat Club was admitted to the Schuylkill Navy in 2004, by a unanimous vote of the Navy's members. [4]

Contents

The club's state-of-the-art boathouse has the capacity for 42 eights, 14 fours (quads), and 14 small boats. [4] It was the first new boathouse built on this stretch of the Schuylkill River in 98 years. [5]

Gillin also hosts the Fairmount Park Commission's Community Rowing Program, which is designed to provide an experience for youth in the city of Philadelphia who have not had the opportunity to experience the sport of rowing. [6]

Robert M. Gillin Jr. Boathouse

In 1998, Philadelphia City Council approved construction of what is now known as the Robert M. Gillin Jr. Boathouse. [7] The boathouse was dedicated in May 2002. [8] The building was designed by Robert L. Owen - Architects and built by Nason and Cullen, Inc. [9] While some have praised the structure as "the Taj Mahal of Kelly Drive," [2] others have levied criticism on the boathouse's design, calling it a "bloated hulk of a building." [8] Work has been done to repair the second floor, which began buckling shortly after construction was completed. [10]

University Crew

The Men's and women's crew teams of St. Joseph's University regularly compete on a national level.

Dad Vail Regatta

St. Joseph's University has been a perennial contender at the Dad Vail Regatta, the nation's largest collegiate regatta.

In 2019, Saint Joseph's won Gold in the Men's Third Varsity Heavyweight Eight. Saint Joseph's took home Silver in the Second Varsity Heavyweight Eight Category.

In 2018, Saint Joseph's won Gold in the Men's Third Varsity Heavyweight Eight. Saint Joseph's took home silver medals in the First and Second Varsity Heavyweight Eight Categories in 2018 as well.

In 2017, Saint Joseph's won Gold in the Men's Second Varsity Heavyweight Eight, as well as Gold in the Men's Third Varsity Heavyweight Eight. Saint Joseph's Men's First Varsity Heavyweight Eight took home silver that same year, their first medal in the Varsity Eight category since 1999.

In 2010, St. Joe's won gold in the Men's Frosh/Novice Heavyweight Eight.

In 2008, St. Joe's won a silver in the Women's Frosh/Novice Heavyweight Eight and a bronze in the Men's JV Heavyweight Eight. [11]

In 2007, the team finished 2nd in Overall Points and 3rd in Women's Points. [12]

In 2006, the Women won the Varsity 8 for the first time in its long history. The team finished 1st in Overall Points, 1st in Men's Points, and 2nd in Women's Points. [13]

In 2005, the team finished 1st in Overall Points, 1st in Men's Points, and 3rd in Women's Points. [14]

In 2004, St. Joseph's won 2nd in Overall Points, Men's Points, and Women's Points. [15]

Earlier in its history, St. Joseph's University won a gold medal at the 1970 Dad Vail Regatta and a silver medal in 1959, the first year of the program's existence.[ citation needed ]

IRA Championship Regatta

The Intercollegiate Rowing Association's IRA Championship Regatta is the most competitive race in collegiate rowing and is considered to be the United States collegiate national championship of rowing. [16] In 2004, St. Joe's Varsity Four finished fourth in the Grand Final at the IRAs. [17] In recent years, St. Joseph's has qualified multiple boats for IRAs. [18]

The Men's Team has competed at the IRA National Championship twice since 2017. They look to compete at this event each year against the top teams in the country, competing for a national title.

Henley Royal Regatta

The University Crew has competed at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta, a race in England. In 1999, a crew from St. Joseph's pursued the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley. [19]

Alumni

The University Crew has placed many of its alumni along the east coast, whom regularly compete together in the fall. Most notably, the Saint Joseph's University alumni crew won a medal at the 2019 Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA.

Preparatory crew

St. Joseph's Preparatory School has amassed racing records unequaled by any other American high school, including winning the Stotesbury Cup ten times since 1987. [2]

Stotesbury Cup Regatta

The Stotesbury Cup Regatta is the largest high school regatta in the United States and is considered the high school national championship. [20] The Boys Senior Eight boat won the Stotesbury Cup in 1955, 1987, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2019 and 2021; and the Boys Lightweight Eight won in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1986, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023. [21]

In addition, The Prep is the only team to ever sweep all of the eights races at the regatta. This feat was first accomplished in 1997.

In 2008, St. Joe's Prep accomplished nearly the same result sweeping all five events in the eight-man category. [22] As a result of the sweep, a poll by Row2k.com ranked The Prep as the crew of the week, over collegiate national champions. [23] Vespoli, a manufacturer of racing shells highlighted the team's accomplishment among other national champions. [24]

Henley Royal Regatta

The Prep regularly competes at the Henley Royal Regatta. Rowers from St. Joseph's Prep "have been to Henley eight times and won the prestigious Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup in 2000." [2] In 2010, St. Joseph's Prep lost to the Kent School in the semi-finals. [25] In 2008, St. Joseph's Prep was eliminated by Eton College in the quarter-finals. [26] In 2005, St. Joseph's made it to the finals, but lost to Eton College. [27] The Prep's quest for the Princess Elizabeth Cup in 2005 made news in London [28] as well as in the United States. [29] The Prep competed at the Henley Royal Regatta in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2019.

Olympic Games

Several Prep Crew alumni have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games including 2004 gold medalist Peter Cipollone '89 (2000 Games as well). Other Prep Olympic rowers include Michael Peterson '85 (1996 Atlanta Games), Tom Welsh '95 (2000 Sydney Games) and Mike Gennaro '07 (2012 London Olympics alternate).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malvern Preparatory School</span> School in Malvern, Pennsylvania, United States

Malvern Preparatory School, commonly referred to as Malvern Prep, is an independent Catholic middle school and college preparatory high school for boys located in Malvern, Pennsylvania within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The school was started and is still run by Order of Saint Augustine and is a member of the Augustinian Secondary Education Association. Malvern Prep is a member of the Inter-Academic League which also includes Episcopal Academy, Germantown Academy, Penn Charter, The Haverford School, and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Badgers Crew</span>

The Wisconsin Badgers Crew is the rowing team that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Rowing at the University dates back to 1874. The women's openweight team is an NCAA Division I team. The men's and lightweight women's programs compete at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship Regatta because the NCAA does not sanction a men's or lightweight women's national championship. Chris Clark has been the men's head coach since 1996 and Bebe Bryans has been the women's head coach since 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College rowing in the United States</span>

Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States. The first intercollegiate race was a contest between Yale and Harvard in 1852. In the 2018–19 school year, there were 2,340 male and 7,294 female collegiate rowers in Divisions I, II and III, according to the NCAA. The sport has grown since the first NCAA statistics were compiled for the 1981–82 school year, which reflected 2,053 male and 1,187 female collegiate rowers in the three divisions. Some concern has been raised that some recent female numbers are inflated by non-competing novices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dad Vail Regatta</span>

The Dad Vail Regatta is the largest regular intercollegiate rowing event in the United States, drawing over a hundred colleges and universities from North America. The regatta has been held annually on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1953.

Harry Parker was the head coach of the Harvard varsity rowing program (1963–2013). He also represented the United States in the single scull at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Charles Stahley Butt, Jr. (1919–1992) was a high school rowing coach in Northern Virginia, United States, who was also involved in promoting the growth of school rowing in the Washington D.C. area and the United States.

Stephen C. Gladstone, or Steve Gladstone as he is better known, is one of the premier rowing coaches in the United States. He currently coaches at Yale University. Previously, he coached at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also served as athletic director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stotesbury Cup</span>

The Stotesbury Cup Regatta, sponsored by the Schuylkill Navy, is the world's oldest and largest high school rowing competition. It is held annually in mid-May over a two-day period on the Schuylkill River near Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Competing crews come from schools all over North America, though most hail from the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Lions</span> Athletic teams of Columbia University

The Columbia University Lions are the collective athletic teams and their members from Columbia University, an Ivy League institution in New York City, United States. The current director of athletics is Peter Pilling.

Todd Kennett is a coach of the Division I Collegiate heavyweight rowing program at Cornell University. In 2006 and 2008, his lightweight varsity boat program captured both the Eastern Sprints Regatta and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships ("IRA").

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schuylkill Navy</span> Association of amateur rowing clubs of Philadelphia

The Schuylkill Navy is an association of amateur rowing clubs of Philadelphia. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States. The member clubs are all on the Schuylkill River where it flows through Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, mostly on the historic Boathouse Row.

The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's open weight rowing. It is the direct successor to the Rowing Association of American Colleges, the first collegiate athletic organization in the United States, which operated from 1870–1894.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Toronto Rowing Club</span>

The University of Toronto Rowing Club (UTRC) was founded on February 10, 1897 and represents the Varsity Blues at local and international regattas. It is the oldest university rowing club in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Lutheran University Crew</span>

PLU Crew is the varsity rowing program for Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. The team was founded in 1964 as a joint program with University of Puget Sound. 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 (NCRC) and Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newcastle University Boat Club</span>

Newcastle University Boat Club (NUBC) is the rowing club of Newcastle University, UK. Established in March 1911 as the boat club for Armstrong College, it celebrated its centenary in 2011, when was also appointed High Performance Programme for heavyweight men and women by British Rowing. In the past 20 years current students and alumni won 60 international vests for GB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bachelors Barge Club</span>

Bachelors Barge Club is an amateur rowing club located at #6 Boathouse Row in the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuously operating boathouse in the United States. It went through renovations as part of the "Light Boathouse Row" initiative, in which new LED lights were fitted to each of the boathouses. Bachelors Barge Club is currently home to several programs, including the Conestoga High School Crew Team, and the Drexel University Crew Team, among several others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College Boat Club</span>

The College Boat Club of the University of Pennsylvania is the rowing program for University of Pennsylvania Rowing, which is located in the Burk-Bergman Boathouse at #11 Boathouse Row on the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its membership consists entirely of past and present rowers of the University of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown University men's rowing</span>

The Brown University men's rowing team represents Brown University in men's intercollegiate rowing and is the oldest organized intercollegiate sport at the university. Since its revival in 1949, the Brown University rowing program has become one of the most successful collegiate rowing programs in the world, winning men's and women's national titles, as well as championship titles at the world-famous Henley Royal Regatta in London. In addition, the program has produced 32 Olympic rowers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Head of the Schuylkill Regatta</span> American rowing race

The Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta is a rowing race held annually during the last weekend in October on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The HOSR is the final race in the Fall Fury series, which includes the Head of the Ohio and the Head of the Connecticut. Along with the Head of the Charles and the Head of the Connecticut, the HOSR is considered one of the three “fall classics.” The HOSR is one of the marquee races in the Philadelphia Classic Regatta Series, which also includes the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Championship, the Schuylkill Navy Regatta, and the Independence Day Regatta.

Regattas such as the Head of the Charles in Boston and the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia are to the rowing world what the New York Marathon and the Boston Marathon are to running.

Colin Farrell is the head coach of the University of Pennsylvania lightweight rowing team. A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Farrell won the 2008 World Rowing Championships in the lightweight men's eight. He attended St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia and Cornell University, where he was a three-time letter winner and two-time captain for a program which claimed a silver medal at the 2005 IRA Regatta; he also stroked the Big Red to a 3rd-place finish in the Men's Lightweight Eight in the 2005 edition of the Eastern Sprints. He graduated from Cornell with a degree in Psychology in 2005.

References

  1. ↑ "Gillin Boat Club". Schuylkill Navy. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Brendan F. Quinn, "A New Era of Rowing at St. Joseph's Prep", The Bulletin, May 15, 2009". Archived from the original on 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
  3. ↑ "Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta 2009 Program" (PDF). Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. 2009. p. 20. Retrieved 30 April 2010.[ dead link ]
  4. 1 2 "Rober Gillin, Jr. Boathouse, sjuhawks.com". Archived from the original on 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
  5. ↑ Dedication of St. Joseph's Boathouse, First New One on the Schuylkill in 98 Years, Set for June 15, thefreelibrary.com
  6. ↑ "Fairmount Park Rowing Camp 2009 Brochure" (PDF).
  7. ↑ St. Joe’s Gets Nod For New Boathouse, Rowing News p. 5 (February 28, 1998)
  8. 1 2 Steinberg, "Bloat on the Water", Philadelphia City Paper, April 17-23, 2003 Archived December 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Project Profile of Nason & Cullen
  10. ↑ "St.Josephs University - Boathouse Floor". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  11. ↑ Dad Vail Regatta Results -- 2008
  12. ↑ Dad Vail Regatta Results -- 2007
  13. ↑ Dad Vail Regatta Results -- 2006
  14. ↑ Dad Vail Regatta Results -- 2005
  15. ↑ Dad Vail Regatta Results -- 2004
  16. ↑ Since 1995, the IRA Championship Regatta has been held on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey.
  17. ↑ IRA Regatta 2004, row2k.com p. 4, Race 101
  18. ↑ For examples, search for "St. Joes" in IRA results for 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.
  19. ↑ "Temple Challenge Cup, 1999 Results, hrr.co.uk". Archived from the original on 2010-10-10. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  20. ↑ The Prep Rocks Nationals, Rowing News (June 20, 1998) p. 9
  21. ↑ List of Winners of every Stotesbury Cup Regatta race since 1927, boathouserow.org Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ Ed Hewitt, Stotesbury 2008: St. Joe's Sweeps; Bishop Eustace Repeats, Row2k.com (May 17, 2008)
  23. ↑ Crew of the Week, Row2k Polls (May 19, 2008)
  24. ↑ "EXCELLENCE ON DISPLAY: WINNING VESPOLI CREWS: Stotesbury Cup:St. Joe's Prep Varsity Boy's Eight". Archived from the original on 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  25. ↑ "Results". Archived from the original on 2015-10-11. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  26. ↑ "Results". Archived from the original on 2015-10-11. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  27. ↑ "Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup Results", Times of London, July 4, 2005.
  28. ↑ Mike Rosewell, Army steal a march on rivals, Times of London, June 30, 2005.
  29. ↑ Henley Morning Report, row2k.com (July 2, 2008) For more Henley results, see 1999 Archived 2010-10-10 at the Wayback Machine , 2000 Archived 2010-11-29 at the Wayback Machine 2005 Archived 2010-11-29 at the Wayback Machine , and 2008 Archived 2010-11-29 at the Wayback Machine .

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.