Thursday, September 09, 1999
UC women's crew team a long time in the making
New program result of 16-year effort
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Some of the the athletes who will end up on the new women's crew team at the University of Cincinnati were not yet born when board of trustees member Joni Herschede began pushing for the sport to be adopted.
Tim Royalty, who will coach the team, said some of them have yet to step into a boat.
“This is a sport where there's no experience necessary, just a little athletic ability and desire,” said Royalty, a UC alumnus who once won a gold medal in rowing at the U.S. Olympic Festival. “There are many examples of people who started rowing as college freshmen and made it to the Olympics.”
UC announced Wednesday it will add varsity competition in women's crew starting in the 2000-01 school year. Seventy-three schools in NCAA Division I compete in crew. Royalty said he hopes for the Bearcats to qualify for the NCAA championships within four years.
Herschede said she first became attracted to the sport of crew nearly two decades ago watching races at East Fork State Park in Batavia. “I saw the enthusiasm in these kids, lifting their boats up and carrying them along. The water is so peaceful and smooth. ... It's just a wonderful sport.”
She has been trying to persuade UC to add crew to its athletic program since 1982, when she first brought up the possibility to the board of trustees. She said the offer of a $2 million donation to support the program was made to former athletic director Gerald O'Dell, but he declined.
When that proposal was presented to Bob Goin, he asked for time to investigate the sport's possibilities at UC. Herschede made the donation anyway. The school took $600,000 of that to endow football scholarships and will use the rest to help endow the crew team.
Goin estimates it will cost $160,000 to operate the team, plus a commitment to 20 full scholarships a year, the maximum allowed by NCAA rules. UC expects between 60 and 80 athletes on the team.
Along with the elimination of men's indoor track, men's tennis and co-ed rifle, adding that many female athletes will represent a huge step toward becoming compliant with gender equity laws. Crew is UC's 10th intercollegiate sport for women.
The Bearcats will train on the Little Miami and Ohio rivers and also will compete on the rowing course at East Fork. Among the regional competitors for UC are Louisville, Dayton and several Big Ten schools.
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