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Hobart Rowing History

Hobart Rowing

1860

  • The Seneca Boat Club is established at the college with the purchase of the boat "Agayenteh." All they had to row against were the great family boats of Commodore Hawks, manned by all the oars and paddles that could be used in a single boat." - Geneva Advertiser
1862
  • Alpha Delta Phi forms a college boat club with 18 fraternity members. The "Lady of the Lake" is purchased by the college.
1866
  • The Hobart Navy was established from a collection of Hobart Fraternity Boat Clubs. The Delta Boat Club (comprised of Sigma Phi fraternity members), Alpha Delta Phi Boat Club, and Theta Delta Chi Boat Club raced each other on Seneca Lake. The navy had six boats of the four-oared and six-oared varieties. These six boats were named: "Meerschaum," "Arrow," "Lady of the Lake," "Ariel," "Camilla," and "Adylstaine."
  • The Delta Boat Club defeated the Alpha Delta Phi Boat Club and the Seneca Boat Club. It was later reported that the Alpha Delta Phi and Seneca Boat Clubs failed to report for the race and the Delta Boat Club won by default. In October 1866, the Alpha Delta Phi Boat Club exacts revenge defeating the Delta Boat Club in a 2-mile race, 15:56 to 16:19, winning the Champions Flag from the Delta Boat Club despite the fact that the "Arrow" of Delta Boat Club was a six-oared shell and the "Meerschaum" was a four-oared shell.
1867
  • Alpha Delta Phi Boat Club wins the Hobart Navy Champions Flag for a second time in the "Meerschaum." The race was 3.25 miles and the "Meerschaum" covered the distance in 22:42, 2:01 ahead of The Delta Boat Club in the "Ariel." Both boats were four-oared shells. The win by Alpha Delta Phi, while deserved, is enlarged due to a member of "Ariel" catching a crab early in the race.
1868-1871
  • The fraternity boat clubs that comprised the Hobart Navy continued to hold inter-club regattas. The six-best oarsmen from the Hobart Navy were selected each year to the college crew. Unfortunately, this crew was unable to compete in intercollegiate competition due to lack of funds from the college.
1875
  • The six-oared shell "Witch of the Wave" is purchased for the new boathouse.
1876
  • "Belle of the Seneca" is purchased by the Hobart Navy.
1877
  • First Boathouse built for the Hobart Navy and college rowing at a cost of $1,500, $700 of which was exclusively for the piers on which the boathouse stood. J.E. Butts, a Geneva resident, donated the lumber for the building.

1879
  • Hobart Navy holds a fundraiser Sept. 18 in Linden Hall. The program included pantomimes; scenes from Mother Goose, and a play entitled "Little Daisy." The funds raised helped purchase new boats.

1880
  • The first documented occurrence of Hobart competing was on Friday, Sept. 3 at 3 p.m. Hobart raced the Albany Boat Club on Seneca Lake in a four-oared shell over a 2-mile stake race. Albany B.C. bested Hobart 15:44 to 15:51. The Hobart Boat Club also purchased two new boats in April of that year. It was reported in March of 1880 that they considered buying boats from the Hamilton College Boat Club but the boats were in need of repair after lack of use.

1885
  • The Hobart College Navy changes its name, for unknown reasons, and the Aquatic Club is formed. They are documented from 1886-1893. "Puritan of Geneva," a new shell, is purchased. The Aquatic Association member fraternities were Sigma Phi Boat Club, Kappa Alpha Boat Club, Theta Delta Chi Boat Club, Phi Kappa Psi Boat Club, and the Seneca Boat Club. "The College boat house is to be converted into a gymnasium for the use of the students. Those who feel in need of a little muscular exercise will now be obliged to descend the hill and afterwards go up again, a double process which will tend to strengthen their limbs." - Geneva Gazette, Dec. 25, 1885

1896
  • The Hobart Navy elects new directors and planned to add hydraulic weights to the weight room (Oct 31 Geneva Gazette). Four students are documented rowing at Hobart but interest began to grow as the team purchased an eight-oared shell in May. These men planned to race Cornell and Cascadilla Boat Club at the Cayuga Inlet, presumably in their newly purchased eight-oared shell.

1897
  • The boathouse is restored and a new shell is purchased.

1900
  • The students desire to compete in intercollegiate rowing. A team is formed with a captain/manager and coach. This team practiced daily and negotiated to race the Syracuse Rowing Association. However, they were barred from competing against Syracuse for not having obtained permission from the Hobart Athletic Council first. A newspaper article from June of 1900 says Hobart had been rowing for eight years. This could be the reason for the dissolving of the Aquatic Association after 1893 and explains why the school became focused on building a singular championship crew.

1901
  • The Hobart Herald reports the rowing team is the only sport, "that was not defeated." The team at this time was the only self-supporting athletic team at the college, as students paid dues to the Athletic Council of $5 a term to sponsor the costs of other teams and their expenses. The Hobart Herald states, "It elects its own officers, pays its own expenses, arranges for its own races." This is a bit of a snide comment as all teams selected officers, and the reason the rowing team did not receive funds of its own is due to the fact that they arranged for their own races apart from the permission of the Athletic Council. The only documented event of 1901 was selecting a crew to race from the boathouse to Kashong Point and back, a 16-mile endeavor.
1903
  • Rowing on campus becomes for recreational purposes only. The 1900 dispute with the Athletic Council seems to have squashed team rowing at Hobart.
1910
  • On June 26, prior to commencement in 1910, the boathouse burned down.

1936
  • A Rochester paper states that there has not been crew at Hobart since the boathouse burned down. Suggestions start to be made for the revival of the team.

1982
  • Student Rob Merles revives interest in rowing at Hobart. Trinity College lent the students a 30-year-old Pocock racing shell. In their inaugural season, Hobart beat rivals Colgate University twice and Ithaca College. The team, at the time, had no boathouse and was forced to launch off of the shore of Seneca Lake in front of the campus. Classics Professor S. Ford Weiskittel agrees to coach the team.
1986
  • Hobart competes at the Henley Royal Regatta for the first time.
1988
  • Hans Feige '86, a member of the 1986 Henley Crew, returns to Hobart to coach the team.
1990
  • Jimmy Joy, former technical director of the Canadian National Team, is hired as the first full-time head coach of the program.
1993
  • Hobart wins its first IRA National Championship in the men's pair
1994
  • Hellstrom Boathouse is built on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal. In the decade prior to the construction of Hellstrom, oarsmen stored a single shell, oars, and the coaching launch in the McDaniels House overlooking the lake. All of this equipment would be hauled down a bulldozed path and over the railroad tracks to Seneca Lake for practice.
  • The Statesmen repeat as IRA Champions in the lightweight pair.
1997
  • Hobart alumni Chris and Rob Desino '94 are the first Hobart oarsmen to make the U.S. National Team. Chris and Rob represented the USA at the 1997 World Championships. This was also the first year Hobart earned varsity status within the athletic department.
1999
2002
2003
2004
2006
  • Richard Klein '08 is the first Hobart oarsman to win a medal in international competition. He finished second at the 2006 U-23 World Championships in the men's lightweight quad.
  • Mike Alton is hired as head coach.

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