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Georgetown University Crew Community
Georgetown University's rowing program counts approximately 180 participants each year, performing on eight teams: mens and womens heavyweight varsity teams, men's and women's lightweight varsity teams, men's and women's heavyweight freshmen teams, and men's and women's lightweight freshmen teams.
Student-athletes in the crew program come from all four of Georgetown's undergraduate schools, from throughout the United States and even Europe and South America. Upon graduation, crew student-athletes have gone on to careers in business, government, law, medicine, education, international development, and a wide range of other professions.
Members of the Crew Community
- Jane Hendrick (COL'06) is a senior on the women's varsity lightweight team, as well a government and Spanish double major. In her time at Georgetown, she has balanced her coursework with interning at the Brookings Institution and tutoring through Georgetown's Prison Outreach program. Upon graduation, Jane will travel to Peru for a year to teach physical education to disadvantaged children in rural areas of the country.
- Michael Lavoie (COL'06) has rowed on the men's heavyweight team for four years. He is active in campus ministry and will graduate this month with a bachelor of science in physics and French. Upon graduation, Michael will attend Officer Candidate School, Nuclear Propulsion School, and Submarine Basic School for a career in the United States Navy. "Even though it seems that I have less time than my friends for schoolwork, I am convinced that the excitement and self-confidence that builds up every morning (on the river) carries into the classroom," he said.
- Andrew Brown (COL'04) rowed for four years and still found the time to complete an economics major with two minors, in mathematics and government. He also volunteered at National Student Partnership, a non-profit organization that helps economically-disadvantaged people to locate jobs and affordable housing. Andrew currently works in capital markets for KPMG and coaches crew at Oakton High School in Oakton, VA. Crew taught me many life lessons, including the effort, teamwork and hard work necessary for success in life, he said.
- Rebecca Besant (SFS'99) was a member of Georgetowns first lightweight women's crew. She stayed on to coach the novice, and then varsity, lightweight teams from 2000-05. Rebecca currently works for Search for Common Ground as the Sub-Saharan Africa Program Manager, where she has been stationed this spring in Liberia, monitoring elections and democracy institutions.
History of Georgetown Crew
Georgetown's rowing past extends deep into the 19th century with the organization of its first student crew in 1876. This first group of oarsmen adopted the colors of the recent civil war to help identify their boats from the riverbanks during races. The University soon afterwards embraced the Blue and the Gray as the official school colors, signifying the nation's reconciliation and the unity of the student body.
Like the great Potomac River where the Hoya crews raced, intercollegiate rowing at Georgetown ebbed and flowed during its first eight decades. Revived by studenrs in 1958, crew quickly became one of the most successful fixtures of Georgetown athletics. Men's lightweight competition was added in 1963. Women's rowing was established in 1975 with lightweight women's competition made permanent in 1998. Approximately 180 student-athletes compete each year on one of the four varsity or four novice teams.
The defining characteristics of Georgetown rowing are the enthusiasm of its student-athletes, their fierce spirit of competition, and the outstanding quality of its coaches. Over 10 years ago, Georgetown Crew left the Dad Vail competition ranks it once dominated and began to compete successfully in the Champion Regatta. Today, all of the Hoya rowing teams compete at the Eastern Sprints.
