Last year, the University School Crew Team did extremely well. The men’s four-person lightweight boat received a bronze medal at a regatta in Miami, and placed 9th out of 20 entries in the State Championship Regatta. The men’s four-man varsity boat also ended the season in 9th place at the championship regatta. The novice (first-year rowers’) boat finished in 8th place.
This fall, the Crew Team proudly welcomed new Head Coach Boban Rankovic. Coach B was a member of the Serbian National Crew Team in the 2000 Olympics and comes to us from the University of Miami, where he served as head coach of their crew team. The Crew Team is excited about the level of experience and expertise Coach B brings to the Team, and is confident that his presence will help the Team grow and rise to the next level of competition.
In the fall, which is the season for long-distance rowing in crew, our men’s eight-man varsity boat participated in the 17th Head of the Indian Creek Regatta, a 2.7 mile race. To get there, our Team rowed 22k, or 13.5 miles, from out boathouse in Hollywood to the regatta location on Miami Beach. This extremely long row caught the attention of The Miami Herald, which featured our Team in a story about the Indian Creek Regatta. We ended the season with a tri-meet among Miami Beach Rowing Club, Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy and USchool.
The Crew Team has a full schedule planned for this spring, which is the sprint season in rowing. We will be traveling to the Southern Sprints Indoor Ergatta (2000m) in Melbourne, the 14th OARS Regatta (1500m) in Turkey Lake in Orlando, and to the 45th FSRA State Championship (1500m) in Sarasota. We will also participate in local regattas, such as the 37th Miami International Regatta (1500m) in Key Biscayne, and the South Florida Sprints (1500m) in Miami, and in duals with other local rowing teams. Our membership continues to grow, with our recruiting emphasis on middle school students. The Crew Team expects to have approximately 30 rowers in the spring season.