Virus cancels Hub rowing competitions
Coaches say there was no other choice
The impact of the threat of the coronavirus, which has resulted in widespread cancellation of collegiate and international rowing events, will have a long-lasting effect on the state of the sport, according to area coaches and rowing cognoscenti.
The NCAA moved quickly this week in canceling all of its tournaments and national championships. The trickle down effect resulted in the Eastern Sprints, which pits the majority of the top eastern collegiate rowing teams in the United States at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester on May 17, and the 118th International Rowing Association event at Mercer Lake, in Princeton, N.J., on May 29, being shelved.
Other casualties include the 155th annual HarvardYale Regatta in New London,
Conn., and set for June 6. Also, FISA or the World Rowing Association, scuttled the World Cup 1 set for April 10-12 in Sabaudia, Italy, and World Cup 2 set for May 1-3 in Varese, Italy, as well as the Final European Olympic and Paralympic qualifying events slated for April 27-29 in Varese and May 8-10 in Gavirate, Italy, respectively.
IRA commissioner and retired Tufts coach Gary Caldwell, after extended deliberation and consultation with the Board of Stewards of the IRA, announced their decision on Friday.
“The well-being of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, referee corps, and local volunteers came to the forefront of this decision. With caution being issued by health experts to practice social distancing, coupled with professional leagues and events suspending play, and experienced administrators at the NCAA and other organizations taking drastic steps to cancel their respective spring championships, we feel it is morally and ethically responsible to make the same determination,” Caldwell said.
Northeastern coach John Pojednic called the entire situation caused by the COVID-19 threat “unprecedented.”
“There is a lot of complexities to it, right from the freshmen to the seniors who lose out on their last season. For young kids, these three months, March, April and May are the most important months of the year,” said Pojednic, whose Huskies were due to open the 2020 campaign on the weekend of April 4-5. “It’s definitely tough. I know that there has been a lot of discussion going back and forth as to whether the NCAA will issue another season but I’m not sure how that helps many of the seniors who will already have graduated and gone on to jobs.”
Harvard coach Charley Butt described the matter as a learning experience for all.
“Everybody, including myself, will now appreciate what we’ve had for the last 30 years and, in the case of Harvard and Yale, for the past 155 years,” said Butt, who likened the situation to what a much older generation experienced with the Great Depression, World War II, and the polio scare. “Everybody develops rowers. Everybody gets good rowers, some more than others. Thus, it becomes a development process. But, I think it will a
Boston University coach Tom Bohrer took his team to Clemson, S.C., for a weeklong training camp that was to feature a “scrimmage” against Clemson Saturday on Lake Hartwell. The crews were in the midst of a 9 a.m., training session when Bohrer learned of the cancellations. He informed the team once back on land.
“We had 10 seniors and it’s a fun group. A good group. A solid group. Maybe the (NCAA) will allow them to come back and do a graduate year,” Bohrer said. “Our freshmen and sophomores, we had five of six, and they really starting to come on and progressing with their strokes and what we had them do over the fall and winter. Then, boom! That’s it. You just have to be a little bit hopeful. There’s so much uncertainty.”
Coincidentally, Phil Stekl, the father of BU freshman rower Gabriel Stekl, experienced a similar fate, after making the U.S. Olympic rowing team in 1980 before falling victim to the Olympic boycott. Four years later, the Phil Stekl won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Fred Schoch, the executive director of the 56th annual Head of the Charles Regatta, said at least for the time being, time itself is the big ally for the Regatta, set for Oct. 17-18.
“You took the words right out of my mouth. We’ve been watching the marathon situation and they seem to have struck a balance. We’ve been praying for them. We’re empathetic. It’s the right call. We have a few months. We hope everything will be OK by then,” Schoch said.