Syracuse Rowing Honors the Past with a Night Under the Lights

Story and Photos by Lauren Williams

(Liverpool, N.Y. - )

Senior A boat falls to Sophomore A in first undergrad match race

Coming back to the place where it all started is not always easy. But for roughly 175 Syracuse University rowing alumni, coming back is more than a time to catch up.

Alumni both young and old gathered at the James A. Ten Eyck Boathouse on September 20 to reminisce about years past, as well as recognize the 2014 Hall of Fame class and, in many cases to get into a shell and race.

The gathering was conceived by both men’s head coach Dave Reischman and the women’s head coach Justin Moore as a way to encourage alumni to return to their alma mater.

“It’s a fun event,” Reischman said. “It’s basically our opportunity to give alumni a window back into our program and probably most importantly to give them a chance to reconnect with teammates that they probably haven’t seen in a long time.”

Despite heavy rain, last year’s event was a success and the Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association (SARA) decided to host the celebration again. This year the sun shone brightly and the temperature remained in the 70s for most of the afternoon.

“The response was good last year,” Reischman said. “Almost everybody was like ‘this is the best alumni event that we’ve ever been to’ and it was pouring down rain. That’s a really good endorsement that it was something people really enjoy.”

Boat dedications

The day kicked off with the dedication of two boats. The first was named for Hall of Fame inductee Mark Lyvers ’77 who was the first women’s varsity coach in the history of the program.  Lyvers helped to make the program competitive, with the first year’s team competing in the famous Head of the Charles as well as a race against Yale.

“It’s amazing to see all the facilities and the support from the University,” Lyvers said. “That still chokes me up. I’m still basically speechless. Like I tried to say earlier today, it’s the people, it’s them who built the program. Coaches will come and go, but it’s people who are there who persevere, who did those kinds of things they built the program and that is what I’m proud about. “

The second boat that was dedicated was christened by Drew Harrison ’68. The coach for the men’s freshmen team, whose teams missed a medal at the IRA Regatta just once in nine years, and won three consecutive national championships at the IRA in 1976, '77 and '78.  Like Lyvers Harrison credited the team as the reason for the program’s growth.

“I got to coach here for nine years with tremendous success,” Harrison said.  “I feel this is shared with all the athletes I have coached within those nine years. I’m the center of some attention tonight, but really is a shared honor.”

Rowing and Racing

Within the next hour, alumni slipped into clothes that would allow them to participate in the recreational row. Roughly 24 alumni spent half an hour gliding across the water including 91-year old Paul Irvine ’45, a former World War II fighter pilot.

500-meter alumni match races began shortly after to narrow down the teams which would compete under the stars (and floodlights.) The eights featured a mix of men and women alums. After three heats, four boats moved on to the semifinals to compete against each other, with the winner to take on a boatload of current team members for the "World Championship."

As the sun set, the four undergraduate teams that advanced from their preliminary races in the morning took to the water. They too were a mix of rowers from the men's and women's teams. After crushing both the senior and sophomore class boats in the semifinals, the juniors advanced through the bracket to the championship race and ultimately victory against a game but not quite as fit alumni eight.

New Hall of Famers

Once the evening’s races had wrapped up, the Hall of Fame inductees were honored for the contributions they made to Syracuse rowing and to the sport overall. Along with Lyvers and Harrison, this year’s class included the 1913 IRA champion varsity eight as a team and three of its members as individuals: coxswain Clifford "Tip" Goes (1913) and oarsmen Marty Hilfinger (1914) and Howard Robbins (1914). Dr. Tom Kerr (1939), who co-founded SARA and Steve Gladstone(1964), who has coached championship teams at Brown and California and is now men's head coach at Yale rounded out the honorees.