Health & Fitness
SHS Crew Team on the Mystic River
Somerville, MA, May 20, 2014 – Every weekday, rain or shine, the young men and women of the Somerville-Everett crew team are rowing… out on the Mystic River, or on machines if weather keeps them on shore.
SHS Crew Team on the Mystic River Video link
Somerville, MA, May 20, 2014 – Every weekday, rain or shine, the young men and women of the Somerville-Everett crew team are rowing… out on the Mystic River, or on machines if weather keeps them on shore.
The Somerville-Everett team rows out of the Gentle Giant Rowing Club at the Blessing of the Bay boathouse. The Somerville team was founded along with the Malden team in 2003 with support from the Gentle Giant Moving Company.
“Rowing tends to have an elitist sport mindset,” Gentle Giant Rowing Club Program Director Rich Whelan told Somerville Neighborhood News. “They wanted to break that down and break those barriers down and bring diversity to the sport.”
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About 30 high schoolers are part of the varsity team this spring, rowing in “fours” and “eights.” In the fall, many of them participate in crew as a team sport.
Bruna Lino’s parents are from Brazil.
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“I just thought it would be a fun sport,” the sophomore explained. Lino is in a “novice girls 8” boat. “The thing I love the most is being out on the water.”
“We’ve seen a lot of good things come out of the program,” Whelan said. “ We’ve seen C students become A students and we think that the factor is not just the confidence that’s built on the water. These kids come out and they’ve never been exposed to anything like this and they find that they can do this, through hard work.”
This spring is sophomore Carlos Ferreira’s first season. His parents, from Portugal, were thrilled to see him try the sport.
“I love it. Being in the boat, and the wind,” he said after being out on the water in a boy’s novice four. “You feel one with the water. It’s very team-based. You feel that you are moving the boat yourself. It’s all manpowered.”
The Somerville and Everett school departments pay coaching stipends and travel expenses for the team. Coach Stuart Whitney said that seeing students improve as rowers and also come to love the sport is immensely rewarding.
Whelan agrees.
“They really take to it. The leadership that comes out, the understanding of what it is to be part of a team,” is impressive, he noted.
“Every other sport is a team sport,” Whelan added, “but in rowing, if you are eight guys or eight girls in a boat and you want to go somewhere, you have to work together.”
Senior Steven Barillas agrees.
