Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Illini Rowing

Illini Rowing!
Home Pond: 
    Homer Lake - The Illini Crew rows on  the beautiful Homer Lake, located 12 miles to the South-East of campus. The two kilometer long lake is well sheltered from winds allowing the rowers to train in high winds that would ground other crews. The lake, which is part of the Homer Lake Forest Preserve, is open to the public for recreational use. However, the use of internal combustion engines is prohibited on the lake, meaning crews will enjoy wake-free rowing while practicing. 


  Admission: 
      Free -- upon journey to Homer Lake!

History*: 
      The earliest proof of an Illini Rowing team is from one unofficial advertisement from 1981 that was attempting to recruit athletes for the men’s crew team.  The ad reads:
 Crew
 The Sport of Preps

“No one can row crew and study and party: guess what has to go.” With this in mind, we
founded Crew Illini. In only one short year we are #4 in the Big 10 and we are still looking for
our first shell. How did we do it? “Drinking” was the key to our success.

This semester we are looking for a few good rowers, preferably from Holy Spirit in New Jersey
to carry on the Crew Illini tradition. We are also looking for lots of prep women to cheer us on to
victory and to attain that goal of #1 in the Big 10.

      So, by this piece of history, it can be gathered that the University of Illinois officially had a Men’s crew team in 1980. In just one year they were able to capture the 4th seed in the B10. However, in 1980 as well as today, crew is not recognized as a B10 or NCAA Division I sport.
      Rowing is the oldest organized sport in the world and can be dated back to the ancient Egyptians in 1430 B.C. Initially, rowing was a transportation method used by the working class to transport goods and people from one place to another. However, humans are competitive by nature and the process originally used for transportation eventually became a sport. Rowing competitions date back to the fifteen hundreds. The first official race was documented in London in 1716. In 1843, the sport came to the United States and was adapted by Yale as the first collegiate sport in the county. The sport grew very rapidly and by 1875 thirteen eastern schools had teams. In 1877 Wellesly College became the first college to have a women’s crew team in the United States. The sport continued to grow in popularity among women and the National Women’s Rowing Association was established in 1962. As of 2008, women’s crew is the fastest growing NCAA team sport


Still Not Convinced to Attend a Meet?

      Check out the Illini Rowing website for yourself and explore their accomplishments. Also, be sure to mark your calendars for upcoming Illini Rowing Meets. This video shows the endurance the team has for winning in any kind of obstacle Mother Nature throws their way!



*Special thanks to Shannon Wilson for her research on Crew. http://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/11621/Research_Process.pdf?sequence=5

3 comments:

  1. Is every race the same distance?

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    Replies
    1. After a little research, this is what I found:

      The standard length races for the Olympics and the World Rowing Championships is 2,000 m long, 1,500 – 2,000 m for US high school races on the east coast and 1,000 m for masters rowers (rowers older than 27). However the race distance can and does vary from dashes or sprints, which may be 500 m long, to races of marathon or ultra-marathon length races such as the Tour du Léman in Switzerland which is 160 km, and the 2 day, 185 km Corvallis to Portland Regatta held in Oregon, USA.

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    2. wow. Thanks!

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