The men’s and women’s crew programs hit the water this week for the first time since last May. The Spring 2003 campaign will be tough to match as the both the men’s and women’s varsity eight person crews went undefeated in dual meet action.
The varsity women’s program returns eight of nine starters from last years boat. “Last year’s boat really moved the women’s crew program here at Rensselaer forward. We lost some close meets with crews that were ranked in the top ten nationally. Very rare is the case when a crew gets to come back and give it another shot—we have that opportunity and now we need to use it.” said Head Coach Todd Rutecki.
The Men’s program brings back the entire line-up from last year’s national semi-finalist novice men’s crew. Equally as important, the majority of the second novice men’s boat is returning. With a roster 18 men deep, the Red Hawks are confident in their ability to compete in this year’s UCAA Rowing Championship.
With crew’s increased success, there has also been a surge of interest by incoming and returning students. There were 64 athletes in attendance at the team’s first day of novice practice last Wednesday. Novice Coach Jennifer Rutecki commented, “If you row at Rensselaer you’re going to work hard. This was a tough workout. Really tough. They stuck it out and if they keep sticking it out they’ll have a great time.”
Todd Rutecki said that this is the largest turnout that the team has ever experienced. He attributes some of it to the record breaking size of the freshman class. He also credits the fact that crew is the only sport with an NCAA Championship that most athletes start in college.
Still, he was somewhat taken aback by the excitement about crew on the Rensselaer campus. “We’re the largest team in our league. We had a fantastic recruiting effort this year.
This level of interest is even more than we expected. We’re a little short on equipment to boat everyone but we’ll make it work. Our team is a pretty creative bunch.”
Crew holds practice Monday through Friday at 5:30 pm. It is recommended that prospects who are interested in rowing during the Spring semester plan their academic schedule accordingly. Inquiries may be made to join@rpicrew.com.
