Boat Naming Ceremony

Christening a boat is for the purpose of ensuring that the shell, along with its crew, has good fortune throughout the life of the vessel.

The athletic department, at the end of the 2006-2007 school year, gave us a grant of $27,000, allowing us to purchase two new shells, Pocock 8+s. This purchase will allow us as a team to be far more competitive, as having good equipment allows us to be on more even ground with other club teams.

We gathered the team, our coaches, and those to whom we dedicated the boats, for the christening on October 16th, 2007. Lincoln Park Boat Club graciously transported our shells from the site at North Ave. up in Lincoln Park to the heart of campus, Hutchinson Courtyard. Champagne, and of course sparkling cider, were poured. The first shell was christened, and is named the "Burke Weingartner," after the two administrators that gave us the grant that allowed us to purchase these shells. Tom Weingartner is the Athletic Director at the University of Chicago, while Tamsen Burke is the Sport Club Director. We are grateful for their financial backing, and hope that it, as well as their further support, will continue in the future. The second shell was unveiled; it is named the "Coach Eric J. Mersmann, JD 2005," after our beloved Varsity Women's Coach. Coach Mersmann has been with the team for many years, and while it is impossible to list all the ways in which he has contributed to the successes of the team, his enthusiasm for rowing and ability to inspire each of us to reach deeper and strive for improvements in both rowing and our everyday lives are a testament to each of us.

Written by Elizabeth Chen

Rent-a-Rower

Do you need someone to help you rearrange your heavy furniture? Water your plants or pet-sit while you're away? Clean your gutters or shovel snow? Hire a rower to help with these kinds of tasks and you'll be supporting UChicago Crew in the process! Please contact Nasya Mendoza-Elias (nasya@uchicago.edu) to sign up, or for more information.

Erg-a-thon

We held an Erg-A-Thon on January 23rd, 2008, a national event held in conjunction with Northeastern, Fairfield, Smith and other colleges and high schools across the nation. This event will combine fundraising with community service, as we will donate 20% of our proceeds to the University of Chicago chapter of Habitat for Humanity. All the members of the UChicago rowing team will row continuously for an hour. The team will row all day long, from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.