CRF Presidents

1989-1990 : Tim Marcovy

1990-1991 : Candace Pollock

1991-1992 : Brian Parker

1992-1993 : Bill Braun

1993-1994 : Tim Marcovy

1995 : Katherine Kaczmarski

1996 : Anne Rebeck

1997 : Eric Matyac

1998 : Cathy Petryshyn

1999 : Tuck Pescosolido

2000 : Kathryn Kaczmarski

2001-2003 : Peter Gozar

2004-2007 : Mark Silverstein

9/2008-current : Theresa Gang

 

The History of Rowing in Cleveland

1855:     Rowing comes to Cleveland and the Cuyahoga River. The Ivanhoe Boat Club and Captain George W. Gardner take to the river using shells built in Cleveland.

 

1860s     Rowing disappears due to increased commercial traffic brought on by growth and the Civil War. Fragile racing craft were crowded off the river.

 

1986       Rowing reappears in Cleveland, spurred by five men, who move to Cleveland from the East Coast or rowed in college out East. They rent space for their shells and call themselves the "Cuyahoga Rowing Association (CRA)."

 

1988       Entrepreneur Charles Mosely arrives on the local rowing scene. Mosely solicits a major brewing distributor as a sponsor and goes from bar to bar in the Flats seeking sponsorship for each crew. He holds erging demonstrations at Tri-C and other locations.

 

1988       "Flats Racing League" forms using second-hand shells purchased by Mosley. Practices and races are held near the mouth of the Cuyahoga near what is now Nautica. Mosley promotes rowing in high schools and forms the non-profit "Cleveland Rowing Federation (CRF):" Beaumont, St. Ignatius, and Benedictine High Schools joined. There are more than 750 participants.

 

1988       Five CRF members leave and start the nonprofit Western Reserve Rowing Association (WRRA) . They rent space in our current wooden boathouse from. Benedictine drops its rowing program. Beaumont and St. Ignatius continue with WRRA.

 

1989       WRRA grows to 26 members plus the two high schools. WRRA’s competitive group hosts very first Cleveland Sprints Regatta inside the break wall on Lake Erie.

 

1990       Nearly 90 rowers leave CRF and form the North Coast Rowing Association. This group did not last long as some went back to the league and others joined the WRRA.

 

1992       Rowing is endorsed as a sport by the City of Cleveland Division of Recreation. WRRA signs agreement with the city through 1993 to sustain the Cleveland-WRRA Summer Youth Rowing Program, which uses rowing as a non-traditional way to reach diverse high school youth. The two-year project serves 40 boys and girls. The 1993 program culminated in a regatta at FlatsFest '93 with youth teams visiting from Pittsburgh to compete. Due to a lack of City funding, the program is discontinued in 1994.

 

1992       Students from John Carroll University met in the fall to start a rowing team. They compete in their first regatta in 1993. The group grows to 45 by spring 1996 and travels south for training.

 

1993       Mosley ends his racing league. Dr. David Propp, John Fowler and Kevin Duden create new recreation league – the Summer Rowing League, one of the country’s largest learn to row programs.

 

1994       A strategic planning process culminates in the creation of the nonprofit Western Reserve Rowing Foundation (WRRF) to organize adult, university and high school crew programs. WRRF is dedicated to competitive and recreational racing and the expansion of the sport of rowing in the Greater Cleveland area, with a particular focus on youth rowing (ages 13 -18).

 

1995       Teams from Kent State, Hathaway Brown, John Carroll, and Cleveland State are now rowing out of the boathouse.

 

1996       The Cleveland Sprints Regatta transforms itself at the Head of the Cuyahoga. The venue moves from the breakwall to the Cuyahoga River, and the distance changes from a 2000 meter sprint to a 2.5 mile head race. The initial race involves more than 250 rowers and 3,000 spectators. The race grows and moves to the Nautica complex to accommodate more than 1,100 plus rowers from 30 schools and clubs throughout the Midwest.

 

1998       WRRF runs a pilot summer youth program called City Crew. Approximately 20 youths from the Greater Cleveland Council for Economic Opportunities (GCCEO) Neighborhood centers and the Boys and Girls Club participate in the six-week learn to row program.

 

2000       Former St. Ignatius and University of Cincinnati coxswain Dan DiAngelo returns to the Cleveland rowing scene. He revives the Cleveland State University rowing program, recruiting enough rowers to man two "eights" of men and women. In their first race at the Head of the Cuyahoga, both boats took gold in the Novice classification.

 

2000       St. Ignatius High School wins the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Association championship - its first of three. The MSRA comprises 50 schools from nine states and is considered the premier high school race in the Midwest.

 

2002       The Cleveland Fire Department made a timely visit in August 2002 to the boathouse, saving shells from smoke and fire damage that stemmed from a neighboring property. The property was eventually vacated, leaving room for expansion. The Foundation began construction the following year on a larger space for rowers.

 

2003       In 2003, the WRRF changed its name and structure, becoming the Cleveland Rowing Foundation (CRF) and revising its governance structure to officers and a board of directors that includes rowing representatives as well as community and corporate directors.

 

2004       CRF moves into a new 11,000 square foot facility directly adjacent to its existing boatbays. The facility boasts running water, showers, staff offices, a workout facility and a common room that can accommodate more than 100.

 

 

Rowing continues to grow in Cleveland, and our vision of a larger Community Boathouse/ Recreation Center on the Cuyahoga continues to thrive. Visit our Long Range Plan section to learn more about our interest in partnering with other exciting recreation initiatives to enhance the health and recreation amenities of the Cuyahoga River.