We'll Miss You Austin!

Today's entry is on Austin Phillips-- our wonderful Academic Director and Novice Coach who is headed off to law school in the fall to attend the University of Tennessee. Lucky for Tennessee, sad for Row New York.

Austin joined us in the summer of 2007 and has added so much to Row New York that I'm not entirely sure where to begin. I called one of her old coaches to ask him if he had anyone to recommend for the job when Austin announced her decision to go to law school. His response? "Amanda, you're not going to find another Austin." Lucky for us, we DO have a wonderful replacement for Austin (more on her soon), but we sure are going to miss her.

Austin has this way about her that naturally draws others toward her. It's not uncommon to find a small swarm of girls around her desk on any given afternoon. I guess that's where the term "magnetic" personality becomes appropriate. In a kind, but firm way, Austin has demanded respect from the girls and she has asked a lot of them....be on time, work hard, be strong, no excuses, be good to one another, no exceptions. And she has been many things to them...coach, mentor, tutor, life advisor.

One of my favorite Austin moments was when, at the last minute, Planned Parenthood cancelled a workshop they were to run and Austin, in two short hours, successfully came up with a curriculum to cover reproductive health and healthy relationships and we all know what that's code for, right? Unsurprisingly, the workshop went very well.

I'll also never forget the first day of practice for her first group of 45 novices. We were at the boathouse and it was a beautiful September afternoon. Austin, after only meeting these girls for about an hour at tryouts, somehow knew ALL of their names. I asked her how this was possible and she explained that she had spent the night before committing them all to memory based on their tryout forms which included Polaroid pictures. You should have seen the look of surprise when the girls realized that someone from Row NY already knew their names. These are the "little" things that go so far.

There are so many stories like the few I just shared, but I think everyone gets the idea. Austin has been wonderful and we will all miss her terribly. On a lighter note, I am including a picture of Austin performing the stanky leg dance at a regatta this spring. Important note, the regatta was officially over at this point.

Thank you Austin---we will miss you!

Row NY's CHAMPS Middle School Regatta

Row New York’s spring 2009 CHAMPS Program, conducted in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation, provided 10 weeks of learn-to-row, water safety, and team-building activities for girls from four middle schools in Brooklyn and Queens. The program culminated on June 10th with a CHAMPS Regatta, which brought students and families out to the Meadow Lake Boathouse and pitted MS 53 against the Scholars Academy in a best-of-three barge race. All three races were extremely close: Scholars Academy took the first, MS 53 took the second, and Scholars took the third by less than half a length. The team from MS 53 received silver medals and the Scholars Academy team received gold medals and the 2009 Row New York CHAMPS trophy to display at their school.

Eight students from Junior High School 185 in Queens also attended the Row New York CHAMPS festivities. After completing 10 weeks of learn-to-row activities, these girls had their first experience of getting in a real rowing shell and taking their first few strokes, with the guidance of Row New York’s competitive rowers. They looked strong and confident in the boat, and we are looking forward to seeing them at the tryouts for our competitive team in the fall.

Special thanks to Kathy Walker from the CHAMPS Program and Ben Nisbet from the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation for their support of Row New York CHAMPS and for joining us at the Regatta.

After 5 Years With RNY, Camille Graduates!

When we met Camille (picture above with her mom, Amelia) she was 12 and shorter than her mom. The pair showed up at the boathouse after reading an article in the newspaper about Row New York. Amelia had a feeling rowing would be a good sport for her daughter. They were enthusiastic, friendly, frankly, Camille was pretty adorable...all limbs and feet at age 12. But, we had to turn them away since Camille wasn't even in 7th grade yet.

Amelia and Camille showed up on the dock again when Camille started 8th grade. The rest is history. Camille gained strength and speed with Row New York winning silver at New York State Championships two years in a row, five years later, she is a high school graduate headed off to row at the University of Central Florida....on a full rowing scholarship!

Congratulations to Camille and her family!