Visual Record
of
St. Mary's College of Maryland Crew
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a picture is only posted if the webmaster knows the content of the photograph. If you have pictures from a regatta, trip, or event to be submitted to the website, please include all names (first and last preferred) of the people in the photo and a brief summary of the picture or group of pictures. Please submit photos to the Historian Committee Chair, Jessie Hartman (jlhartman@smcm.edu). Pictures will be posted in the team gallery after review.
Mending the Broken
In the Fall season of 2006 the team suffered a horrific act of vandalism. The majority of the team's fleet was severely damaged. Snapped and broken bows dangled from hulls and shards of fiberglass and carbonfiber littered the Guam parking lot. The images pictured at right were the heartwrenching scene that greeted the team the following morning at the start of boat maintenance. In order : Fat Boy, Halcyon, Ironmonger decking, Ironmonger port side hull.
Insurance paid for the repairs, but the fleet was still crippled. In an act of benevolence inspired by well timed persuasion, the crew team received two new Vespoli 4+s and one new Vespoli 8+ from the college. The new fleet was accompanied by new oars and within a year, a new boathouse to shelter both new and old boats. The older fleet is still in use, and bears only faint scars of the damage it withstood.
The tragedy and salvation the team experienced was a climactic point in the history of St. Mary's Crew. Until that fall, boat maintenance and boat purchase was an uphill battle for a team relying solely on philanthropic contributions, dues, and SGA club funds. When the team received the three new boats purchased outright and delivered to the team, they began a new era in the clubs growth. The new equipment and storage elevated the teams morale and inspired membership. The team continued its exponential success and has become more competitive and more successful with each regatta. The team honorably competes against DI schools and reputable club programs up and down the mid-atlantic region and places well in most races, medaling in a few races a year.