Saugatuck Rowing: 25 Years, And Growing

In 1996, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss discovered rowing. The twins were 15 years old, tall, and searching for a sport.

Their father Howard found a small club half an hour from their Greenwich, home. Coach James Mangan liked the boys’ size and athletic potential. They were captivated by his stories about rowing.

The twins took 11 strokes, with a big wooden sweep oar. It seemed fun, but daunting.

A few weeks later on TV, the twins watched rowers compete at the Atlanta Olympics. They realized where the sport could lead.

Those first years, they rowed on the Saugatuck River. Their boathouse was a dilapidated wooden building, without electricity or running water. Their locker room was a gas station across the street.

The original boathouse, on Riverside Avenue. It was moved to that site from the train station.

Rowing changed the Winklevoss brothers’ lives. They gained strength and confidence. They won major races, then rowed at Harvard University and the 2008 Olympics.

The Winklevoss twins.

Their Westport rowing club grew too. In 2000 the ramshackle building was on the market. The boys’ father, Howard Winklevoss, bought it. He built a new state-of-the-art boathouse, to grow the sport for young people.

A 15,000-square foot building – with world-class fitness equipment, and room for an ever-growing number of boats – replaced the original facility.

Saugatuck Rowing Club today. The Boathouse restaurant, on the top floor, offers sweeping views of the Saugatuck River.

Talented coaches built junior and adult programs. Beginning in 2013, the Saugatuck Rowing Club has won at least 1 junior national regatta each year. Its boys and girls teams compete at the famed Henley in England, before 500,000 spectators. SRC regularly ranks in the top 3 programs in the country.

Looking sharp, at the Henley Regatta.

As SRC celebrates its 25^th anniversary, it is a model for similar clubs across the country.

It now serves 150 adults a year, and over 250 juniors. More than 150 are competitive youth rowers; they practice 6 times a week, for about 20 hours. A

Another 110-plus are in beginner and intermediate groups, training 2 or 3 times weekly. Last summer, over 130 youngsters took the club’s “Learn to Row” class.

Every year, a new generation of rowers follows Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss – and others like Staples High School graduate Oliver Bub, who raced in the 2024 Olympics in the men’s pair. They work just as hard, learning the same life lessons, and enjoying the same supportive camaraderie.

“Rowing is a sport like no other,” Howard Winklevoss says. “The oxygen that’s pumped to the brain a few hours a day, six days a week, has a very positive effect.” Those effects are both physical and mental.

Rowing is a demanding sport — physically and mentally.

The discipline of rowing, including early morning and after-school workouts, and the demands of working seamlessly together as a team, spill into the classroom. The roster of colleges that SRC alumni attend — some to continue rowing, others not – includes every top school in the nation.

Howard Winklevoss has become an evangelist for rowing nationwide. “If there is water nearby, kids can be on it,” he says. “It’s the best gift you can give them.”

Girls varsity 8, in 2018.

One key to a successful program is its coaches. Six are full-time at Saugatuck Rowing Club. They train adults in the mornings, in between youths’ before-school and afternoon session. They are passionate about their sport, and role models for all. “We hire the best coaches, then get out of their way,” Howard Winklevoss says.

Dave Grossman

Head coach Dave Grossman is an SRC alumnus. After rowing at Hobart College, he returned to the club in 2011. He took over the boys program in 2018, and was named rowing director three years later.

“Discipline, trust, teammates – everything Saugatuck gave me, I wanted to make sure others had it,” he says. He enjoys watching middle schoolers gain strength, confidence. and social and leadership skills – then pass them on to younger rowers.

Though SRC strives to be as successful as possible, “that’s just a byproduct of making sure our rowers are good people who give back to their community and society,” Grossman says.

Of course, “that helps when they get in a boat. The more confident they are, the better they feel about themselves, the tighter the group becomes. And the faster they’ll go.” The club’s motto is “All of us, or none of us.”

Some teenagers come to rowing from other sports after burnout or injuries, Grossman says. Others have little or no sports background.

Adults, meanwhile, range from those who rowed in college 20 or 30 years earlier, to those in their 50s, 60s, even 70s looking to be active after a sedentary life. A common refrain is, “We saw you on the river, and wanted to be there too.”

Adult boat, on the Saugatuck River.

As someone who benefited from a scholarship while at SRC, Grossman is thankful that the club offers aid to those who need it.

Saugatuck Rowing Club’s trophy case is filled with cups and plaques. Coaches and members are proud of those accomplishments.

But they are equally proud of success stories like Westporter Paul Green, who picked up the sport in his 70s to stave off the effects of Parkinson’s disease. He rowed for nearly two decades, before his death at 94.

Paul Green

Carol Randel rowed at SRC for over 20 years too. She continued after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer – and continued to win races.

Carol Randel

Henry Basham, meanwhile, has a long career ahead of him. Now a senior at Greens Farms Academy, he began rowing in 8th grade.

Rowing attracts “people like me, who want to do something but are not good at team sports. And someone who likes to work hard, and enjoys being part of a community.” Within a month, he had found his passion, and supportive friends.

Finishing 3rd in the nation in the U-16 8 boat as a freshman was “like summiting Everest,” he recalls. “All of us had been driven to get better. We were all new to the sport, but we made a big jump every day.”

Just as important as the medals are the lessons he’s learned. “You can’t row by yourself. You always have to work with others,” Henry says. “You feed off everyone else. You trust them. And seeing the difference from the start of the season to the end is insane.”

He plans to row in college. “I need it to function,” he notes. “Rowing is like a rock for me. If I’m in a bad mood, I know at 3:30 I can see my friends at practice. Just knowing I’ll be there gets me through the day.”

Fellow Greens Farms Academy senior Clementine Kirt was invited to row by an eighth grade friend. Almost immediately, she felt inspired by “so many strong women.” She quickly advanced. In the spring of freshman year, she won a national U-17 regatta with a 4 boat.

Saugatuck Rowing Club has had “an amazing impact,” Clementine says. “I don’t know what my life would be without it. I’m so grateful for what James Mangan, Howard Winklevoss and all the others have brought to life.” Like others in the club, she says, “You not only leave a better athlete, but a better person.”

It’s not easy. “Practices are rough. Results aren’t handed to you. They come through consistent discipline and grit.”

Those intense workouts create unshakable bonds. Calling her teammates “family” is not hyperbole. Waking up at 4:40 a.m., practicing until 6:30, then returning after school for another three hours – after which she is in her room, doing homework — means she sees those girls more than her actual family.

Through training and races in all kinds of weather, dry land workouts, and conversations, laughs and many car rides in between, she is grateful for Saugatuck Rowing Club.

The rewards are worth all the sacrifices.

This spring, Saugatuck will graduate 26 seniors. Yet Clementine is confident about the future. “We’re already writing the next chapter. Younger girls always learn from older ones. Knowledge gets passed down. We know we are capable of anything we set our minds to.”

As the Saugatuck Rowing Club enters its second quarter century, Dave Grossman looks back, and ahead.

“Every year at our final banquet, the captains speak. I’m always impressed at how much they’ve learned, and how meaningful the club has been to them,” the rowing director says.

“We’ll just try to continue what we’re doing, and improve the good model we have. And we’ll keep providing opportunities, on the water and off, to everyone.”

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