High school crew teams compete at rare local regatta

BELLEVILLE - Shivering underneath an umbrella that had long since betrayed him, a man stood near the edge of Ford Lake Saturday, not quite frowning, but definitely not smiling.

The long look on his face suggested that with every rain drop that snuck by his umbrella, he thought of another place he’d rather be.

The opposite was true for the dozens of barefoot teenagers venturing into, rather than away from, the water. During the fall rowing season, 50-degrees and rainy with a nine-shades of gray sky is often par for the course.

“It’s like tradition, we just kind of deal with it. It’s all good,” said Pioneer crew team member Max Jin, who quickly threw on a hoodie over his singlet upon leaving the water, but otherwise seemed unphased by Saturday’s adverse conditions at the Horton Regatta. “We’re used to it by now. We’ve been doing this for years.”

“We’re really kind of a sick sport, we look forward to the cold weather,” said Pioneer coach Rich Griffin. “We’ll row in everything except lightning, or if it’s like hypothermic conditions. “We’re kind of crazy in that regard.”

The competition at Saturday’s regatta was exclusive to teams from Pioneer, Saline and Huron, a rarity in a sport that has only 20 high school teams across the entire state. Because of low local numbers, teams have to travel to Ohio, New York and Canada throughout the year. (Regatta results)

“It’s kind of cool,” said Pioneer senior captain MacKenzie Miller. “We go all over and it’s good bonding experience with your teammates.

“But yeah, by the time a long weekend is over and we’re coming back from a place like St. Kits (St. Catherine’s, Ontario), everyone’s just smelly and you try to find a place on the bus to lay down and get away from people.”

Making the travel and cold conditions easier are dedicated groups of parents who, because of the nomadic nature of the sport, have become impromptu meal caravan leaders.

Pioneer parent Tim Kennedy said the crew team trailer is packed with enough supplies to provide three meals for roughly 125 people for most road trips. Plus, they always have a pot of water boiling for soups, hot chocolate, and to keep a chafer warm with other food.

“We always want to provide as much as we can for the kids,” said Kennedy, bragging that the Pioneer parents have breaking down the tents and and loading up the trailer down to a five-to-ten minute process of clockwork-like precision.

Pioneer’s program has become the class of state, qualifying at least one four-man boat for nationals each of the last five years. Saline and Huron hope to catch up, and the Hornets have started by adding a traveling caravan of their own.

“At each of the regatta’s we’ll set up a tent for the rowers to put their equipment and we’ll set up a food tent,” said Saline parent coordinator Chris Cook. “Bacon and eggs in the morning, maybe some stir fry in the afternoon, so that the athletes can come grab some food and the parents can as well.”

“It’s like a tailgate for football; we do the same sort of thing for crew.”

The competition for the best tent setup seems almost as intense as the races. Actually, during the fall, when races on the water are in time-trial format, rather than head-to-head, the tents arms race is the only visible competition at the regattas.

“We want to provide for the kids, that’s our A-No. 1 concern,” said Kennedy. “But there’s always that competitiveness in the back of your mind that you want to make sure that your camp site is up to par with everybody else.”

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by e-mail at petercunningham@annarbor.com, or by phone at 734-623-2561. You can follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.