Vesper Boat Club

If there is smoke on the water, just let it burn...

That’s why you should never give up hope: FISA and the IOC announced the Olympic Program for 2024 in Paris. The lightweight categories will still be a part of it! If anyone was longing for good news in 2020. Here is one: http://www.worldrowing.com//world-rowing-statement-2024-pa

Parts of Vespers HP Team made to Austin for a training Camp to prepare for Olympic Trials. But not before some more excellent performances on the erg were presented. It just doesn’t stop that easy... please support our athletes on their way to Tokyo 202One

Vesper alum Al Flanders in the news! https://www.capecodtimes.com//champion-rower-g/6453293002/

Vespers HP Team is getting ready to get on the Road to Tokyo 202One. It will lead us to Austin for a training camp first, we will have to qualify at the US Rowing Olympic Trials in Sarasota, should we succeed there we will have to race in Lucerne at the FOQR to make the dream come true. Our athletes will have to face a lot of expenses down that road. Housing, travel expenses, gym, doctor and PT fees, boat rentals and a lot of food to survive endless hours of hard training. All together and thank you for your support! http://gf.me/u/y67hk4

Another Record Day for Vesper athletes. Congratulations to Jasper Liu. He could set a new world record during our last 1’ test session. It had been a difficult year for everyone. The way our High Performance athletes had been dealing with all the circumstances was very inspiring. Many big thank you’s to Fire for Effect Athletics to let us use their great facilities. A huge space equipped with everything a serious athlete could wish for. We wouldn’t have reached some of those performances without the help and support of the FFE Team.

https://www.facebook.com/144313272277401/posts/4645159148859435/

Great article in today's Inquirer about Vesper's own John Strotbeck https://digital.olivesoftware.com//shared/ShowArticle.aspx

Congrats to Vesper member Nicole Gordon, winner of the 2020 Head of the Schuylkill Regatta Program Book Cover Art Contest!!! Way to go Nicole!

Congrats to Vesper member Nicole Gahl Gordon the 2020 winner of the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta Program Book Cover Art Contest! Way to go Nicole!!! #VirtuallyYours, #hosr2020

Message from Head of the Schuylkill Regatta: Welcome to the 50th Head of the Schuylkill Regatta! Race week begins tomorrow, October 18th, with the first day of participatory racing events. Participatory competitors shall race 4,150m and self-submit or upload times to Regatta Central or the LiNK Logbook by Friday, October 23rd. Registration will remain open during race week. LIve race event registration will close Monday, October 19th. A preliminary schedule of live race ev...Continue reading

Stan Cwiklinski, Boyce Budd, Emory Clark-Olympic Champions all, proudly submit that: Today (October 15th) significantly marks a very important anniversary date to all Vesper Boat Club members and rowing friends worldwide. 56 years ago the illustrious USA/Vesper Eight-Oared Crew won Gold at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Results are in from the HP Team's 30 minute erg test yesterday. We had a number of personal best times and also broke a few Concept2, Inc. American records for 30 minutes. The Vesper lightweight men improved the current US records three times during our test. Bernard Aparicio was the first one to break the LM (19-29) record. Just 2 hours later his teammate Zach Heese outperformed him by a small margin. Testing at the same time as Zach, Tyler Nase battled with him the whole test and managed to get his bowball ahead by 3 meters in the final seconds to break the LM (30-39) US record, a testament to how suspenseful lightweight racing can be. Finally JP Kirkegaard broke the US record for the HM (30-39). Overall the test illustrated how dedicated the whole Team was to their training, even during quarantine. All together!

Dear Friends, As many of you already know and have signed up, we're hosting a voluntary, opt-in gathering tomorrow evening June 15th from 6-7 pm (You must register ahead of time at this https://us02web.zoom.us//tZYude2spzIsGdNiP6c06KxgHy-2YYt_E ) for a special dialogue within our river community, paddlers and rowers and others alike. You may think of it as a chance to lean in, to listen, to get to something beyond social media posts and messages. We invite you to join us a...Continue reading

Results, stats, and more from our HPG Challenge in support of Philadelphia City Rowing! It is amazing what we all can accomplish together in just 24 hours. There are many changes that need to be made in our society to create equal opportunities for all. Some can only be achieved at a national, governmental level, but we believe that taking small steps to help your own community is an incredibly powerful action that each one of us can take every day. That belief spurred the cr...eation of this challenge. When organizing this, we never anticipated the number of people signing up to donate, nor the lengths that some members of the Vesper High Performance Group would go towards helping Philadelphia City Rowing. In the initial description, we estimated we would complete between 600 and 1200kms - expecting us to be somewhere in the middle with just 20 people. But thanks to some heroic (insane) efforts, we flew past that number! In total, we managed to raise more than $15,000 yesterday. On behalf of Vesper HPG, THANK YOU to our supporters and donors! This was an incredible team effort. #alltogether #hpg #pcr #gopcr #meterschallenge #metersmatched #results Special shoutouts to Josh Remland (200,000m erged!), Bernard Aparicio (100,607m erged), and Nick Ruggiero (100,000m erged)

This... is Jasper Liu. Just over one year ago - at the Mayor’s press conference including not only the rowing and paddling but many of the city’s most influe...ntial leaders - the Schuylkill Navy asked Jasper to lend us his voice. And he did. Thanking those who helped ensure the necessary funds to dredge the river, he talked about why it all mattered. And, he called on each one of us to ... continue to build this awesome culture in Philadelphia and to pave the way for anyone to feel this special draw towards the river, and to find and follow their passion just like I could. Today , in a week when the dredging has begun and silt material is finally flowing away from the river , Jasper, Cristina Pretto, and their Vesper Boat Club high performance teammates have another ask .... to lend support to a focused and targeted fundraiser they have launched to support Philadelphia City Rowing. Swipe through for more details, and click on our link to get involved ! #boathouserow #philadelphiacityrowing

Hi everyone, I am sure you are aware of the cultural shift that is currently happening. Little by little, there is incredible momentum currently being built by the Black Lives Matter movement towards creating lasting positive change in our society. Coming from a largely white and privileged rowing world, words of support for the black community are important, but actions speak louder. As members of the HPG, we work hard but have benefited from numerous opportunities that had... nothing to do with our grit. In order to help expand those opportunities in our local rowing community, the athletes of the Vesper HPG are undertaking a challenge this Sunday, June 7, to benefit Philadelphia City Rowing, and we are asking for your help. We invite you to pledge to donate $1 (or other amount!) to PCR for every 10km rowed/erged or 10mi biked by Vesper HPG members and coaches in one day (we expect in the neighborhood of 600-1200kms). So, for example, if the HPG collectively covers 800km on Sunday, each individual would then donate $80. The challenge will be documented on social media. Sign up via google form here: https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLScPfpkU4DGEm7YHwb/viewform Once we complete all of our meters on Sunday, we will announce the total. Then we will follow up with you, and individual donations can be made to Vesper via the PayPal link on our website. Subsequently, one lump sum will be donated to Philadelphia City Rowing. With the knowledge that many in the rowing community will also be doing their workouts this Sunday, the Vesper HPG team is encouraging athletes outside of our group to join in solidarity. Although the pledge will only be for the meters that we achieve, we ask others to use this Sunday’s workout to reflect with us on ways that we think we can change the rowing community to be more inclusive. Please mention Vesper (@vesperboatclub) on Instagram or send us your thoughts and we can work together to make a financial and actionable change. Please consider pledging to help via the link above! We are in an important time, and this is one step we can ALL take to help Vesper make a strong statement in support of black and brown athletes. All together, Cristina Pretto and Jasper Liu

Here are just some ROWING organizations that could use your support to make our sport more accessible to all: @philadelphiacityrowing @rownewyork @rowingincolor @rowers4blm... @rowboston @girlsrowla Also, here are some accounts of places from PHILLY that need your attention: @phillybailout @reclaimphiladelphia @yasprojectphilly @blmphilly Finally, here are some major agents of change that assist on the NATIONAL level: @naacp_ldf @blklivesmatter @reclaimtheblock #justiceforgeorgefloyd #justiceforahmaud #justiceforbreonnataylor #justiceforallblacklives #rowing #philly #change #blm #blacklivesmatter

On a day that the dredging of the Schuylkill River officially is set to begin, it does so against a backdrop of great pain, suffering, and sadness in our city a...nd our nation. The River has the potential to be a place of healing... a place where we as paddlers, rowers, and citizens alike have the unique opportunity to create a more diverse and inclusive space and, in so doing, contribute to a more just society. Below, Schuylkill Navy Vice Commodore Bonnie Mueller provides an update on the project and next steps for potential re-opening of the river as Philadelphia shifts to yellow. As we look ahead, let us look ahead with eyes focused on collaboration, inclusivity, and an acceptance of the mighty challenge ahead of us to use this space for what it is uniquely positioned to be ...a platform to transform lives. All lives. As paddlers, as rowers, as athletes... we are not ones to shrink from great challenges. Let us not shrink from this one. https://www.linkedin.com//schuylkill-river-dredging-update

BHR with no docks! Thanks Johnpaul Golaski for these amazing drone shots. The dredging begins!