Detroit Boat Club

History

The Detroit Boat Club, established in 1839, is the oldest sport rowing club in the United States. It was first created on the Detroit River during a time in which Detroit, Michigan was just starting to grow.

E. A. Brush, Alpheus S. Williams, S.H. Sibley, Alfred Brush, J.H. Farnsworth, James A. Armstrong and John Chester were among the founding members, prominant men in Detroit's society. The first building that housed the club was at Hasting street, in an old clubhouse with one boat, the "Georgiana".

In 1840 the Detroit Boat Club bought a second boat, the E.A. Brush, and began to hold two mile races from Hog Island (Belle Isle) and the clubhouse. It was around this time that the famous University Boat Race between Cambridge vs. Oxford races began on the River Thames in England.

1848 brought Disaster to the club, when it was burned, destroying all boats except the "Wolverine". The club was then moved to a carpentry shop, and it continued to grow.

By 1873 the club was ensconced in plush quarters at the foot of Joseph Campau, the easternmost end of Detroit, and had become the center of all water sports. A half-dozen new clubs formed nearby, and most displayed their sailing and rowing trophies at Bidigaire's saloon up Joseph Campau. The Biddle House on East Jefferson and the Russell House, also attracted a thirsty boating set.

When its Joseph Campau lease expired in 1889 the City of Detroit invited the DBC to move to Belle Isle. The Detroit Yacht Club, which had been on the landward side of the Belle Isle Bridge, also went over to the island at that time when informed that the city needed their old site for its new bridge approach.

A new clubhouse was built on Belle Isle in 1891, but was burned in 1893. Another boathouse lasted unilt 1901 when it also burned. In an attempt to save the structure, club member and fire commissioner Fred Moran ordered all available firefighting apparatus to the scene. Horses thundered over the old wooden bridge, dragging heavy engines and trucks behind them. The valiant old fire tug, James Battle became grounded in the shallow water and remained stuck fast until the following noon. Fire equipment failed to get close enough to the burning building due to mud and the distance of the old clubhouse from the shore. Helpless, they stood and watched it burn. The next morning, club members vowed once again to rebuild their clubhouse.

On August 4, 1902, their new home, the first concrete structure in this country, and current boathouse was dedicated.

Detroit continued to grow. Horse-drawn trolleys were being replaced by electric streetcars, planked sidewalks were paved and gas lamps were replaced by electric lights. On the river, sleek racing sculls became standard equipment, and canoeing became popular. The Detroit Boat Club became even a greater force in the social and sporting fabric of Detroit.

DBC legends are plentiful, but one epitomizes the club's sporting tradition. During a 1923 regatta in Detroit two middle-aged Grand Rapids Canoe Club oarsmen issued a challenge to any pair whose total ages equaled or exceeded their own --114 years -- to a match race in double sculls at a mile straightaway.

DBC members W.A. (Pop) Warner, 74, and Capt. Fred Standish, 70, --144 years between them -- saw the challenge on the club's bulletin board and vowed to take them on.

It was a tight race until the stretch, where Warner and Standish began to pull away. They beat their younger Grand Rapids rivals by a full three lengths.

In 1956 the Detroit Boat Club put seven members on the U.S. Olympic team coached by Walter Hoover and brought home two silver medals. Rowers Jimmy Gardiner and Pat Costello placed second to the Russians in double sculls while Art and John McKinlay, John Welchi and Jim McIntosh, were runner-up to Canada in the four without coxswain event.

Since 1873, the DBC blue and white colors have flown at every national rowing regatta, and DBC oarsmen have won 54 events and eight national team championships.

In 1960, under coach Ken Blue, DBC crews were invited for the first time to take part in the classic Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames River in England. A team made up of Doug Latimer, Jim Plath, Bob Walker, Bill Thorpe, Roger Taylor, Joe Callanan, Al Arbury, Mike Ernesman, and coxswain Bob Kroll placed second to Harvard in the final. Any account of DBC rowing must include Divie Duffield, the greatest oarsmen in the club's history who came here from Harvard. He won the national singles titles in 1904 and 1905 and also rowed in doubles, pairs, fours and eights that took major championships. His greatest triumph came in the 1904 Olympic singles in St. Louis. He quit rowing in 1915 and coached for the next 10 years.

While rowing remained the cornerstone of the club's activities, other forms of boating became popular. Sailing arrived in 1899 and the DBC regatta is the oldest sailing race in Michigan.

Few know that member commodore Dr. Charles Godwin Jennings and his 65-foot schooner, Agawa, won the first Mackinac Race held in 1904.

The old Belle Isle Bridge, which burned in April 1915, had a swing section which opened at midnight, preventing anyone on the island from reaching the mainline until the next morning. To be trapped on the island was tantamount to disgrace and social ostracism. All club dances ended promptly at 11:30. Long after the present bridge opened in 1923, dances at the Boat Club and Detroit Yacht Club continued to end at 11:30. In 1992 rent on the Detroit Boat Club property jumped from $1 to $100,000. Utility payments fell behind and membership continued to drop. The club filed for bankruptcy citing a $1million debt. The city announced plans to take over operation of the building. In 1996, the boat club members voted to move out of the city.

"It was certainly difficult for us to come to the decision that if we were going to be economically viable we had to move," club President Larry Breskin said. "If we could have found a way to stay in Detroit, we would have."

However a strong rowing organization still exists in Detroit independent of the boat club. Said rowing enthusiast Denne Osgood in an interview with the News, "I just don't want to see the tradition of the Detroit Boat Club go out of business. We can row as Joe Blow. It's the tradition that's important."

Current Programs

Today the Junior program is starting to grow, through support of many local high schools they are becoming a very strong team. In recent years they have become increasingly successful. In 2005, the Detroit Boat Club had the largest prescence at the USRowing Youth Invitational in Cincinnati, OH. Although they brought home no medals, they made an impact on the regatta. The team consists of four main divisions, Girls Varsity, Boys Lightweight and Boys Heavyweight and Sculling. With novice programs for both boys and girls. The boys head coach Dr. Richard Bell, has been coaching in Detroit for many years, and has been successful in many national and international regattas. Dr. Bell, is also the sculling coach. The girls head coach, Hans Doerr who rowed at the University of Virginia in the late 1990s began coaching in Detroit in 2002.

The boys lightweight team is very strong, in 2004, the Mens lightweight 4+ placed 2nd at the USRowing Youth Invitational. Spring 2005 was also successful for the lightweights. They had entries in the mens light 8+ and light 4+. The lightweight 8+ looked strong going into the fall of 2005 until some lineup changes were made and people left the team. With the return of these rowers and Brian Boll. they will have a chance for contention for a national championship in the spring of 2006.

The girls team is also very strong with respectable finishes at the Canadian Henley in both 2004 and 2005. The girls varsity 8+ looks very promising for the Detroit Boat Club. They recently won the 2005 Head of the Schulkyll regatta and look for a national championship in the spring of 2006.

The Heavyweight team has had a recent revival after being overshadowed by lightweights for some time. After qualifying for the 2005 Youth Invitational, the Heavyweight 4+ placed the best out of all of Detroit's boats in 2005 with a respectable 4th place.

Detroit's Sculling team has also grown in recent years. Placing 3rd at the USRowing National Championships, and 1st at the Head of the Schulkyll. With the 5th place finish in the 2005 Mens 2x race at the Youth Invite. The team also had strong finishes in 2004 with 4th place in the Womens 1x and Womens 2x races.

Alumni

Detroit's Junior Rowing program is highly successful for developing rowers for programs beyond High School Rowing. Of the gradutes of the class of 2005 from the Detroit Boat Club, 100% of them went on to college, and 90% are on intercollegiate rowing teams. Of the 2004 graduates, 100% went on to college, 80% are rowing on an intercollegiate team or are involved with rowing. Detroit's gradutes send students to the top universities in the nation every year. With 8 alumni currently doing undergradute studies at ivy league universites, 2 alumni currently on the rowing teams at the United States Naval Academy, and others at the University of Notre Dame, University of Delaware, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Rollins College, Wayne State University and many others.

External links

• the Detroit Boat Club
• DBC information at Detroit Junior Rowing
• DBC information at DetroitYES