At Robious Landing Park, rowers from all around Richmond practice their sport with River City Crew. River City Crew (RCC) is a youth rowing program consisting primarily of high school students from the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area and rows out of Robious Landing Park in Chesterfield County on the James River. This is a unique opportunity for the residents in Tarrington and the surrounding communities to be exposed to such a fantastic and exciting sport. I had the chance to ask some questions of a team member and the coach. To get prepared for the subject matter I watched "The Boys in the Boat"!

 

The Boys in the Boat is a movie about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team, who overcame all odds and won gold at the Olympics. The team consisted of all College underclassmen, who were on the junior varsity team for the University of Washington.  They would end up winning the qualification tournament for the Olympics, upsetting some of the top schools in the country. In Germany, they would break the record for fastest time in the first round. Eventually, they would sneak into the finals vs Germany and 4 other countries. They started slow, but eventually caught up to Germany and Italy. All three teams passed the line at nearly identical times, but after further review, the United States was named the winner. It was an inspiring movie that shared a wholesome story about a hardworking team that overcame the odds. I highly recommend it to the whole family.

 

I had the chance to interview Audrey Hunter-Courville, who is a member of the River City Crew rowing team! She has been rowing with River City Crew since the fall of 2021, and this is currently her sixth season on the team. She originally got into rowing because of her family, specifically her mom had been a coxswain through high school, college, and her early adulthood. The coxswain is responsible for steering the boat and coordinating the power and rhythm of the rowers. 

 

Audrey and her family live in Riverdowns, a nearby neighborhood that is so close to Robious Landing she usually rides her bike to practice instead of driving. The big thing that the team does for community service is cleaning the park. At least once or twice a fall, they all go out with the James River team, and clear out the leaves from the main area of Robious Landing. The team competes in regattas all over the East Coast.  Last spring, Audrey got to take a boat to the regional tournament in Princeton, New Jersey. Their women’s double placed well in that tournament and went to nationals, where they placed 9th in the country.

 

Audrey has also had the chance to watch The Boys in the Boat, and even read the book on it! “It was genuinely enjoyable to watch,” said Audrey. “It told a great story with a satisfying ending. I also read the book that it’s based on, and I think the movie did a great job adapting it without losing anything really important. Second, it’s a fairly accurate depiction of what rowing is like, and I particularly appreciated how they highlighted the important role the coxswain plays in the team.”

 

Audrey herself is a coxswain and specifically enjoyed the strategy elements of the movie, and the emphasis on how crucial a coxswain's lead can affect a team. “I hope The Boys in the Boat gets more people interested in rowing,” said Audrey, “As we are always excited for new people to come try the sport with the River City Crew.”

           

The team is led by coach Tom O’ Rourke. He has been rowing for 34 years. With the help of some rower’s parents, he founded RCC 19 years ago. He has been the head coach ever since the beginning. “Our rowers live throughout the Richmond area with over half from Chesterfield County.

 

The team has rowers from over 20 schools—public, private, and homeschool—starting with 8th graders. The coaches run summer Learn-to-Row camps for new rowers. “Our team has done very well from its inception,” said Coach, “competing on the local, regional and even national level.” Many of the top rowers go on to compete in college, with some even getting recruited and given scholarships. This past summer, one of the girls on the team made the US Under 19 National Team and competed in Paris, France.

 

The team is currently in season and is always welcoming to people who would like to join the team and compete! Please reach out to the club at rivercitycrew.org to get more information.