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Duluth Mixed Masters Quad team comprised of (from bow) Jim Forsberg, Mary Miller, Cathy Ham and Bill Hodapp outran the quad of Bruce Deraub, Holly Anderson, Lorraine Turner and Eric Dott in a heat at the Duluth Rowing Regatta Saturday. Photo credit: John Gilbert

The Duluth Rowing Club did right well last Saturday, winning four first-place awards at the 59th Duluth International Rowing Regatta. It was an intriguing event, made classier by the vision of the Duluth Hillside forming the backdrop as the rowers competed.

The beauty of the event, in my estimation, was that as competitive as the rowers were, they never seemed to lose sight of the importance of hospitality and camaraderie. Nobody was arguing with a judge, or an umpire, or yelling foul names at a competitor. That, alone, was refreshing.

 In that regard, it seems that whoever won was the prime objective, but competing in good fellowship was even more important. Rowers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario and Manitoba came to Park Point for the weekend, and a good time, it appears, was had by all.

A Duluth cox 4 team competed against a Thunder Bay team at the 59th Duluth Rowing Regatta. Photo credit: John Gilbert

It seems that we don’t know a lot about crew. We know they use skinny little boats, sort of like elongated kayaks, called shells, and they sit all in a row, sometimes two of them, sometimes four, sometimes eight. And sometimes with a boss, called a coxswain, shouting through a megaphone to keep them all on unified strokes.

Then on command, they all dip their specially designed oars in the water, paddling like crazy but all in carefully choreographed unison, and they make their light little boats nearly fly across the surface of the Duluth Harbor.

We should know more about it here, in Duluth, because the sport of rowing has been as prominent here as anywhere in the country, dating back to the early 1900s. When I was growing up in Duluth, and we’d go on family drives on almost any Sunday, we’d often drive down to the end of Park Point. 

A team from St. Paul headed for Lake Superior for its heat Saturday. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Invariably, my mom would point out the Oatka Boat Club, at about 40th Street, on the bay side. As a young woman from the West End, she belonged to the Oatka club, and she participated in crew races. That was a long time before I was born, a long time before she married my dad. 

And that’s about all I knew about crew until many years later, when I was covering the University of Minnesota hockey team for the Minneapolis Tribune, and we’d stay right there on the Charles River near Harvard when the Gophers went out to play the Crimson. I’d go for a walk along the river, or gaze from my hotel room, and watch as these little lightweight boats with remarkably coordinated teams of rowers would flit up and down the river, practicing for some upcoming competition.

So it was with considerable eagerness that my wife, Joan, and I drove down to the place where the Oatka used to be, removed now and replaced by a couple of very neat new buildings to house the modern day incarnation of the Duluth Rowing Club. The event, last Saturday afternoon, was the 59th Duluth International Rowing Regatta, and it attracted over 300 rowers of all ages for a one-day competition.

The competition was to be held on the bay’s usually calm waters, but this summer is like no other, in that what is calm one day — or one hour — may be windy, chilly and choppy the next one. So the club moved its event east about a block, and ran the competition on the calm surface of Lake Superior, right there parallel to Park Point’s glistening sand.

Minneapolis rowers worked on their equipment in front of the new Duluth Rowing Club storage facility at 40th Street and Minnesota Avenue. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Of course, the calm surface of the big lake didn’t remain all that calm, and by the time the competition went past the heats and on to the finals, the water was pretty choppy. As the slim vessels sped down the 1,000-yard course, some of them almost disappeared as the chop grew between their boats and those of us standing in the sand of Park Point.

Competition was held in junior (13-18), open, and masters (over 27), and for both male and female rowers, as well as mixed teams.

Joan and I got a tour of the new facilities from Tom Rauschelfels and Greg Peterson, two of the stalwart members of the club. They showed us where competitors, and students of the sport, could store their shells in safe and secure racks, and where there will soon be showers and locker rooms as well as weight-training rooms.

Meantime, when we weren’t paying attention, Rauschelfels, Greg and his wife Jenny Peterson, and Bonnie Fuller-Rask comprised a mixed masters foursome that won the Mixed Masters Quad event, beating the quad of Bill Hodapp, Cathy Ham, Mary Miller and Jim Forsberg in a 1-2 finish for the Duluth club. Duluth club members also won the women’s open eight, the junior men’s eight, and the junior men’s mixed four plus coxswain.

“We reached 125 kids with new registrations last year,” said Rauschenfels, preferring to talk about the future rather than his accomplishment. “We have others who come down here to learn how to row, and we’re always trying to expand.”

The Duluth Rotary Club has helped build some of the racks for storing shells, and the Duluth Rowing club always appreciative of such aid. The club also provides coaching for new prospects, and Rauschenfels pointed out that the Duluth East cross-country athletes came down to do some cross-training.

 There was a good crowd of onlookers Saturday, and we joined them with the competition in progress. Parking on either side of Minnesota Avenue is tight, and the first time I parked, a friendly lady from across the street warned me that traffic police had ticketed someone there earlier. I moved. I wasn’t sure of the second location, either, so when I saw a motorist pull out from the far end of the block, I circled back and took the spot.

 It was the end spot, but if I pulled up close to the truck parked ahead, my vehicle was completely ahead of a bus stop sign. I looked for the walking traffic cop just to point out to him how I had moved three times and waited to make sure I had a legal spot, but I never saw him. Must have been hiding behind a post, because when we came back to the car to leave, sure enough, there was a ticket. Dozens of cars had tickets stuffed in their driver’s doors. Forty-six dollars. It was a fun event, but $46 for parking is stiff.