News

Exciting news for Bowdoin Rowing! Renovation and expansion of the Smith Boathouse has been announced beginning the Spring of 2022! Though our boathouse has made an amazing home for our navy, the expanded boathouse will allow us to store fours as well as eights and encourages the expansion of our growing team. We are excited to update our home and for the opportunities to come for our team!

See more information in the Bowdoin News post here.

The Smith Boathouse

Ted Gibbons ’58, a long time friend of Bowdoin Rowing, will be honored with the 2021 Alumni Service award, the highest honor given by the Bowdoin Alumni Council. Ted’s contributions to the team have been critical to our history and growth as a program. Both a shell and an oar in the Smith Boathouse bear the Gibbons name in appreciation of Ted and in honor of his legacy on the team. We are so thankful for everything Ted has done for Bowdoin Rowing and we offer a heartfelt congratulations for a well deserved recognition!

See the Bowdoin News post here.

During this remote semester, on-campus Bowdoin Rowers have been fortunate to be able to row together on the Androscoggin River. We typically row out of our Smith boathouse on the New Meadows River, so we are grateful for our opportunity to continue training out of the Merrymeeting boatyard in Brunswick during this unpredictable time. Through Merrymeeting we have been able to train our novices and varsity alike in single and double sculls. By practicing so much in small boats, our time on the Androscoggin has enabled us to make great technical improvement during a time in which we may have otherwise been unable to row at all. 

Also incredible has been our opportunity to explore a brand new body of water – the beautiful Androscoggin River and Merrymeeting Bay. During this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 12, 2020, we want to acknowledge and better educate ourselves on the indigenous history of the Androscoggin River and the indigenous peoples that inhabited the lands around it. 

We spoke with Professor Joseph Hall at Bates College, whose research and appreciation for indigenous peoples and histories led him to become involved in the Wabanaki place names project, which catalogs the names that indigenous groups gave to locations that they inhabited and interacted with.  

Wabanaki Place Names Map, from Professor Joseph Hall, Bates College

Place names give clues as to how a group interacted with the locations around them. The Wabanakis are a group of people that inhabited northern New England and eastern Canada. Wabanaki translates to “people of the Dawnland,” and the names of places they interacted with are indicative of how these people navigated Maine. Specifically, the names they assign to locations along the water indicate places of good portage or dangerous rapids. These give insight into how they moved throughout Maine and the northeast. Names assigned to land places often indicated favorable agriculture areas or gathering areas. 

These names can inform us of the patterns of life of these groups. In the spring, Wabanakis caught migrating fish such as salmon at river waterfalls to eat. In the summer, growing conditions were favorable and Wabanakis would gather in riverside towns to grow crops. Such crops included corn, beans, and squash, and one such town they gathered in was Amarriscoggin, or Androscoggin. In the fall and winter, these groups would disperse from these towns to hunt animals such as deer and moose.

These seasonal migrations necessitated regular movements throughout the northeast. Rivers, such as the Androscoggin, were important routes that indigenous peoples used to travel efficiently. This travel was done by birchbark canoes, which were both strong and light. It was important for boats to be light so that travelers could circumvent dangerous portions of the rivers by carrying their boats through trails known as “portages. So the same waters that we have rowed on this semester were also navigated by indigenous Wabanaki during seasonal migrations to navigate between western and coastal Maine.

Place names might also point to crops or plants that were grown or found in those places. In fact, some research data suggests that the Merrymeeting Bay was so named after Wabanaki roots that translated to “wild rice bay” or “wild rice place.” Even today these grass-like wild rice plants may be seen along the shores of the Androscoggin as we row by. 

As we educate ourselves on the indigenous histories of the lands we live on and the water we row on, it is important to acknowledge the modern-day implications of this history. While the past of our river is fascinating, our education does not stop at surface level trivia or curiosity about the people that once lived here. Indigenous populations were uprooted, aspects of their culture forgotten, and lands taken from them, and there are Wabanaki people that still inhibit Maine today. The history of these lands have profound current implications regarding rights of people who were historically uprooted from these areas. For this reason, this research must be done with great care, seeking the perspectives of indigenous people without burdening them. While learning about this history is meaningful and important, it is just a first step for creating respect and understanding towards the Greater Brunswick Community. 

BRUNSWICK, Maine –– Bowdoin Rowing welcomes Cassidy Donohue ’21 and Andy Bolender ’21 as the 2020-2021 Men’s and Women’s Captains. Donohue and Bolender, who both joined the team as first-years, will replace outgoing Women’s Captain Julie Scholes ’20 and Men’s Captain Gianni Jannke ’20.

Communications Officer Matt Donnelly ’22, Women’s Steward Lucy O’Sullivan ’23, Men’s Steward Cameron Snow ’22, and Operations Steward Ben Ross ’22 will form the rest of the leadership team.

Donohue, a native of Boulder, Colorado, learned to row at Bowdoin as a first year in 2017. In Boulder, she grew up ski racing, but rowing was the perfect college sport to balance her competitive spirit with enjoying the outdoors. At Bowdoin, she found speed quickly and has represented Bowdoin Rowing at the Head of the Charles Regatta, New England Rowing Championships, and Dad Vail Regatta.

“I am ecstatic about the growth of the team on the women’s side this past year,” Donohue said. “I can’t wait to build on that momentum and continue the legacy of Julie and Gianni. Rowing has been such a positive experience for me throughout college, and I’m looking forward to giving back and helping others learn the joys of the sport I love.”

Bolender, from Seattle, Washington, has been a coxswain for eight years. He started rowing in 2012 with Mount Baker Crew in Seattle before finding immediate success in collegiate rowing, including several medals at the New England Rowing Championships and Head of the Charles Regatta.

“The team has been the highlight of my college experience, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to take a central role in its leadership this year,” Bolender said. “It was heartbreaking to lose this season, but I know that the team will come back with an even greater dedication to this amazing sport.”

Coaches Doug Welling and Ry Hills are both excited to welcome Bolender and Donohue.

“The incoming group of officers radiates a passion for rowing that is absolutely contagious,” Welling said. “Coach Hills and I have been so impressed with this group’s dedication to the team and their empathy towards their teammates. We are very excited for Andy and Cassidy to add their signature to the 2020-2021 season ahead.”

Donohue and Bolender take over the captaincy from Scholes and Jannke, who led the team through record membership in fall 2019, unprecedented participation at the Head of the Charles Regatta in fall 2019, an early departure from Camp Bob due to the COVID-19 crisis, and the transition to online activities during the remote portion of the spring semester.

“I’ve known Andy and Cassidy for three years, and I’m proud to call them both teammates and friends,” Jannke said. “I could not be more excited for them both, and I know the team is in great hands during these unusual times.”

“It has been such an incredible honor to be a leader on this team, and part of that greatness has been getting to watch Andy and Cassidy grow as both teammates and leaders.” Scholes said. “I am delighted for the team to have such dedicated rowers and wonderful people as captains who I know are going to lead this team to an incredible year.”

Welling and Hills thanked Jannke and Scholes for their service to the team.

“Gianni and Julie leave tremendous shoes to fill and a simple thank you does not communicate the time, care, and ‘behind the scenes team transformation’ that these two have orchestrated,” Welling said. “Coach Hills and I will deeply miss their smile, presence, and friendship. Both Julie and Gianni have not only poured their rowing heart and soul into this past year, but into four full years at Bowdoin. We extend our deepest gratitude to you both and look forward to hearing of all the adventures yet to come.”

“Julie and Gianni embody the essence of this program, work hard and have fun,” Hills added. “They poured their souls into the leadership of this team and are leaving us with a group that reflects not only their true love of the sport of rowing, but also their desire for a team full of camaraderie, compassion, and mutual support. I will miss their presence, and I am so grateful for their friendship.”