Crew is equal opportunity only for the strong and energetic, says Mike Abraham of West Windsor, a sophomore at West Windsor Plainsboro High School South and a member of the Mercer Junior Rowing Club’s varsity team. “It’s really for anybody — as long as you learn how to pull hard.”
This philosophy should serve him well during the Northeast Regional Junior Club Championships, to be held Saturday, May 15, from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. at the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center on Mercer Lake in West Windsor. The winners will qualify to enter the national championship races to be held in Cincinnati in early June.
Abraham and his brother, Rob, identical twins, are old salts who started sailing at six or seven. They race a two-person sailboat in the waters off Stone Harbor during the summer. They have been rowing for the Mercer Junior Rowing Club (MJRC) since last fall and are members of the varsity team. “I was looking for something in the off season during the school year that was on the water so I tried rowing,” says Mike Abraham.
On Saturday, he will compete in a 2000 meter race, about 1 1/4 miles. A good crew will take about six minutes to cross the finish line, explains Abraham, who serves as coxswain in the eight-person boat. “They give everything they have for those six minutes.”
Abraham spends two hours after school every day and more time on Saturdays rowing. “It’s kind of like football. You don’t understand all the work that goes into each play. When people come out to see they don’t realize all the practice and the technique work it takes to make the boat go fast.”
During the winter, when the boats are out of the water, Abraham trains on a rowing machine and by lifting weights. “It was tough at first coming home at 6 p.m. tired and to have to start your homework. It teaches you time management.”
His parents, John and Janis Abraham, also volunteer time to the club and sometimes drive the motorized launches that allow the umpires to observe the races up close, the nautical equivalent of taking a turn bringing oranges to the soccer game. But both emphasize the importance of academics. “My parents always say ‘school comes first,’” says Abraham, who also has a younger sister, Liz, a student at Thomas R. Grover Middle School.
Traveling to regattas with the club is part of the enjoyment for Abraham, who went to Connecticut, Delaware, and to the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia to compete last fall.
Martin M. Crotty, executive director of the Princeton International Regatta Association (PIRA), is understandably proud of his brand new boathouse on Mercer Lake that houses the MJRC. Completed in fall 2003, it also accommodates the Peddie School, the Hun School, the Lawrenceville School, and even the U.S. National team. “We have the best race course and the best regatta venue by far,” says Crotty.
Between 25 and 30 teams will attend Saturday’s event, which can be viewed from the Mercer County Park marina side of the lake. The finish line is adjacent to the marina.
Crotty, who has served as executive director since August, rowed at Princeton University for four years, then at Oxford and later, on the U.S. National team for four years. He stresses that neither the MJRC nor any of the other operations under the PIRA umbrella have any affiliation with Princeton University or its facilities on Carnegie Lake.
Currently about 400 teens use the lake every day including those from the prep school teams. About 100 are part of the MJRC roster this season. PIRA started a program for adults in April.
Prowess in rowing is proving to be a mark in a student’s favor for some colleges and both Crotty and his crews are aware of it. Abraham says that all three seniors in his boat are planning to row during college. Crotty feels his own rowing talent, honed as a high school student in Buffalo, gave him an edge on his application to Princeton University.
“Rowing is a really good thing to have going for you when you’re competing against other kids with the same exact grades trying to get into these really competitive colleges,” says Crotty.
Although unsure yet about his plans for college, Abraham is aware of the draw rowing skills have become as he observes college coaches staying to watch the high school heats at some of the regattas.
Crotty is convinced that the facilities and hopefully the abilities of the MJRC are without peer. “It’s just one of the most perfect rowing venues you can think of because it’s a natural lake that’s not really overrun by motorized craft and big boats that throw up wakes. There’s no through traffic. It’s got no current. There’s not a lot of debris. It’s very clean. It couldn’t be better. I’m really excited about May 15 to see how it’s all going to shake out.”
Northeast Regional Junior Club Championships, Saturday, May 15. Regatta heats 8 a.m. to noon, regatta finals 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center at Mercer Lake, West Windsor. General parking costs $5 or $10 at the marina lot. Call 609-799-7100 or visit www.princetonregatta.org or www.mjrc.org.
