About Rowing in Marietta

60 Years of Rowing 1964-2024

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Marietta High School (MHS) rowing dates to the summer of 1963 when Ralph Lindamood secured a donated shell, found some high school boys and started the first high school rowing team in Ohio.

 

The Harmar Rowing Club (formerly The Harmar Boat Club) was started by a group of former MHS rowers who wanted to continue with the sport after graduation and race together. Its roots are intertwined with the Marietta Rowing and Cycling Club and there is some overlap in the membership.

 

When women's rowing began at MHS in 1976 and the teams grew to such a large size (about a hundred rowers) that the Harmer Rowing Club started to evolve into what it is today. After five school levy defeats, the Harmar Rowing Club took over the financial burden of the high school rowing team in 1989. College scholarships had by now come into the mix and the survival of the sport in Marietta was in jeopardy. It became crucial for rowers' parents to take an active role in the club. HRC gained it’s 501c(3) status in 1994.

 

The growth of the program and modern times have increased the financial requirements of the club considerably. The Marietta City Schools help tremendously by covering coaching staff, travel, and entry fees during the spring season. HRC raises money for maintaining and operating the facilities and replacing racing shells that are then donated to Marietta High School. The club also funds, trailer, and a traveling chuck wagon tent. Families serve as truck drivers, chefs, coordinators, and pay a combined travel and equipment fee for each rower for this. Gone are the days when rowers were welcome to sleep on gym floors or in hosting houses to save expense.

 

Increased competition has also increased equipment quality demands. Wooden shells are now outdone by lighter fiberglass and carbon fiber materials and the old megaphone has morphed into an expensive cox box. Training is no longer merely running and weights, but ergometers. Larger equipment, and the growth of the Marietta College program, brought on a dire need to centralize our equipment and store it. Barns, basements, and garages could no longer handle the load.

 

Catapulted by a generous donation from the Broughton Family, HRC broke ground for the Carl L. Broughton Boathouse which was established in 2000. Fundraising and participation fees from our rowers enable us to maintain the boathouse and purchase new equipment to keep our rowing teams competitive not only locally but on a national level.