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May 10, 2006
ANDOVER — In 1955, using some old boats he borrowed from Harvard, Yale and Princeton, Bill Brown established the sport of crew at Phillips Academy. Now 90 years old and living in Maine, Brown is returning to campus on Saturday, May 13, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of a sport he founded and coached for 25 years. Joining him in the celebration will be current crew members, current coaches, and some 70-80 crew alumni, many of whom plan to recapture their youth in an alumni race on the Merrimack River.
Among those who’ll be on hand for the day is the president of the Phillips Academy board of trustees, Oscar Tang, who served as the first captain of the varsity crew team in 1956. Also attending is Foster “Forty” Conklin Jr., who successfully reassembled nearly his entire boat from the class of 1979 in hopes of making one last run for glory.
“We even have one alumnus who is getting ready to be deployed on a nuclear submarine, but when he heard about the reunion, he got special permission from the Navy to attend,” says Jennie Savino, PA’s assistant director of classes and reunions. “It’s typical of the kind of passion that crew generates among those who participated in the sport.”
The day’s events will begin with a 9 a.m. breakfast, followed by alumni races on the Merrimack River from 10:30 a.m. to noon. After a picnic lunch, alumni will spend the afternoon watching from the riverbanks as the Andover crew teams take on Exeter and Tabor. The day wraps up in the evening with an anniversary dinner on campus.
Spearheading the organization of the reunion are Sam and Rosy Darby of North Andover. Their daughter, Michelle, is an 11th grader at PA and serves as coxswain for one of the boys’ varsity boats. According to Darby, he was inspired to organize the reunion by the members of the class of 1965, who held their own 40th reunion event last year. Impressed by their passion for the sport and their joy at reuniting, he sent out emails to some 800 crew alumni proposing the idea of a 50th reunion.
“The response was amazing,” said Darby. “While some people said they wouldn’t be able to make it back for the event, they all thought it was a great idea.” Those who do crew, he added, seem to share an especially deep bond that comes from the long, grueling hours they put in on the river together and the need to work as one harmonious unit to achieve success.
Darby, himself, has gotten so caught up in the passion for the sport through his daughter’s participation, that he and his wife have taken it on themselves to create and maintain a web site dedicated to Andover crew. The site, located at www.andovercrew.net, not only carries updates on the current season, but also boasts an extensive collection of archival photographs and information.
Today, approximately 100 Andover students participate in the sport of crew, either at an intramural or interscholastic competitive level. The boys’ team is led by long-time math instructor Pete Washburn, who took over the coaching responsibilities from Bill Brown in 1980. The girls’ team, which was formed in 1976, a few years after the merger of Abbot Academy and Phillips Academy, is led by Kathryn Green. |
