Men

Tribe Records

Women

W. Meeker '16 - 1:19.2

W. Meeker '16 - 1:33.6

T. Moore '06 - 1:41.0

T. Moore '06 - 1:44.2

500m

2000m

6000m

10000m

S. Luwis '18 - 1:36.9

S. Luwis '19 - 1:47.0

S. Luwis '19 - 1:55.1

S. Luwis '18 - 2:02.5

TEAM HISTORY 

1985-1987

A student named Glenn Grossman formed a club under the guidance of Ed Hornsby, a local resident of Williamsburg. Hornsby was a Yale graduate and former member of the US national team. Steve Carlson, another Yale grad, also aided the team during these early years. Carlson was previously instrumental in building programs at Imperial College, London, in the mid-1970s and the University of Michigan in the late 1970s. He helped underwrite WMCR’s first years.

1987-1991

Tom and Heidi Martell, who both rowed on national champion varsity crews at the University of Wisconsin and worked in the Williamsburg area, lovingly nurtured the program in its early years. Under their supervision, the team procured equipment. Next, the crew needed a place to practice on the water. Jamestown Marina provided the program’s first home.

1991-1999

Sean Hart, a recent graduate, took on the job of Head Coach from 1991-92, until it was decided to find a coach who would relocate to William & Mary. Richard Ruggieri, a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and then novice men's coach at Coast Guard, became the program's first professional coach in the Fall of 1992. The Spring of 1994 brought William & Mary's first medal at a national championship regatta, achieved by the women’s novice 4+ at The Dad Vail Regatta.

In the Summer of 1996, George Livingston and Charles Ehrlich moved to Williamsburg. Livingston, a retired banker, was a national champion sculler for three years in the mid-1950s and won the Canadian Henley nine years in a row in three different boat classes. Ehrlich was a political historian out of Oxford who coxed, rowed, and coached at many levels on both sides of the Atlantic and specialized in program development. Ehrlich was assigned the task of building a men's program essentially from scratch, and began by coaching the novice men in September 1996. Livingston took the helm of the women's side of the program in November.

1999-2001

The Spring 2000 season was marred by bad weather, cancelling many races, but the Tribe crews left the Mid-Atlantic Championships with a record medal-haul under the guidance of new Head Coach Todd Haynes (a successful Canadian club coach): five eights came home with medals, the highest total number ever won by William & Mary. The Varsity Lightweight Women and First Novice Women each took Silvers, and the Varsity Men, Varsity Women, and Second Varsity Men each got Bronzes. The finish propelled the Varsity Lightweight Women into the Division One national rankings, where they found themselves #20 in the coaches' poll. The Second Varsity Men and the First Novice Women also reached the finals at Dad Vails.

On the water in 2001, under Head Coach Alia Reese, highlights included a bronze medal for the women's varsity eight (racing in the NCAA Division One event) at the Mid-Atlantic Championships, and a gold medal for the women's second varsity (racing in the event for crews not in NCAA Division One). The varsity men defeated up-state rival George Mason in a 2000-meter regatta for the first time in the team's history, when the two programs squared off at the Occoquan Sprints. Soon after, the team dedicated its first-ever brand-new men's eight, donated by alumni (men and women) from the Class of 2000.

2001-2003

In the spring of 2003, led by Head Coach Brent Figg, the Tribe made a dazzling appearance at ECACs where the Women's Lightweight 8+ took first. Around this time, the team once again changed locations to the Chickahominy Riverfront Park on Gordon's Creek, where they remain today.

2003-2007

A new Head Coach, Rob Montague, joined the team in the Fall of 2003 from the University of Connecticut and led the Tribe through many successful years. In the summer of 2006, the team made its first steps toward making the Riverfront Park their permanent home by constructing a shed to house oars, slings, tools, and other equipment. The team continued to grow and develop under Rob Montague until the Fall of 2006 when new Head Coach Lisa Milne took his place.

2008-2011

It didn't take long for Nathan Walker to establish new expectations for success at William & Mary, as he quickly grew the team and led it (with the help of the esteemed David Wilson) to incredibly successful fall and spring seasons, capped by the first medal ever won by William & Mary Rowing at the Head of the Charles, and a third place medal at the Dad Vail Regatta that following spring (both won in the Collegiate Women's 4+ race). The team built a brand new rowing dock in the spring of '09 (with significant help from President TJ Wallin). The summer of '09, Coach Nathan Walker started the team's first (and now annual) high school summer rowing camp.

Then in the summer of 2011, Coach Walker and Coach Travis Hall saw a three year boathouse building quest come to fruition, as the team dedicated the Tack Family Boathouse now long after classes started. Coach Travis Hall had taken over the Director of Rowing responsibilities in order to continue building upon the team's momentum. 

2012-2016

The team ran under the direction of Jason Mitchell, who also coached the Varsity Men. Mitchell brought his passion to the team and contributed many successful and inspiring years to its history. At his side, Graham Ludmer was the Varsity Women's coach.

2016-2018

Graham Ludmer functioned as both Team Director and Varsity coach. In Summer of 2017, Brian Comey and Sarah Tanzer were hired as Men's Coach and Novice Women's Coach. Brian Comey led the Men's team to medal at regattas such as Head of the South, SIRA, and an entry to Dad Vails. Graham Ludmer and Sarah Tanzer coached the Women's team to many medals at regattas such as Head of the South, John Hunter, Waterfield, SIRA, and ACRA. In the Summer of 2018, Graham and Brian both resigned, leading to the hiring of Erich Shuler as Program Director and Varsity Men's Coach, as well as Sarah Tanzer to the position of Varsity Women's Coach.

2018-2019

William & Mary Club Rowing has welcomed Erich Shuler as Team Director in addition to Varsity Men’s coach. Abby Williams and Chris Hein also joined the team as coaches of the Novice Women’s and Novice Men’s teams, respectively. Under this direction, a boat from the Women’s team was placed 4th at Head of the Hooch.

2020-2022

Even with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, William & Mary Club Rowing has continued to achieve success under the direction of Erich Shuler who has taken on the responsibility of coaching all four squads. After a getting a spring season cut short and not being on the water for a full year, the team bounced back to medal multiple times at Head of the Hooch and place 3rd at ACRA in the Women’s Novice 4.