Legacy Coxswain's Corner
Legacy-Coxswain’s Corner
O Coxswain! My Coxswain!
Coxswains will always steer you straight, not that rowers always welcome their commentary. At Rutgers, we really don’t read enough about them. They get little Press on their leadership role. We usually hear about the winning crew or the stroke of the boat, not the person steering it or shouting out commands. Coxswains deserve to be center stage. We’d be lost without them!
With today’s high tech Cox Box and intercom systems, coxswains are directly connected to each rower (much to our regret). Their access to immediate data on the crew’s operations has elevated their role to “assistant coach” on the water. The clap boards and coxswain megaphone have been replaced with the electronic Nielsen-Kellerman's Cox Box and speed equipment which combines a digital stroke rate monitor, stopwatch, and voice amplifier sound system. A coxswain can monitor stroke rate, speed of shell, and manage the performance of the crew. The advertisement adds, “This allows the coxswain to be heard,” as if that were ever a problem. According to John Bannon RC’73, “The role of the coxswain in many ways has been elevated to the status of an on the water coach.” I can’t imagine being motivated by an electronic Bluetooth device to pull a hard 10, but then again, I rowed in a different era, a different time. How we, at times, wish for the good ole days, when a coxswain with megaphone attached to his/her face, and with elevated voice, would scream commands at us down the racecourse in a cacophony with coxswains from other competing crews.
One Coxswain’s Story
In 1970, our coxswain Abe Fox RC’73, was a young man of small stature, fitting the image of a lightweight coxswain. His added weight as a non-rower was offset by his pivotal role in the boat. He was quick witted, with a razor-sharp tongue such that he could cut a big guy like me down to size. We were afraid of him, fearing we’d be singled out for his scathing rants. But this fear factor made him great in his role as our prime motivator.
I spoke with him recently. It had been over 50 years. I guess I was expecting that familiar brazen cockiness. Instead, his voice was remarkably calm and poised as if he had finally found peace within himself. He proceeded to fill in the pieces of his life.
His parents were Holocaust survivors. His father was a Jewish partisan, fighting the Nazis, and getting wounded in the process. He met Abe’s mother after WWII at the Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons (DP) Camp, a former German army camp, near the Bergen Belsen concentration camp, where she and countless others were imprisoned and liberated by the British Army. His parents married in Bergen Belsen (Germany) and immigrated to Canada. Abe and his older sister lived in a neighborhood composed mostly of recent and older immigrants from Eastern Europe. It’s in this social context that Abe first experienced anti- semitism. You’d think that non-Jewish emigrants would relate to the struggles and horrors of the Jewish people during WWII. Au, contraire, mon frère! Abe, in part because of his size, became the object of their taunts and ridicule. But Abe did not sit with this. Quick with the repartee, he fought back the best way he could. His mouth became his weapon of choice and he let the verbal salvos fly. It probably helped that he was also fleet of foot. He came to America with his family as a Canadian citizen. At Salem High School, he competed on their wrestling team at a lightweight level. In the sport of rowing, he would soon discover that his size was an asset in becoming a coxswain. It was in this impactful background that Abe Fox came to us. Our clever, albeit sometimes coarse, coxswain was quick to comment on our individual performance within the boat.
Abe was seated in the stern of the shell, facing the stroke and looking toward the bow, and the seven rowers behind him. They were listed as stroke, 7, 6, 5,4, 3.2, and bow seat. The coxswain steered the boat with ropes on either side which were attached to a wooden rudder behind him. In lining up for the race, he had to back our shell against a “stake boat” in our lane. A person on the stake boat would hold the rudder while our coxswain gave instructions on aligning our boat in sync with the other crews. “Bow take a half stroke, 2 seat take etc.” He projected his voice through a plastic non electronic cone shaped megaphone attached to his face, freeing his hands to steer. We all gritted our teeth awaiting the word from the race officials in a nearby launch, “All Boats Ready! Ready All, Row!” And, off we went.
Our coxswain was sometimes steering challenged, coming close to obstacles in the river. Coach Buzz Congram could be heard screaming, “Goddam it, Abe!’ “As our fragile wooden shell scraped a brick bridge abutment.
Rowing in a wooden shell had inherent dangers. For a coxswain, navigating those bridges day or night was always adventurous with changing tides, narrow bridge archways, and debris floating dangerously close to those thin -walled hulls. In the previous year, Raritan River currents swept a freshman crew into the Albany Street Bridge abutment, cracking the 8 oared rowing shell in half like an egg. All hands were rescued, but OMG! What a scrambled hot mess! Such was the fate of unlucky crews in wooden shells during the Golden Age of Crew. Crewmate Carl Peters Lightweight RC’72 in the 7 seat recalls floating downstream clutching to the stern section of the shell. He and his rowing mates like drown rats were finally picked up near the Donaldson Park Boat ramp. It was at this point that they were reminded by their coach that they still had to attend practice in the tanks that afternoon. Nothing stops practice. Nothing! Two weeks later, Carl was in another 8-oared shell which struck ground south of the New Jersey Turnpike Bridge. A jagged rock peeled back a 2” Cedar strip like a ripe banana the length of the shell. Once again, Carl Peters and crew enjoyed another Raritan baptismal. Such was the fate of unlucky crews in wooden shells during the Golden Age of Crew.
When it came to race time, there was no coxswain better in rallying us to victory than our coxswain Abe. Attached to his steering ropes were wooden clap boards with which he would hit the oak gunnels of the shell in rhythmic fashion to keep us on pace. With each loud, “Clap, clap! Clap, clap!”, he put dramatic emphasis on each stroke we took. ‘Give me a hard 10! Clap, clap! Clap, clap!” Another hard 10!” “Clap, clap! Clap, clap!” You felt a unified upswell of physical and emotional effort with each stroke as if the boat were being lifted out of the water. ‘I got 2 seats, Sluka, give me more! Nielsen, put your back into it!’ Our coxswain didn’t need an amplification system back then to evoke the wrath of God in each of us. I can hear him now as he rallied us against another crew, “Let’s Dooooo it!!!” He demanded results from us. We did our best to deliver or face the consequences on next Monday’s practice.
On returning to the boat house after a hard-fought win, we would gather on the dock’s edge to throw Abe into the river as was the tradition. We quickly came to his rescue, fishing him out of the frigid water. A joyous occasion was had by all!
It Takes Nine
Over the years, coxswains have been our biggest fans, our trusted navigators, and our undervalued teammates. They have our backs, particularly as we each face the stern. You often hear 8 when speaking about competitive crew teams when there are 9 in the boat. That’s what it takes to successfully manage a rowing team in my era and in today’s high tech rowing world. May our coxswains continued leadership for Rutgers crews lead to more celebrations both on the water and in the water!
Women Coxswains
the traditionally male dominated college campus. Female restrooms, showers and dormitory rooms were at a premium. Little advanced planning had gone into accommodating their physical and academic needs. Courses on feminism and women’s rights would have to wait. “How would
women fit into a school so steeped in male traditions?” Rutgers Crew was the first campus sport in 1864. Women soon realized that their size would give them advantages as coxswains on men’s crews. Cox Jeff Bluestone RC’74 observed, “At 128 pounds, I was still 20 pounds heavier than a female coxswain. It was time to find another athletic endeavor. I became obsolete.” The fit made sense, but acceptance came later as women coxswains were sometimes excluded from team meetings and not permitted on the winter trip to Florida. But simple logic prevailed. Female coxswains had gained acceptance in a men’s sport.Coxswain Sally Zaifman Kagan on left takes charge of her freshman heavyweight crew in late fall 1972. Above Coxswain Sue Weinstein Mclurg calls for a power 10 to freshman stroke Kevin O’Brien. She would go on to cox the first women’s crew in 1975.
Susan Fitch pictured to the right became a freshman coxswain. Initially, she would be closed out of team meetings by her crew coach. But it wasn’t long before having female coxswains was advantageous. They could manage their assignment, and they were lighter. Susan mentions being asked to party with the Cornel Crew team at a public bar in Ithaca the night before their crew race, hoping to wear them out. Rutgers crews prevailed the next day! What women had to endure to win their place in the boat. Female coxswains were not allowed to travel to Florida for winter workouts and training.
NOTABLE RUTGERS COXSWAINS THROUGH THE YEARS
"off we go into the wild blue yonder"
Pictured above = Coxswain Anthony "Awgie" Genatempo '90 *flying high* after a W along with a great photo w/his teammates!
Awgie is currently a Major General in the US Air Force. Props also to all the Rutgers *men* and *women* rowing alumni who served and are currently serving in the military. Upstream Red Team!
Pictured above = Coxswain Anthony "Awgie" Genatempo '90 *flying high* after a W along with a great photo w/his teammates!
Awgie is currently a Major General in the US Air Force. Props also to all the Rutgers *men* and *women* rowing alumni who served and are currently serving in the military. Upstream Red Team!
Awgie said he was certain they are making the shells a bit smaller these days since it was a bit tighter than he remembers.
— with Awgie Genatempo.
— with Awgie Genatempo.
Ned DelGuercio DelGuercio was a three-year member of the Rutgers heavyweight varsity eight and was captain of the 2005 squad. In 2003 his crew reached the grand final of the EARC Sprints and the final round of the Henley Royal Regatta, placing second overall in the Ladies’ Challenge Plate.
He was named assistant coach for Yale Lightweight Crew in 2012 and has helped the program reach new heights. The Bulldogs have won the Jope Cup for Sprints team supremacy five times in the last 11 runnings, including two of the last four, in 2019 and 2022. Those Jope Cup wins are an indication of the pride Yale takes in the performance of its entire fleet. The Bulldogs' 2024 season was highlighted by a Vogel Cup win against Harvard and Princeton, including wins in the 2V, 3V and 4V4+. The Bulldogs also took home the Van Amringe team points trophy versus Navy. The third varsity eight had an undefeated regular season and earned the bronze medal at the Eastern Sprints.
In 2023 Yale's 2V earned bronze and the 1V finished sixth at IRAs. 2022 was a banner year for Yale, as the varsity crew won the lightweight eight at the Charles, all the regular spring season Cups, and the Eastern Sprints to become EARC and Ivy League Champions. The combined record of the 2V, 3V, and 4V was 16-2. The 3V won bronze and the 4V won silver at the Eastern Sprints. Notable too was the six-event sweep of the Goldthwait Cup regatta between Yale, Harvard, and Princeton on Lake Carnegie.
During the 2019 campaign, the 2V, 3V, and 4V each went undefeated in the regular season. The first varsity took the silver medal at the EARC Sprints, alongside silver medals in the 2V, 3V, and 5V4, as well as gold in the 4V. These successes led Yale to earn the Jope Cup. The varsity finished the season with a fifth-place national rank at the IRA Championship.
In 2018, Y150 had a strong regular season record against league opponents, with the varsity eight going 6-2. At the EARC Sprints the 4V won the bronze medal, and the 1V qualified for the IRA National Championship. After earning a spot in the Grand Final of the IRA Regatta, the varsity finished with a sixth-place national rank.
2017 saw the Yale Lightweight Crew ranked among the best in the nation. The first, second and third varsity eights all had outstanding records during the regular season, finishing 7-1 versus league opponents. At the EARC Sprints Championship the 2V won silver and the 3V won gold. The first varsity eight finished sixth at the Sprints, but then went on to reach the podium just weeks later at the IRA National Championship. The Y150’s top crew earned the bronze and secured the rank of third in the country.
The 2016 Bulldogs were the EARC and Ivy League Champions. After an undefeated regular season for the varsity eight, the team went on to a commanding performance at the EARC Sprints Championship. The varsity and junior varsity eights both won the gold medal and the third varsity won bronze. The combined performance of these crews made it possible for Yale to capture the Jope Cup for overall team supremacy. The varsity eight then went on to win the silver medal at the IRA Championship and reach the semi-final of the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta.
In his first season at Yale in 2013, DelGuercio guided the Y150 freshmen to a 6-1 regular season record and the gold medal at the EARC Sprints Championship. Other highlights for the Bulldogs include gold at the 2015 IRA National Championship (LM4+), silver at the 2014 EARC Sprints Championship (3V LM8+) and gold at the 2013 EARC Sprints Championship (1F LM8+).
DelGuercio was a USA Senior National Team coxswain and two-time World Champion. In 2007 after winning the gold medal in the M8+ at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, he was named to the M4+ for the World Championships in Munich, Germany. The USA 4+ took the gold by 0.4 seconds. In 2008 he coxed the USA LM8+ at the World Championships in Linz, Austria. The United States captured the gold medal by 1.4 seconds. DelGuercio went on to compete as coxswain for the USA Senior M8+ for the 2009, 2010, and 2011 World Championships and World Cup teams, and competed in the Grand Challenge of the Henley Royal Regatta in 2010 and 2011. From 2005-2012, DelGuercio was a full time resident athlete at the USRowing training centers, and he competed in the Olympic selection camps in ’08 and ’12.
While training with the United States team in Princeton N.J., DelGuercio started as the novice women’s coach at Mercer Junior Rowing Club and later became assistant varsity women's coach.
DelGuercio was a three-year member of the Rutgers heavyweight varsity eight and was captain of the 2005 squad. In 2003 his crew reached the grand final of the EARC Sprints and the final round of the Henley Royal Regatta, placing second overall in the Ladies’ Challenge Plate.
DelGuercio began rowing at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia. He was a four-year member of the team, and a three-year letter winner. He collected three Stotesbury Cup gold medals and two SRAA National Championship gold medals, and his lightweight 8+ went undefeated in 2001 -- finishing with a gold medal at the USRowing National Regatta. That summer he was selected to the USA JM8+ for the World Rowing Junior Championships in Duisburg, Germany.
