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August 25, 2003

Dear Whitman Freshmen and Parents:

Welcome to Whitman and the start of an exciting time of your life! Over the past few weeks, you have been introduced to a variety of activities to pursue once you start school, and in the coming months and years, you will be introduced to many more.

However, I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight September 4th at 7:30PM, in the Whitman Auditorium, as the opportunity to learn about one of the largest, most successful programs at Whitman: the Whitman High School Crew team.

Now I am certain many of you have limited experience with crew, so I wanted to point out some important facts about WWHS Crew.

1. The Whitman Crew team is one of the largest athletic programs at the High School. Rowing out of Thompson’s Boat Center on the Potomac River, Whitman Crew had over 90 athletes competing in area regattas during the 2003 season.

2. Rowers are amongst the best athletes of any sport, as rowing combines strength, endurance, and flexibility. However, you don’t need to be a great athlete to row at Whitman, only a strong desire to excel. Many top rowers, in fact, started out thinking they were just average athletes, but through training and dedication, found they were amongst the best rowers in the country.

3. Whitman Crew competes against the best teams in the country. There are few sports at Whitman where the teams have the opportunity to compete against the best in the U.S. But, the Whitman Crew team races against nearly every top team in the country at regattas ranging from the Stotesbury Regatta (the largest and oldest high school regatta in the country) to the National Capital Championships, where top teams from Virginia, D.C. and Maryland race.

4. Whitman Crew is one of the top teams in the country. In addition to numerous victories at local regattas, 4 Whitman boats made the semifinals at the recent Stotesbury Regatta, one of only 10 teams in the country to achieve that level of success.

5. Rowing helps students get into top colleges. Having "Whitman Crew" on their resume helped this year's graduating class get accepted to universities ranging from Penn, to Cornell, to Yale, and nearly every graduating senior will be continuing their rowing career as college freshmen.

If all this sounds interesting, I encourage you to reserve September 4th on your calendar. At that time, we will introduce our Learn-to-Row program which is offered every fall to any Whitman student who would like to learn the skill of rowing in a non-competitive environment.

In addition, you will also meet the coaching staff, the Men’s and Women’s team captains, and hear from a variety of both rowers and parents about the thrilling sport of crew.

I look forward to seeing you on the 4th!

Sincerely,

Gary B. Smith
President, Whitman Crew

P.S. If you can’t attend, information is available from our Freshman/Novice liaison, Sandy Schefkind, who can be reached at SandMSchef@aol.com, or (301) 365-8720.