LW quad pictured against the Philadelphia skyline, heads off to Gifu Japan to represent Vesper and the US.

Michiel Bartman and a crew of four women are restoring Vesper Boat Club to prominence.
By Michael D. Schaffer, Inquirer Staff Writer
August 26, 2005

The oars caught the water in a strong, silky cadence that pleased the discerning eye of Michiel Bartman.

As the racing shell swept along the Schuylkill on a recent evening, Bartman motored alongside in a launch, shouting instructions through a white megaphone, urging the rowers to "get a little more legs and less back" into their stroke.

The four women on the oars, their faces frozen in concentration, translated his instructions into powerful rhythm. And with every smooth stroke, they moved the storied Vesper Boat Club a little closer to regaining its prominence as a center of elite rowing.

The four rowers - Wendy Campanella, Heather Moon, Melissa Rice and Sarah Hirst Smith - are now in Gifu, Japan, where they will race as a lightweight quadruple sculls crew representing the United States in the World Rowing Championships. Their first race is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

"I think we definitely have a very good shot at winning a medal," Bartman said. The team is the first that Bartman has taken to a major international competition since the former Olympic gold and silver medalist arrived from the Netherlands at the beginning of April to restore Vesper's competitive glory.

The club's history glitters with Olympic gold. Vesper eights won gold medals at the 1900, 1904 and 1964 Olympics - a feat no other American boat club has matched. Vesper's most celebrated rower, the great John B. Kelly, won three Olympic gold medals himself: a singles title at the 1920 Games and doubles championships in 1920 and 1924.

Bartman's mission is to make Vesper once again a place where elite rowers come to train, whether they are Vesper members or not. "For me, it's the reason why I'm here," he said.

Bartman, 38, has an impeccable rowing resume. He retired from rowing competition last year after winning a silver medal in the eight at the Athens Olympics. He won a silver in the quad in 2000 at Sydney and a gold in the eight in 1996 at Atlanta. Bartman also won three World Championship medals

"He's incredible," said Vesper president J.B. Kelly, a grandson of John B. Kelly. "He's a great find for us, a great athlete himself. He's very thoughtful about his rowing."

During the 1990s, Vesper turned its attention to renovating its boathouse on Kelly Drive, at the expense of the developing world-class rowers. The club didn't have the funds to do both, Kelly explained.

The renovation was "substantially over in 2001," freeing the club to turn its attention again to fostering elite rowers.

The 180-member club now spends "$100,000 to $150,000 a year on elite racing," Kelly said. "It can get a little expensive."

The cost of sending the quad to Japan is about $25,000, but Vesper is not paying all of it. The women in the crew have their own Web site, www.rowfast2005.com, and have been soliciting donations. PTC, a software company headquartered in Massachusetts, has contributed $15,000.

There is a tie-in, because Filippi Lido, the Italian company that made the women's boat, and Nielsen Kellerman, the Boothwyn company that made the boat's electronic timer, use PTC software, said Gar Smyth, PTC's director of marketing programs.

Bartman is pleased with his foursome of lightweight rowers, each of whom is required to weigh 125.67 pounds or less.

All are experienced rowers.

"We're not talking about getting a stroke down," Bartman said. "We're talking about details. With them, I'm talking about finesse."

Campanella, 31, a nurse at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, rows stroke and is, in effect, the boat's captain.

"I'm very lucky to have Wendy as a rower," Bartman said. "With Wendy, there's no single doubt in her head. She will sacrifice a lot to get to the world championship. The other three girls have the same goal."

Campanella, a member of Vesper, helped Bartman recruit the quad crew from women who had lost in the lightweight doubles competition at the qualifying races for the U.S. national team.

She and Rice, 27, had been training under Bartman's direction, Campanella said.

"When it came that we were going to get into a quad, I didn't want to leave Michiel, and so he was able to convince these other ladies that [Vesper] was the place to train."

Bartman was able to decide quickly that the women would make a strong quad.

After years of rowing, "I can spot pretty fast who's OK and who is not, so I'm very happy to work with these girls," Bartman said.

Bartman describes himself as very competitive, and the women are as well.

"We'll win," said Smith, 28, who usually does her rowing in Seattle, but comes east to race each year. "We better. That's definitely the goal. That's what we put all this time and energy into. We're not going over there just to have fun."

Rowing News Interviews Head Coach Michiel Bartman

To read this interview, please click here for a downloadable PDF.

(click to read article)

A New Coach Gives Vesper Boat Club International Stature.
Philadelphia Inquirer; Sat, Apr. 16, 2005
By Ira Josephs, Inquirer Suburban Staff

Vesper Boat Club’s appointment of Michiel Bartman as full-time head coach illuminates Boathouse Row on an international scale.Bartman, from the Netherlands, was a gold medalist at the 1996 Olympics and a silver medalist in 2000 and 2004. He is now officially retired as an athlete and coach with the Dutch national rowing team.

“My immediate goal is to raise the level of competition,” said Bartman, 37, who has already started in his new position and begun the immigration process.

“There are some good athletes right now at Vesper. I want to bring them to a higher level. The ultimate goal is to get as many people as we can to the national team for the Olympics.”

Founded in 1865 as Washington Barge Club and renamed Vesper in 1870, the club has enjoyed a glittering history. Its boats won gold medals at the 1900, 1904 and 1964 Olympic Games.

Of course, its best-known members have been John B. Kelly Sr. and John B. Kelly Jr. The elder Kelly won the Olympic single in 1920 and the double in 1920 and 1924. The younger Kelly rowed at the Olympics in 1948, ‘52, ‘56 and ‘60 and collected eight national singles titles.

Philadelphia’s J.B. Kelly III, the son and grandson of the storied rowers, is Vesper’s president. The U.S. men’s eight won the gold medal in Athens last summer behind the coaching of Vesper member Mike Teti, and Kelly wants American rowing to build on that success.

A strong U.S. club system is essential to the cause, Kelly said, and that is why such clubs as Vesper, Penn A.C. and the others that line Boathouse Row are so vital. Because rowers often don’t reach their peaks until their 30s, they need optimum training situations in order to continue improving after they leave college.

“We need to have all the great racing clubs step back up so athletes have places to go,” Kelly said. “Some may want to be in Philly, Boston or Buffalo. You have to have clubs all over the place supporting them. It’s the ultimate team sport.

“Some clubs are doing it. That’s my dream - that they’ll all step up. We’re trying to raise the bar for ourselves and, hopefully, others will come along, too. Then, when the national team picks an eight, they’re picking from 100 guys.”

The announcement of Bartman’s hiring came on March 29. He replaces Mike Irwin, who held the Vesper position on a part-time basis and is taking over as the head lightweight coach at Penn. Todd Craun and Nick Tripician remain as Vesper assistants.

While in Boston for the Head of the Charles Regatta late in October, Bartman heard about the Vesper opening. Then, visiting a friend in Philadelphia during his continued stay in the United States, he showed up at Vesper on Kelly Drive.

“Nobody was there who I could speak to about the job,” he said.

Upon returning to the Netherlands, Bartman e-mailed Kris Korzeniowski, the native of Poland and the former head women’s head coach for the Netherlands who has been one of Teti’s assistants with the U.S. team.

Bartman said Korzeniowski was encouraging, and in December, Bartman spoke with Kelly by phone. In January, he came back to Philadelphia for an interview.

“It’s such a big rowing community,” Bartman said. “I’m impressed.”

A Sell Out Crowd of Vesper's Past, Present and Future Honor Two Coaching Greats!
In September, Vesper Boat Club honored two coaching greats: Allen Rosenberg and Dietrich Rose. The event was very well attended, very nostalgic and much fun. Many rowing stories, remarks and toasts from Emory Clark, Boyce Budd, Ted Nash and others. A professional video of the tribute is available for those who want to relive the evening or for those who could not attend. The 90 minute video is also a great gift!

To purchase a video please contact: Pete Simone: 610.889.0348 or psimone@simonejaffecollins.com or Alexis Franklin: 215.849.0829 or Lexy3904@aol.com.Cost is $15 plus $5 shipping and handling. Supply is limited –order now!

Vesper Elite Women Win Eights Trophy at Royal Holland Beker
International Regatta in Amsterdam

PHILADELPHIA, PA – July 3, 2003
Vesper Boat Club today announced that on Sunday, June 29, its elite women’s team won the Stijlroen Cup for the Women’s Eight Championship at the Royal Holland Beker International Regatta in Amsterdam.

The Vesper women defeated elite teams from Holland and Denmark, including a Dutch composite boat consisting of the stroke of its silver medal Olympic eight and other national team pool rowers. Vesper takes possession of the Stijlroen Cup from the Dutch Olympic eight, who were the previous winners of the event.

Vesper also won the Women’s Open Eight race on Saturday, June 28, against a field of the best university teams from the Netherlands.

The Royal Holland Beker Regatta originated in 1886 and is the most important international rowing regatta outside of the World Cup events. This year the event attracted national teams from 14 countries, including many medallists from the 2002 World Championships, for the two-day event on Amsterdam’s Bosbaan Olympic course.

Vesper’s team, all post-collegiate rowers, included Mariah Raymond, Jessica Lanning, Marianna Waters, Chris Hillson, Veronica Craun, Laurie Dean, Eileen Crawford, Kristen Haase and coxswain Amber Carrier. Six of the women are national champions and several are currently training for the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. The team was coached by long time member, Todd Craun.

The resurgence of Vesper’s position in developing international level rowers has been led by Vesper Presidents J.B. Kelly and Paul Horvat, under the training of Head Coach Mike Irwin. Vesper now maintains a year-round training center for post-collegiate athletes like those competing in Amsterdam.

Vesper Boat Club is the most recognized rowing club in the United States. Its mission is to perpetuate its legacy of developing highly skilled and competitive rowers at all levels by providing its diverse community of members with premier rowing programs and first class facilities and equipment.

Caitlin Durkin wins Gold Medal in City Championships and Junior Nationals.
Caitlin Durkin of Nazareth Academy (coached by Vesper's Kay MacDonald) won a gold medal at the National Rowing Association finals. She won the singles in a stunning time of 6 minutes and 55 seconds. Jessica Hayden of Council Rock, also coached by MacDonald, took a silver medal.

Prendie, rowing out of Vesper, won a gold medal (5:25:51) in a very close and exciting race. The rowers for Prendie were: Trish McLean, Michelle Doyle, Lauren Fatori, Molly O'Brien, Aimee Nichols, Sheila Finnegan, Diana Bishop and Brook Nelling. The coxswain was Katie Mullen.