Vesper Boat Club

2010 Summer Racing Program

Vesper Boat Club (“Vesper”) runs one of the best Summer Programs in the United States for Men and Women. Vesper will be able to offer you a great training environment, and one of the best places to row in the summertime on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.

Since 2000, Vesper has been one of the most successful programs at US Nationals and Canadian Henley for college and pre-elite level rowers. Last year at Club Nationals the Vesper summer rowers won 7 Gold Medals.

Throughout the summer you will be able to race in a wide variety of events, culminating at Canadian Henley in August. The excellent coaching staff is dedicated to helping each rower win medals in the multiple events entered. They will also help take your rowing to the next level by teaching good technique, small boat rowing skills, improving mental preparation, and improved racing experience.

You will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience, skill, and knowledge from a world class coaching staff, headed by Michiel Bartman, 3 time Olympic medalist: 1996, 2000, 2004, as well as head coach of 6 different US National Team boats from 2005-2009. The additional coaching staff is as follows:

• Heavyweight Men
- Coaches Paul Bugenhagen and Fred Honebein
- program application deadline extended to April 30
- Group Size: 12-14 men

• USRowing Women's National Team Pre-Elite Camp
- Coach Josh Adam
- Group size: 10-16 women Applications due March 22th to anne@usrowing.org
- More Details: http://www.usrowing.org/Olympic_NationalTeam/Camps/10weliteca.aspx

• Under-23 Lightwight Men & Women - Coach Scott Wisniewski
- Total Group Size: 12-16 (evenly split between men and women)
- Eligibility - born on or after 01-01-1988

• Lightweight Women - Coach Claire Martin-Doyle (program start date June 14)
- Group Size: 6-8
- Focus on sculling development

General Information
Application Deadline	dependant upon program; online application can be found here
Cost of Program	Dues for Summer 2010 will be $475, which will cover boat usage, trailer costs, full user of boathouse facilities, and a unisuit
Terms of Payment	25% due within 10 days of acceptace (non-refundable after May 1st); 75% by start of the program (no refunds after the start of the program)
Length of Camp	Thursday, June 10, 2010, until Sunday August 8, 2010

Practice Schedule	We train 10 times a week. Training times are 6am and 6pm (tentative); Mon, Tu, Thu, Fri: 2 practices/day; Wed, Sat: 1 practice/day; Sundays are off, unless racing.
Preliminary Race Schedule	Schuylkill Navy Regatta on June 12 – Philadelphia, PA US Elite Nationals on June 24-26 - Mercer Lake, NJ Independence Day Regatta on July 2-4 - Philadelphia, PA US Club Nationals on July 14-18 - Oak Ridge, TN (U23 Worlds on July 22-25, Brest, Belarus) Canadian Henley on August 3-8 - St. Catharine’s, Canada
Under-23 Information
Trials	TBD (late June or early July)
Eligibility	Born on or after 01-01-1988
Criteria	Winning the trials, (relative) speed, and funding
Interest	If interested, certain agreements about the funding as well as certain quality standards have to be met
Estimated Cost	Approximate $3000 per person
Vesper Committment	Will pay up to 25% of the costs for fee and airfair

Housing Information
Vesper Dormitory	Located in East Falls about 3.5 miles from boathouse - Limited number of rooms will be allotted on a first-come basis.
Other Options	There is also a committee which can help the athletes for the summer to find housing and work, but we encourage you to search for yourself, for example check Craigslist: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/
Suggested Locations	Fairmount (Art Museum), Center City, University City are good locations and close to Boathouse Row

Employment Information	If you are looking for work while you are in Philly you can send us your resume so we can pass it along to the appropriate people to help you with that. We cannot guarantee a job for you, and we would recommend for you to look as well, but we will do our best here at Vesper to help you.

Additional Information	Remember that new laws require a passport for traveling to and from Canada. Make sure that you have a passport when you are admitted to the program. Also if necessary, bring your US rowing membership up to date, because it is needed for several races.

If you have any further questions about the program please contact Michiel Bartman at michielbartman@gmail.com. Additionally, please email your completed application as soon as possible, in order to be considered to row under one of the programs at Vesper for the summer of 2010.

Please check out Facebook (under Vesper Elite Program) for updated information or follow us on Twitter (Vesper Elites).

All together,

Michiel Bartman
Head Coach Vesper Boat Club