College crews christen rowing facilities

EAST COUNTY — Sarasota and Manatee counties ushered in a new era of sports tourism as they hosted some of the top-ranked rowing teams in the nation for winter training last week.

Manatee County even celebrated the grand opening of its new training facility at Fort Hamer Park Jan. 14 — just in time for Harvard University’s nearly 190-person rowing crew to take full advantage of new floating docks, restroom facilities and a roughly 8,000-square-foot boat house.

“We’re thrilled,” said Liz O’Leary, head coach for Harvard’s Radcliffe Crew. “There isn’t any place with a boathouse like this. It’s pretty impressive.

“The hospitality has been remarkable,” she said. “Everywhere we turn, people are willing to help us.”

Benderson Development even retrofitted its Hampton Inn & Suites hotel off U.S. 301 behind the Prime Outlets — Ellenton to accommodate the team with enough beds, as well as with refrigerators and microwaves in every room.

The majority of Harvard’s 185 athletes and 13 coaches arrived Jan. 12 and will return to Harvard Jan. 21, O’Leary said.

“I have a feeling we better get our reservations early (for next year),” O’Leary said. “There’s going to be a lot of crews that will want to come out here to train.”

Farther south, members of the University of Notre Dame’s Women’s Rowing team stretched their oars over the lake at Nathan Benderson Park for their final day of practice at the facility.

Joe Schlosberg, associate head coach for the University of Notre Dame’s Women’s Rowing team, said the team didn’t get to practice quite as much as he’d intended because of last week’s cold weather, but practices were still worthwhile.

“It’s still the only state right now without snow,” he said, grinning.

Schlosberg noted the area’s training options — from the lake at Nathan Benderson Park to the longer rowing courses available at Fort Hamer and even farther south in Osprey — make the area a prime training spot for crews nationwide.

“Teams have options in what they can train (on) and how they can train,” he said. “The community really offers us a lot of things.”

O’Leary agreed, noting rowers need the sustained aerobic workout offered on longer courses, such as on the Manatee River, whether they compete in sprint or endurance races.

“They certainly have all the basic necessities (here),” she said. “It’s really amazing. My hope is the community here agrees.”

Manatee County invested $620,000 for the first phase of renovations to Fort Hamer Park, which included the boathouse, restrooms and other facilities. Sarasota County in October voted to increase the county’s tourism tax as a mechanism to raise more than $18 million for the first two phases of a plan to transform the lake at Nathan Benderson Park into a 2,000-meter rowing course with grandstands, ample parking, a boathouse and other amenities for athletes and the community.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].