Mar 24, 2007 By Jim Downey 5 min read

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream …

Though recent rains have made western Pennsylvania streams and rivers anything but gentle, Connellsville native Emily Humes is living the dream as the assistant women’s rowing coach at Robert Morris University. Robert Morris is one of 86 programs in Division I, and one of three local universities, Duquesne and West Virginia are the others, to field a sanctioned NCAA women’s program. The Colonials are independent, as is fellow Northeastern Conference member Sacred Heart.

So how did the 1998 Connellsville Area High School graduate make the transition from swimming and tennis to college rowing?

Humes had a successful high school career in both, playing on Don Crawford’s tennis squad that finished second in the WPIAL in 1997. She started swimming in grade school and took to the tennis courts in junior high, and Bethany (W.Va.) College recruited her to play both sports for the Bison.

“I swam and played tennis at Bethany for two years,” said Humes, the daughter of Patricia Humes of Connellsville and Frank Humes of Titusville. “We took a drive to Pittsburgh to visit family. I saw the boats and wanted to try it out.”

Robert Morris offered Sports Management, the direction Humes wanted to go academically, and the wheels were in motion.

“It was a perfect opportunity to get into the sport,” said Humes, a 2002 RMU graduate who remained in Coraopolis to earn her M.A. in Instructional Leadership. “I went straight to the coach and joined the team. Since I came from a Division II school, I was able to get right into Division I.”

Humes swam the 500 freestyle and 100 butterfly, but found rowing to be even more demanding.

“(Swimming) definitely got me ready, but (rowing) is a lot harder than swimming,” explained Humes. “Rowing coaches love to recruit swimmers, especially those who are burned out (in the sport).

“It’s comparable to swimming. It’s a repetitive motion, and takes a lot of endurance and great lung capacity.”

Rowing, or sweep, has 2-, 4-, and 8-person teams who operate one oar (sweep) each. Sculling has competition for singles, doubles, and 4-person and 8-person boats with each sweeper using two oars. Robert Morris and the other NCAA schools compete in sweep.

Part of Humes’ coaching responsibilities is recruiting. Since high school rowing programs are rare, she generally looks to swimmers, but the Robert Morris roster is dotted with athletes from a variety of sports.

“We look for girls with height. Girls that are 5-7, 5-8 or above, make great rowers. They have great leverage,” explained Humes. “We look for girls that are good-looking athletes. We have a good mix from the various sports, anyone that has an athletic background and a good head on their shoulders. Our biggest recruiting tool is people already accepted (at Robert Morris). We tell them it will be the greatest experience and they will be in the greatest shape of their life.”

She not only scours the Robert Morris student roster for possible rowers, as well as for coxswains. A coxswain is the person who helps rowers maintain cadence throughout a race.

“A good coxswain is bossy, takes initiative and weighs about 115 pounds,” said Humes. “A good one is hard to replace. The scholarship money is there, just as it is for rowers.”

Humes also coaches the novices, coordinates travel and maintains the boathouse on the Ohio River, no small task with the recent rains.

“Our boathouse at the Groveton Boat Club is on a flood zone. We are going to move to the Neville Island Sports Center (owned by Robert Morris), though,” said Humes.

The preferred location to work out is the Ohio River, but as Humes explained, “The Ohio River is very temperamental. The flow is very fast and it floods.”

When the Ohio River is to rough, the Colonials head to North Park or Raccoon State Park to practice.

Athletes don’t require special shoes, shoes come in the boat, and wear a unisuit similar to a wrestler’s uniform. The equipment, though, can have a hefty price tag. Ideally, a fleet for 24 girls would include three 8-person (about $20,000 per boat), three 4-person (about $12,000 a boat), four pairs ($7,000 a boat) and three singles (about $3,000 a boat).

Humes drives the boats to competition with a trailer in tow.

As with baseball, golf, and other sports, rowing has a split season with the championship season in the spring at various regattas. Robert Morris opens the spring season on March 31 in Marietta, Ohio. Teams compete at 2,000 meters in the spring.

The big finale for the Colonials is the Dad Vail Regatta held on the Schuylkill River on May 11-12.

Personally, Humes still looks to challenge herself. She finished the 2004 Philadelphia Marathon in just over four hours just so she could say she ran one, and would like to qualify for the Boston Marathon before she hits 30.

She coaches sculling in the summer in Vermont so she can row and teach at the same time. While the master’s age-level in most sports is 40 or older, it’s 27 in rowing so Humes will explore continuing in the sport.

Professionally, Humes wants to remain in the sport.

“I’d like to stay as a rowing coach and move into a bigger program. The Big Ten or Pac-10, that’s a whole other level,” said Humes. “I’d like to get the experience.”