Gillin Boat Club is the

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

program for St. Joseph's University Rowing and St. Joseph's Prep Rowing. It is situated at the 1,000-meter mark of the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

race course A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Gillin Boat Club was admitted to the

Schuylkill Navy The Schuylkill Navy is an association of amateur rowing clubs of Philadelphia. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States. The member clubs are all on the Schuylkill River where it flows through Fairmou ...

in 2004, by a unanimous vote of the Navy's members. The club's state-of-the-art boathouse has the capacity for 42 eights, 14 fours (quads), and 14 small boats. It was the first new boathouse built on this stretch of the Schuylkill River in 98 years. Gillin also hosts the

Commission's Community Rowing Program, which is designed to provide an experience for youth in the city of Philadelphia who have not had the opportunity to experience the sport of rowing.

Robert M. Gillin Jr. Boathouse

In 1998, Philadelphia City Council approved construction of what is now known as the Robert M. Gillin Jr. Boathouse. The boathouse was dedicated in May 2002.Steinberg, "Bloat on the Water", ''Philadelphia City Paper'', April 17-23, 2003
The building was designed by Robert L. Owen - Architects and built by Nason and Cullen, Inc. While some have praised the structure as "the Taj Mahal of

Kelly Drive A kelly drive is a type of well drilling device on an oil or gas drilling rig that employs a section of pipe with a polygonal (three-, four-, six-, or eight-sided) or splined outer surface, which passes through the matching polygonal or spline ...

," others have levied criticism on the boathouse's design, calling it a "bloated hulk of a building." Work has been done to repair the second floor, which began buckling shortly after construction was completed.

University Crew

The Men's and women's

crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...

teams of

St. Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh olde ...

regularly compete on a national level.

Dad Vail Regatta

St. Joseph's University has been a perennial contender at the

Dad Vail Regatta The Dad Vail Regatta is the largest regular intercollegiate rowing event in the United States, drawing over a hundred colleges and universities from North America. The regatta has been held annually on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsyl ...

, the nation's largest collegiate regatta. In 2019, Saint Joseph's won Gold in the Men's Third Varsity Heavyweight Eight. Saint Joseph's took home Silver in the Second Varsity Heavyweight Eight Category. In 2018, Saint Joseph's won Gold in the Men's Third Varsity Heavyweight Eight. Saint Joseph's took home silver medals in the First and Second Varsity Heavyweight Eight Categories in 2018 as well. In 2017, Saint Joseph's won Gold in the Men's Second Varsity Heavyweight Eight, as well as Gold in the Men's Third Varsity Heavyweight Eight. Saint Joseph's Men's First Varsity Heavyweight Eight took home silver that same year, their first medal in the Varsity Eight category since 1999. In 2010, St. Joe's won gold in the Men's Frosh/Novice Heavyweight Eight. In 2008, St. Joe's won a silver in the Women's Frosh/Novice Heavyweight Eight and a bronze in the Men's JV Heavyweight Eight. In 2007, the team finished 2nd in Overall Points and 3rd in Women's Points. In 2006, the Women won the Varsity 8 for the first time in its long history. The team finished 1st in Overall Points, 1st in Men's Points, and 2nd in Women's Points. In 2005, the team finished 1st in Overall Points, 1st in Men's Points, and 3rd in Women's Points. In 2004, St. Joseph's won 2nd in Overall Points, Men's Points, and Women's Points. Earlier in its history, St. Joseph's University won a gold medal at the 1970 Dad Vail Regatta and a silver medal in 1959, the first year of the program's existence.

IRA Championship Regatta

The

Intercollegiate Rowing Association The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's ope ...

's IRA Championship Regatta is the most competitive race in collegiate rowing and is considered to be the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

collegiate national

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

of rowing. In 2004, St. Joe's Varsity Four finished fourth in the Grand Final at the IRAs. In recent years, St. Joseph's has qualified multiple boats for IRAs. The Men's Team has competed at the IRA National Championship twice since 2017. They look to compete at this event each year against the top teams in the country, competing for a national title.

Henley Royal Regatta

The University Crew has competed at the prestigious

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

, a race in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1999, a crew from St. Joseph's pursued the

Temple Challenge Cup The Temple Challenge Cup is one of the eight (rowing), eights races at Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames on the River Thames in England. It is open to male crews from universities, colleges or schools. Combined entries from two colleges o ...

Henley Henley may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Henley, Dorset, a location * Henley, Gloucestershire, a location * Henley-on-Thames, a town in South Oxfordshire, England ** Henley (UK Parliament constituency) ** Henley Rural District, a former ru ...

Alumni

The University Crew has placed many of its alumni along the east coast, whom regularly compete together in the fall. Most notably, the Saint Joseph's University alumni crew won a medal at the 2019

Head of the Charles Regatta The Head of the Charles Regatta, also known as HOCR, is a rowing head race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October (i.e., on the Friday that falls between the 16th and the 22nd of the month, and on the Saturday and Sunday immedia ...

in Boston, MA.

Preparatory crew

St. Joseph's Preparatory School has amassed racing records unequaled by any other American high school, including winning the

Stotesbury Cup The Stotesbury Cup Regatta, sponsored by the Schuylkill Navy, is the world's oldest and one of the largest high school rowing competitions. It is held annually in mid-May over a two-day period along the Schuylkill River near Boathouse Row in Phila ...

ten times since 1987.

Stotesbury Cup Regatta

The

Regatta is the largest high school regatta in the United States and is considered the high school national championship. The Boys Senior Eight boat won the Stotesbury Cup in 1955, 1987, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2019 and 2021; and the Boys Lightweight Eight won in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1986, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. In addition, The Prep is the only team to ever sweep all of the eights races at the regatta. This feat was first accomplished in 1997. In 2008, St. Joe's Prep accomplished nearly the same result sweeping all five events in the eight-man category. As a result of the sweep, a poll by Row2k.com ranked The Prep as the crew of the week, over collegiate national champions.

Vespoli Vespoli USA is a manufacturer of rowing shells. It was founded by former Georgetown University rower and Olympian Mike Vespoli in 1980. History The company’s origins date back to the late 1970s when Mike Vespoli was the freshman rowing co ...

, a manufacturer of racing shells highlighted the team's accomplishment among other national champions.

Henley Royal Regatta

The Prep regularly competes at the

. Rowers from St. Joseph's Prep "have been to Henley eight times and won the prestigious

Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup is a rowing event at Henley Royal Regatta open to school 1st VIIIs. History The event was instituted in 1946 for public schools in the United Kingdom. It was opened to entries from overseas in 1964, and th ...

in 2000." In 2010, St. Joseph's Prep lost to the

Kent School Kent School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory boarding school in Kent, Connecticut, United States. Frederick Herbert Sill established the school in 1906. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States. Acade ...

in the semi-finals. In 2008, St. Joseph's Prep was eliminated by

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

in the quarter-finals. In 2005, St. Joseph's made it to the finals, but lost to

. The Prep's quest for the Princess Elizabeth Cup in 2005 made news in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as well as in the United States.Henley Morning Report, row2k.com (July 2, 2008)
For more Henley results, se
1999

20002005
, an
2008
. The Prep competed at the Henley Royal Regatta in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2019.

Olympic Games

Several Prep Crew alumni have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games including 2004 gold medalist

Peter Cipollone Peter Cipollone (born February 5, 1971) is an American rowing coxswain of the 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. men's eight rowing team. He is a native of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia a ...

'89 (2000 Games as well). Other Prep Olympic rowers include Michael Peterson '85 (1996 Atlanta Games), Tom Welsh '95 (2000 Sydney Games) and Mike Gennaro '07 (2012 London Olympics alternate).

References

External links

* *
Gillin Boat Club
on wikimapia.org {{coord, 39.99076, -75.19675, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Saint Joseph's Hawks Rowing clubs in Philadelphia High school sports in Pennsylvania Sports in Philadelphia Boathouses in the United States Buildings and structures in Philadelphia Schuylkill Navy 2002 establishments in Pennsylvania