Clevelandrows

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Did you know that rowing was the first sport ever played between colleges in the US? In 1852 the first intercollegiate sports competition in the nation's history took place when Harvard raced Yale. Three years later, the sport of rowing came to the mighty Cuyahoga. The Ivanhoe Boat Club and its Captain George W. Gardner were on the river in 1855 using shells built in Cleveland. The event stirred up local interest in such a unique use of our waterways that the Plain Dealer, in an article dated July 5th, 1855, offered a challenge to other crews: "We hope next 4th of July, 1856, to have the pleasure of seeing a "Regatta on the Lake" between boats built here, and manned by Cleveland Boatman; and we do now promise a Silver Cup worth one hundred dollars to the victorious Club boat on that occasion." However, the initial days of rowing were numbered due to the increased commercial traffic brought on by growth and the Civil War...and the fragile racing craft were crowded off the river. Organized rowing, sadly, did not reappear for another 125 years. In 1986, five gentlemen, who had either moved to Cleveland from the East Coast or had rowing experience from colleges in the East, began sculling on the Cuyahoga. They rented space for their shells and called themselves the "Cuyahoga Rowing Association." Then one Charles Mosley arrived on the local rowing scene. Part impresario, part entrepreneur, he was above all else, a super salesman: he thought there was money to be made from...

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