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What Goes A Brown Comes A Brown
  
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By Brendan F. Quinn, The Bulletin
There is a reason why Boathouse Row is a postcard of Philadelphia.
Everyone knows that familiar sight. Cruising down West River Drive toward the Art Museum or heading eastbound on the Schuylkill Expressway to Center City, that picturesque frame unfolds before you.
One by one, the boathouses come into view. Long, skinny boats slice through the water like piercing arrows, interrupting rows of shimmering waves dancing in the sun. Looking closer, bustling activity can be seen on the docks.
When Clare Brown first laid her eyes upon Boathouse Row, her curiosity flared. This was back in the early 1970’s, back when girls interested in crew were barking up the wrong boat. That didn’t diminish the sport’s allure any less, at least not to Brown. The view of Boathouse Row stayed firmly in the back of her mind.
Then, in 1976, the announcement was made: Mount St. Joseph Academy would be starting a crew program. Brown, a sophomore at the time, couldn’t sign up fast enough. That picture was permanently stuck in her head.
“I just liked the houses down there and I thought they were really cool looking, so I wanted to know what it was all about,” she remembers.
And that’s how it all started. Clare Brown was hooked for life. Crew tends to do that people. She went on to row for three years at the Mount in an era when girls’ crew was shuddered at.
“It was kind of frowned upon as not being a lady-like sport,” she says. “We were the minority down there and that only made it more appealing because girls weren’t supposed to do it.”
Heading down West River Drive nowadays, it’s not uncommon to find as many girls rowing as boys. If you again look closely, you might find Emma Brown sitting in the sixth seat of the Mount’s second eight.
Though the Schuylkill runs southeast from the Appalachian Mountains to Philadelphia, the Browns’ story on the river has come full circle.
Once a highly athletic girl focused on soccer, basketball and lacrosse, Emma Brown is now hooked on crew, just like mom was years ago. But the Mount program she rows for and the culture surrounding girls’ crew as a whole are miles away from what her mother dealt with.
In the late 70’s, the Mount only rowed against a handful of other teams. The program operated out of the dilapidated Crescent Boat Club and was financed solely by fundraisers that the girls held.
By the early 1980’s, after Clare Brown’s graduation in 1978, the program had folded. She was unaware that her old team had sunk, as she was in the midst of her own collegiate rowing career at La Salle. She transferred there after her sophomore year at Chestnut Hill College because the small Catholic college didn’t have a crew program.
While rowing at La Salle, Brown was on the front line of the growth of women’s crew. Many people weren’t exactly welcoming. Brown and her teammates were purposely locked out of the heated portion of Malta Boat Club and weren’t allowed to use the bathrooms because some members didn’t want them there. They would sneak into the Vesper Boat Club to use its facilities and then go about their business.
“It was sad, but it was funny, because we were being adventurous,” she says. “We thought we were being some big pioneers.”
Following college, Clare went on to marry Tim Brown, a former La Salle rower himself. Down the line, Emma came into the picture.
Though both her parents rowed, Emma wasn’t particularly interested.
“In seventh and eighth grade, my mom would bring me down to the races and talk about her experiences in crew,” she recalls. “I didn’t really think I was going to do it.”
Once high school rolled around, the Mount was Emma’s choice. At the time, the school’s crew program was not only back, but it was growing into a powerhouse. The reincarnation came in the winter of 2000.
One day prior to Emma’s freshman year, a letter arrived at the Brown household. Two weeks before school began, a camp for incoming freshmen interested in crew would be held in Conshohocken.
Emma felt obliged.
“I did the camp just to make my mom happy, but when I got into the boat, I loved the feeling,” Emma says. “I just liked gliding on the water. It’s an indescribable feeling. It was really cool.”
When Clare Brown brought Emma to the river that day, she found a program that bared little resemblance to the one she left behind.
“There was an undeniable excitement down there,” she says. “I looked around and couldn’t believe it. All the older girls were showing the younger girls the boats and showing them how to do everything. It was amazing.”
Now led by head coach Megan Kennedy and assistant Mike McKenna, among others, the Mount crew program operates out of Whitemarsh Boat Club. The building comes complete with bathrooms, heated rooms and a second floor filled with ergs.
On race day, when Clare Brown stands along the banks of the Schuylkill, she still stirs. But it’s not the view of the boathouses that rouses her.
“Butterflies don’t even describe it,” she says. “When I see her in that boat — it’s the tension and the excitement — I know what she’s feeling. There is a huge sense of pride there. I’m proud of the program and of her. She’s one of the captains this year and I was a captain when I was a senior at the Mount. We have that connection and it’s just great.”
Apparently, the straight Schuylkill comes together at the end.
Brendan F. Quinn can be reached at bquinn@thebulletin.us
Everyone knows that familiar sight. Cruising down West River Drive toward the Art Museum or heading eastbound on the Schuylkill Expressway to Center City, that picturesque frame unfolds before you.
One by one, the boathouses come into view. Long, skinny boats slice through the water like piercing arrows, interrupting rows of shimmering waves dancing in the sun. Looking closer, bustling activity can be seen on the docks.
When Clare Brown first laid her eyes upon Boathouse Row, her curiosity flared. This was back in the early 1970’s, back when girls interested in crew were barking up the wrong boat. That didn’t diminish the sport’s allure any less, at least not to Brown. The view of Boathouse Row stayed firmly in the back of her mind.
Then, in 1976, the announcement was made: Mount St. Joseph Academy would be starting a crew program. Brown, a sophomore at the time, couldn’t sign up fast enough. That picture was permanently stuck in her head.
“I just liked the houses down there and I thought they were really cool looking, so I wanted to know what it was all about,” she remembers.
And that’s how it all started. Clare Brown was hooked for life. Crew tends to do that people. She went on to row for three years at the Mount in an era when girls’ crew was shuddered at.
“It was kind of frowned upon as not being a lady-like sport,” she says. “We were the minority down there and that only made it more appealing because girls weren’t supposed to do it.”
Heading down West River Drive nowadays, it’s not uncommon to find as many girls rowing as boys. If you again look closely, you might find Emma Brown sitting in the sixth seat of the Mount’s second eight.
Though the Schuylkill runs southeast from the Appalachian Mountains to Philadelphia, the Browns’ story on the river has come full circle.
Once a highly athletic girl focused on soccer, basketball and lacrosse, Emma Brown is now hooked on crew, just like mom was years ago. But the Mount program she rows for and the culture surrounding girls’ crew as a whole are miles away from what her mother dealt with.
In the late 70’s, the Mount only rowed against a handful of other teams. The program operated out of the dilapidated Crescent Boat Club and was financed solely by fundraisers that the girls held.
By the early 1980’s, after Clare Brown’s graduation in 1978, the program had folded. She was unaware that her old team had sunk, as she was in the midst of her own collegiate rowing career at La Salle. She transferred there after her sophomore year at Chestnut Hill College because the small Catholic college didn’t have a crew program.
While rowing at La Salle, Brown was on the front line of the growth of women’s crew. Many people weren’t exactly welcoming. Brown and her teammates were purposely locked out of the heated portion of Malta Boat Club and weren’t allowed to use the bathrooms because some members didn’t want them there. They would sneak into the Vesper Boat Club to use its facilities and then go about their business.
“It was sad, but it was funny, because we were being adventurous,” she says. “We thought we were being some big pioneers.”
Following college, Clare went on to marry Tim Brown, a former La Salle rower himself. Down the line, Emma came into the picture.
Though both her parents rowed, Emma wasn’t particularly interested.
“In seventh and eighth grade, my mom would bring me down to the races and talk about her experiences in crew,” she recalls. “I didn’t really think I was going to do it.”
Once high school rolled around, the Mount was Emma’s choice. At the time, the school’s crew program was not only back, but it was growing into a powerhouse. The reincarnation came in the winter of 2000.
One day prior to Emma’s freshman year, a letter arrived at the Brown household. Two weeks before school began, a camp for incoming freshmen interested in crew would be held in Conshohocken.
Emma felt obliged.
“I did the camp just to make my mom happy, but when I got into the boat, I loved the feeling,” Emma says. “I just liked gliding on the water. It’s an indescribable feeling. It was really cool.”
When Clare Brown brought Emma to the river that day, she found a program that bared little resemblance to the one she left behind.
“There was an undeniable excitement down there,” she says. “I looked around and couldn’t believe it. All the older girls were showing the younger girls the boats and showing them how to do everything. It was amazing.”
Now led by head coach Megan Kennedy and assistant Mike McKenna, among others, the Mount crew program operates out of Whitemarsh Boat Club. The building comes complete with bathrooms, heated rooms and a second floor filled with ergs.
On race day, when Clare Brown stands along the banks of the Schuylkill, she still stirs. But it’s not the view of the boathouses that rouses her.
“Butterflies don’t even describe it,” she says. “When I see her in that boat — it’s the tension and the excitement — I know what she’s feeling. There is a huge sense of pride there. I’m proud of the program and of her. She’s one of the captains this year and I was a captain when I was a senior at the Mount. We have that connection and it’s just great.”
Apparently, the straight Schuylkill comes together at the end.
Brendan F. Quinn can be reached at bquinn@thebulletin.us
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