PRINCETON, N.J. - USRowing is pleased to announce the winners of its 2010 Annual Awards, the organization announced on Thursday.
This year's recipients of the USRowing Medal, John J. Carlin Service Award, Clayton W. Chapman Award, Ernestine Bayer Award, Man of the Year Award, Jack Franklin Service Award and Joan Zandbergen "Mama Z" Award will be honored, along with the USRowing Athletes of the Year, on December 3 at the USRowing Annual Awards Reception in Tampa, Fla. USRowing would like to congratulate all of the award winners and thank them for their contributions to the sport.
Given to a member of the rowing community in the U.S. who has rendered conspicuous service to or accomplished extraordinary feats in rowing, the highest honor USRowing can bestow is the USRowing Medal. This year's recipient is Frank Cunningham. Cunningham began rowing in 1937 at Noble and Greenough School before heading to Harvard University. At Harvard, he was the stroke and captain of the undefeated freshman lightweight crew in 1941 and undefeated junior varsity lightweight boat in 1942. In 1947, he stroked the Harvard varsity eight to eastern and national championships, setting a world-record for 2,000 meters. Cunningham and his boatmates were ultimately inducted into the Rowing Hall of Fame in 1975. Cunningham began coaching in 1948 when he joined Seattle Junior Crew in its inaugural summer and coached there until 1968. He then coached the Lakeside School rowing program from 1968-1980 before heading to Lake Washington Rowing Club, where he continues today. Cunningham has had numerous athletes go on to national and international success including 1984 Olympians John Bigelow and Paul Enquist, as well as 1988 Olympian Sherri Cassuto.
The John J. Carlin Service Award is given to an individual who has made significant and outstanding commitments in support of rowing. This year's winner is Albin Moser. A 1967 graduate of Brown University, Moser is a member of the Brown Athletic Hall of Fame for crew and was a member of the school's all-decade football team (1960s) as a center. Moser served as Brown's men's freshman coach from 1970-74 and 1977-81. In 1971, he started a schoolboy sculling program at Narragansett Boat Club in Providence, R.I. This quickly became a program for boys, girls and adults of all ages. Over nearly four decades, the club has introduced thousands to sculling and continues to do so today. In 2002 after retiring from his career as an educator, Moser returned to Narragansett as director of rowing and expanded the program. Moser has developed numerous junior regional and national champions, as well as junior national team athletes. He has been an active referee since 1983. Over the past seven years, he has developed the St. Mary Academy - Bay View Crew program.
USRowing presents the Clayton W. Chapman Award annually to an individual who best emulates Mr. Chapman's 30-year stewardship of the Eastern Sprints and IRA Championship Regattas, someone who has consistently served in a behind-the-scenes administrative role that has previously gone unrecognized. This year's winner is Jack St. Clair. This year marks St. Clair's 22nd season coaching the Villanova University rowing team. He headed up the men's team for six seasons, took a brief hiatus, and returned in 1995 to coach the women. In 1998, the Villanova lightweights were ranked No. 1 in the country, delivering Villanova women's rowing its first national championship. In 1999 and 2000, the women's varsity heavyweight eight won Dad Vail titles, and the Wildcats finished second in the varsity eight in 1998, 2004 and 2005. In 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2002, the Wildcats won the team title at the Dad Vail Regatta. For more than a decade, St. Clair has organized the Knecht Cup. The regatta attracts more than 50 collegiate schools from throughout the United States and has become one of the largest collegiate regattas in the country. He also has coordinated the Main Line Slide Philadelphia Indoor Rowing Championships, providing junior, collegiate, masters and veteran athletes with a land-training incentive and opportunity to qualify for the C.R.A.S.H-B. Sprints. In 2009, St. Clair hosted the NCAA Championships on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J. A two-time U.S. National Team member, St. Clair won a silver medal at the 1975 Pan American Games and competed in the 1975 and 1977 World Rowing Championships. He has served as president of Vesper Boat Club and served on the board of directors at Vesper for many years. He also served as vice commodore of Philadelphia's Schuylkill Navy.
Formerly known as the Woman of the Year Award, the Ernestine Bayer Award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to women's rowing and/or to an outstanding woman in rowing. This year's recipient is Joanne Wright Iverson. The current president of Vesper Boat Club and co-founder of the National Women's Rowing Association, Iverson was one of the driving forces behind the addition of women's rowing to the Olympic Games, efforts she described in her 2009 book, An Obsession With Rings. She was the first coach of women's rowing at the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the initial United States Women's Olympic Rowing Committee and an appointee to President Gerald Ford's Commission on Olympic Sports, serving with Rafer Johnson on the rowing subcommittee. She managed the first U.S. Women's Rowing Team at the world championships in Moscow, as well as the first U.S. Olympic Women's Rowing Team in Montreal. In 2007, she was inducted into the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Women's Rowing Hall of Fame. Iverson is the founder and president of two technology firms, Iverson Associates and Iverson Gaming Systems.
The Man of the Year Award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to men's rowing and/or to an outstanding man in rowing. This year's recipient is Bill Engeman. Considered the father of rowing in Cincinnati, Engeman began rowing at Washington-Lee High School in 1956. He rowed at Brown University from 1957-1961 and was captain of the first Brown University varsity crew, eventually becoming the first oarsman to be inducted into Brown's Athletic Hall of Fame. When Cincinnati developed a rowable lake at East Fork State Park in 1982, Engeman made it his lifelong passion to bring the sport to the city. He developed the many rowing programs, boathouses and facilities with his friends and fellow Cincinnati sports lovers. His work promoting the sport through 15 National Collegiate Rowing Championships was recognized in 1998 when he was admitted as a patron into the National Rowing Hall of Fame. Engeman has spent nearly 30 years as a trustee for the National Rowing Foundation. Over the past couple of years, Engeman has dedicated his time to helping the Iraqi Rowing Federation and its athletes. Engeman organized a coaching trip to Iraq earlier this year and was the driving force in bringing the Iraq National Team to the United States for a training and cultural exchange trip this past fall.
The Jack Franklin Service Award is given to a referee for his or her lifetime contribution to the sport. This year's recipient is Tom Lotz. A graduate of Syracuse University and a participant at the 1956 Olympic Trials, Lotz has been a licensed referee since 1990. Over the years, Lotz has served as the Southeast regional representative to the USRowing Referee Committee, chair of the USRowing Referee Committee and as an instructor at the USRowing Referee College. He has coordinated numerous programs that have increased the number of new referees in the Southeast region and developed a core of referees in Texas that are self-sufficient for area regattas. Lotz has refereed at 20 IRA Regattas and has served as the lead umpire at the Head of the Charles. He is a founding member of the Bay Area Rowing Club of Houston and was the sports director for the Houston 2012 Foundation, which prepared Houston's bid for the 2012 Olympics. In 2002, he was honored with Syracuse University's Varsity Club Letterwinner of Distinction. Lotz is a retired lieutenant colonel in the US Army with 24 years of service.
The Joan Zandbergen "Mama Z" Award for Sustained Superior Performance recognizes an official who has stood apart from the rest of his or her peers for a period of three to 10 years. This year's award goes to Dave Hayes. In the spring of 2005, Hayes was recruited to the referee corps and he became an assistant referee in 2006. Hayes has worked at several championship regattas including the USRowing National Championships, USRowing Youth National Championships and the NCAA Championships. He has also worked at the San Diego Crew Classic since 2005 and will serve as the assistant chief in 2011. Hayes was introduced to the sport of rowing in 2000 through a learn-to-row program.
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