Philadelphia’s Rowing History – and My Own – Is At Stake in the Dredging Project
I grew up in Miquon along the Schuylkill River and started rowing in order to meet with my friend, Hope, who lived across the river on the other side. I would pick her up in the wooden boat built for me by my Dad, and then row us back across the river where we searched existing dams on the creeks near my house and collected shiny rocks that we searched for embedded garnets.
I started rowing seriously in 1959 when I was 19 years old. I joined the Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club and I’ve been involved with rowing and Boathouse Row ever since, and successfully worked to make rowing an Olympic sport for women. I recently became intrigued with the dredging project, so named because it is designed to dredge the bottom of the Schuylkill River and ensure the river`s prime condition for rowing.
By the time I arrived on the scene, the dredging project had become a big problem. Accusations about nondisclosed information were being made, law suits and insurance claims had been filed, concerns about using union or non-union labor had been aired, and the Army Corps was looking for a second company to finish the project.
In my personal view, an essential element of my hometown of Philadelphia is best captured in the spectacle of men and women rowing on the Schuylkill. They are not idly paddling around a city pond – they are athletes who take to the river to hone their skills and compete, and they are also recreational rowers dedicated to the sport and the comradery and exercise that come with it. They deserve to continue to row in a clean and fair water environment where all lanes are the same depth.
Furthermore, a well-maintained river plays an important part in the annual Dad Vail Regatta, Head of the Schuylkill and other major regattas currently hosted in Philadelphia. We recognize that without a properly dredged river, Philadelphia stands to certainly lose the opportunity to host these regattas.
I now understand that despite earlier mistakes being made, the important players have reached an amicable solution and the long-awaited dredging project has begun. Too, additional funds have been added to the project. I whole-heartedly support these efforts by the Schuylkill Navy, the Boathouse Row/Regatta leaders, the City of Philadelphia, USACE and the Army Corps because we are all are rowers at heart who believe that the project should go forward.
A very important part of Philadelphia’s history – and my own – is at stake here. Let’s get this done.
* Philadelphia businesswoman Joanne Wright Iverson is a former champion rower and rowing coach who has been a fixture on Boathouse Row for over six decades. Her story is told in An Obsession with Rings: How Rowing Became an Olympic Sport for Women in the United States, by Iverson with Margaret O. Kirk.