Oct. 8, 2009

UMass Lowell senior Dan Brooks would have been happy with a solid race.

His experience rowing a single shell was limited – at best. And his first spin on the Merrimack River three weeks ago resulted in an expected and embarrassing tumble into the water.

It’s all part of learning and the water apparently had little effect on his determination to improve because Brooks climbed back into his boat and set about getting ready to compete in his first ever singles race.

Sunday, Brooks set the tone for UMass Lowell rowing this season, walking away with a gold medal in the Club Single event of the Textile River Regatta, defeating Boston’s Riverside Rowing Club’s Brian Klein by over 17 seconds.

Brooks covered the 2.4-mile course in 17:03 to Klein’s 17:21.

“I brush things off easier than I used to,” Brooks said. “I felt like an idiot when I went in of course. But, I got right back in and the next day I went out again and worked on what needed to be fixed.

“Before the race, I didn’t want to have too high expectations because I had never been in a singles race before," Brooks added. "But I am very happy with the result.”

The win by Brooks set the pace for the opening fall race of the still evolving UMass Lowell men’s and women’s rowing teams.

Brooks later helped lead the River Hawks’ Open Men’s Four to a 12th place finish in a field of 26 boats.

In all, five boats competed and turned in competitive performances in what is now the largest single day, fall regatta in the country. With crews comprised largely of novice and freshman students, the River Hawk men and women finished second among college Men’s Novice Eight; 9th out of 22 boats in the Open Women’s four; and fifth in the Novice Women’s Eight.

In addition, the fundraising efforts by the River Hawk crews resulted in more than $9,000, money needed to help put the crews in competitive equipment. The event was hosted by the Merrimack Rowing Club and Lowell High School Crew, in conjunction with UMass Lowell.

“All around it was a solid showing by the UMass Lowell team,” said Head Rowing Coach Veronika Platzer. “The best thing about our performance is it reflects the dramatic evolvement in the resurrection of the UMass Lowell program in getting it back to it’s former years when it was a top program.

“We’ve more than doubled the number on entries in this regatta from last fall and we raced completely," Platzer added. "We had solid finishes in nearly all of our races and won one event. We’re moving in the right direction.

“All across the board, it had UMass Lowell rowing written on it from novice to varsity and there was great integrity in everything they did.”

The River Hawks will next see action this Saturday at the New Hampshire Championships.