Feb 5 2024 Update: RFN Reflections Episode #1, Connor’s Erg Challenge, and Biathlon Announcement!

Dear Marist Rowing Alumni, Family, and Friends,

               Welcome to February! It’s been an exceptionally warm winter. The team is watching the forecast with great anticipation and with several extremely warm days on the horizon and no ice currently on the mighty Hudson we’re hoping for a very early docks-in date this spring. In the mean time, winter training is in full swing and I am excited this week to bring you TWO of our biggest winter fixtures as we celebrate the sheer quantity and intensity of work that gets done here in the sweat lodge and some of the things that make a winter campaign so unique and special here in Poughkeepsie. I have FOUR important but quick items for you this Monday.

Giving Day Reminder:

               I wanted to remind everyone to set your calendar and also text your buddies and crew mates and remind them to set their calendars for MARCH 20th 2024 which is our first ever campus wide Marist giving day and will serve as our primary giving day for the Red Fox Navy for 2024. This marks the first time that the college as a whole has marked a specific giving day AND the first time that the rowing teams will have the opportunity to campaign alongside the rest of the campus community AND in direct competition with our fellow teams in athletics. The next month you will begin to hear from many of our alumni, parents, and current athletes about their experiences with the team as we prepare for our biggest giving day ever!

Marist Red Fox Navy Reflections Podcast:

               This month we filmed our first ever podcast of the new “Red Fox Navy Reflections”. I want to thank our inaugural guests, fomer head coach ’07-’12 and class of ’04 alumn Sean Clarke and his fellow classmate and teammate Andy Grzybowski. We are hoping to film these monthly and get an opportunity to hear from every generation of Marist oarsmen about their experiences on the Hudson and how rowing at Marist has transformed their lives. This week’s episode can be viewed on our website at this link:

https://rowmarist.com/red-fox-navy-reflections-podcast

Marist Rowing Competes in Connor’s Erg Challenge 2024

This Friday the Marist Men and Women will once again be competing in the annual Connor’s Erg Challenge. Connor’s Erg is an annual virtual erg race challenge and fund raiser and put on by the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation. Robert was a young athlete from Australia who was recruited by several major american university teams and tragically passed away before attending as a result of pediatric brain cancer, the leading disease related cause of death among young people. Funds raised by the RCD foundation go directly to support research on pediatric brain cancer. The race itself is a full team relay event where the crew will complete 100km split among 5 ergs and 25 athletes. Marist has broken the record in the event several times in the past 5 years with average splits well under 1:30 and we are the current record holder. The team is proud to support the event again in 2024 and will have 100% participation from the student athletes and coaches. We want to challenge all of our alumni and parents to join us in donating $20 to a good cause this february and help us support the RCD in the fight against prediatric brain cancer. The team will be posting some live and taped video of the action on Friday morning as we complete the challenge alongside the Marist Women’s Crew! A link to donate through our team page is right here:

https://www.connorserg.com/fundraisers/MaristCollegeMensRowing99

Marist Men’s Biathlon Superbowl Sunday Special

This weekend marks, once again, the extremely famous and well known Marist Men’s Rowing Annual Biathlon ( A Tradition Unlike Any Other TM). As has become a team tradition over the last several iterations we will be conducting the race on the morning of Super Bowl Sunday. We will once again be planning to televise the event on Sunday so you can catch all the action on the ergometer and on the road. Conditions are looking to be more than ideal with temps well into the 40’s so it could be a year for some broken records. With some of the bigger ergs genuiniely training for the run this year and several new run specialists coming out the freshman class, it could be a fascinating year as well as an opportunity for Team Captain Gavin Crouch to go out on top with a repeat win. We’ll be reaching out with links to our stream in the next few days

Wrap Up/ TLDR

1)     Mark your calendar for March 20th Giving Day and tell your buds

2)     Check out the new Marist Red Fox Navy Reflections on our website and Youtube

3)     Join the Team in supporting the RCD foundation as we prep for the Connor’s Erg Challenge this Friday

4)     Get tail-gate snacks ready for the Annual Biathlon this Sunday!

Have a great week and Go Red Foxes!