Historic Rutherford rowing club makes its pitch to newcomers on National Learn to Row Day
Rutherford's Nereid Boat Club, among the country's oldest rowing organizations, pulled out all the stops for Saturday's National Learn to Row Day, as it welcomed scores of new rowers to its picturesque boathouse nestled along the banks of the Passaic River.
In preparation, it galvanized scores of its adult members and its burgeoning high school program, who in turn invited their peers to check out the high-energy, low-impact sport.
"Every year it is growing bigger and bigger," said Nereid Director Zach Spitzer. "In New Jersey it is growing rapidly."
Spitzer, a former rower at Syracuse University, said that when he was in high school there were about 400 high school programs nationwide. Today there are over a thousand, he said.
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Not that Nereid is new: The club was incorporated in 1868.
Since its founding, it has been located in a few spots along the river. In 1962, its boathouse in Belleville burned down, leaving the club essentially defunct for almost 30 years.
In the 1990s, however, the son of a former club member, along with other rowing enthusiasts, resurrected the club in Rutherford, and with the help of the borough acquired a house in severe disrepair to be used as a boathouse.
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The club, members say, has been on the upswing since, with a renovation of the boathouse in 2012 and the creation of a boat launch for the public.
Most recently. in August 2020, Spitzer and his wife, Jessica Eiffert-Spitzer, were hired to boost the program.
Despite COVID, or perhaps because of it, the program has grown from a few dozen athletes to more than 90. The adult program has experienced similar growth.
The pandemic, Spitzer added, may have helped, because the activity doesn't require masks, the kids were outdoors and the Wi-Fi-equipped boathouse allowed parents already working remotely to do so while their kids were practicing.
Ultimately the goal is to become the top club in the Northeast. Spitzer said this is measured both by success in competition (Nereid is sending four boats to the nationals in Sarasota, Florida, this week) and by individual success of its members. The latter is measured by how well members set and achieve their goals.
"Rowing is the best sport to test someone's character and drive," Spitzer said. "You truly get out what you put in, and there is no faking it."
The kids and adults are buying into it.
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For Hawthorne's Leslie Rudolph, her son, Kurt, a high school senior, and her daughter, Kate, a sophomore, are attending the nationals this week.
"He's found his passion," she said, adding that he's going to row for La Salle University.
Ditto, said Boris Raginsky, whose son Dave has taken a shine to the sport.
As part of National Learn to Row Day, Spitzer asked members to bring a friend. Dave brought his buddy Eric Zaster. They both live in Livingston.
Zaster said he liked what he saw but it may ultimately come down to what his parents think.
Boris Raginsky said that's entirely understandable. It is a huge time commitment: four hours a day — two hours of driving and two hours of practice — six days a week.
As a parent, he said it is worthwhile.
"He gets home at seven and has learned to manage his time," he said.
Former club President Glenn Gero, who has been involved for 25 years, also brought along a friend, his childhood buddy Neil Salka. Both grew up in Fair Lawn.
Rowing works the whole body, he said, and yet is low impact.
Salka, who labored under the attention of the myriad of Nereid rowers on hand, agreed that it promises to be a fine workout. Unfortunately, for him, New City is quite "the schlep."
For Tenafly's Laura Iwanski, rowing was the perfect sport for her son Max, who will be rowing in the same boat as Kurt Rudolph this week.
"What makes this team unlike no other are the kids, who walk in without experience or ego," Iwanski said. "They learn to eat well, work out, treat others with respect."
Nereid is not the only rowing organization in this region.
Just down the Passaic in Lyndhurst is the Passaic River Rowers Association, and in Greenwood Lake, New York, is the East Arm Rowing Club. In West Milford, there's the Advanced Community Rowing Association, and in Mount Arlington, Row New Jersey.
Matt Fagan is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: fagan@northjersey.com
Twitter: @fagan_nj
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutherford NJ boat club celebrates National Learn to Row Day
