The St. Joe’s men’s and women’s rowing teams have been severely impacted by the recent flooding in Philadelphia and the surrounding area.
On Sept. 1, Hurricane Ida struck the East coast and the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The Schuylkill crested at 16.35 feet, about a foot-and-a-half short of the previous record of 17 feet in 1869. The Robert M. Gillen, Jr. Boathouse, shared by St. Joe’s and St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, lies just south of the Strawberry Mansion Bridge on the shores of the Schuylkill.
While flooding is not unprecedented in the boathouse, a flood of this magnitude has never happened, according to Head Women’s Rowing Coach Gerry Quinlan.
“This was the worst flood ever for us,” Quinlan said. “The water level for the previous contender was about four feet in the boat bay. This one was about eight and a half feet.”
Graduate student Corinne O’Neill, who is on the rowing team and lives in Manayunk, decided to bike to the boathouse after the flooding to survey the scene. Upon arriving at the boathouse, O’Neill said she felt like she was in a “zombie apocalypse.”
“There was no one out [on the river], there was dust everywhere and dead fish all over,” O’Neill said.
The team takes measures to protect their boats and electronic equipment if a torrential storm is in the forecast, according to junior captain Aislinn O’Brien.
“We moved some of the boats from lower racks to higher ones,” O’Brien said. “But [we didn’t know] what was coming.”
Quinlan said that a few of the rowing boats, or shells, will have to be replaced and three motor boats, or launches, washed up on properties along the Delaware River. However, the team’s most extensive issue is that the team lost its dock.
“It’s a five foot drop off into the river, so we need to have a ramp and a dock so we can actually launch our boats,” Quinlan said.
The cost of a new dock is close to $500,000, according to Quinlan. He said that it could be funded by the Philadelphia Parks Department, which is applying for FEMA aid in the aftermath of the flooding.
“[The Philadelphia Parks Department] handles a lot of the river infrastructure in the city,” Quinlan said. “They’re spearheading a FEMA claim for federal assistance and the dock could be a part of that. They’re in tune to what we need.”
The team has been practicing on land since the flooding, using rowing machines, or ergs, to do test pieces and keep up fitness levels. Senior captain Molly Duncan said that the team is used to being adaptable.
“We learned the same kind of lesson last year with Covid,” Duncan said. “Our team has had to learn to go with the flow with whatever is thrown at us.”
When St. Joe’s is back in the water, which Duncan said should be within the next week, the team will temporarily share a dock with other Philadelphia college rowing programs.
According to O’Neill, it’s possible to endure a seemingly detrimental situation if the rowing community sticks together.
“It’s nice to see the camaraderie between the teams and coaches,” O’Neill said. “I think it will be manageable if we just keep helping each other out.”
