Radnor Crew Ends A Successful Run

None of them really had an idea what crew entailed. To most of them four years ago, rowing competitively was a curiosity, something to try, something friends did that coerced some into trying. Now it’s created memories for a lifetime.

The heavyweight eight concluded an amazing season on Saturday, a year in which they won the prestigious Stotesbury Regatta and concluded with a second place finish at Scholastic Rowing Association of America nationals on Saturday on the Schuylkill River.

Seniors Chandler Lally, Alli Webster, Sophia Blair, Hannah Edelemann, Lexie Katz, and juniors Kendall Chapin, Kirsten Fitch and Emma Burke, and sophomore coxswain Sophie Saude created a foundation for a program that’s grown considerably under Megan Biging.

It’s led to rowing beyond high school for Lally and Katz, who will both row at Virginia, Blair, who’s headed to Duke on a crew scholarship, and Webster, who will row at Cornell.

Blair gravitated toward crew through Webster. They both started freshmen year, and forged a camaraderie with all of them that they’ll take beyond high school.

“I fell in love with rowing after my freshman year and I gave myself to rowing,” Blair said. “All I’ve done is rowing. It’s taken me very far. It was disappointing we came in second at nationals, but I have no regrets. When we were pulling into the dock, we were all crying, because that was the last time we’d row together. That was the end of high school rowing.”

Biging has been associated with the Radnor club for four years, and been the head coach of the varsity program the last two years. It was Biging that introduced the sport to the middle schools in the Radnor area, and a crop of stellar rowers were
developed. Philadelphia is a rowing mecca, but crew is a sport that’s “I’ll-try-kind-of-sport,” as Biging puts it. She set up a team tables at winter fests for prospective incoming freshmen at Radnor.

“There is a lot of training that goes into it, technique is very important, and stereotypically, we look for tall kids,” Biging said. “We have a few girls who are 5-foot-6 and 115 pounds, and they’re also very good. Kirsten and Hannah might not be as tall as your typical heavyweight rower, but they’re 115 pounds and very powerful. They make our boat go just as fast.

“We’ve had tons of people quit. These girls stuck it out. They spent a lot of time together, and in crew, you have to invest a lot of time into it. These girls bought in and got repaid for it. I’ll miss these girls. This group has come a very long way in a short period of time.”

Above everything, Webster won’t forget the friendships she made.

“It’s been the greatest season and the greatest four years; it’s kind of overwhelming, because it’s changed all of our lives so much,” Webster said. “Crew in general such a character-building sport. Winning the Stotesbury was the best day of my life. There are no regrets there at nationals. We were crying when we got back in, but not because we got second, but because it was out last race together.”