Rockland Rowing Team Makes Waves

How this team of Rockland rowers are working to redefine the sport for the better

Dominican University’s rowing team may be small, but it is quickly making waves. Under the leadership of head coach Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky – a lifelong Rockland County resident and former varsity rower at Cornell – the team has earned competitive success while bringing new energy and perspective to the sport. The men’s and women’s teams practice up to six days a week, and in just a few short years, they have become a strong presence at major collegiate regattas.

Rudolph-Shabinsky, who also serves as President of the Board of Directors for the Rockland Rowing Association, launched the rowing program less than five years ago. At Dominican University, women’s rowing is a NCAA varsity program. The men’s rowing team, though officially classified as a club at the university, competes at the varsity level. Rudolph-Shabinsky says the rowing program’s smaller size is offset by a sharp competitive strategy: focusing on sculling rather than sweep rowing.

In rowing, “sculling” refers to rowers using two oars; sculling boats can hold one, two, or four rowers. “Sweeping” refers to rowers using only one oar; in sweep races, a boat can hold two, four, or eight people.

“We did quite well in sculling events, which is how we’re competing,” Rudolph-Shabinsky said of the Dominican University program’s performance at the Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta. “That is a little bit different than other collegiate rowing programs, as the traditional approach in collegiate rowing in the United States is to row in sweep rowing. I think that’s part of the reason we’ve been successful, because we’re focused on something that’s a little bit different than what the rest of the world has focused on.”

At the Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta, Dominican University rowers won the men’s single, placed second in the women’s single, and came in third in the men’s double – all of which are sculling events.

The team’s training regimen is rigorous, complete with a two-hour morning practice and an approximately 90-minute afternoon practice. Despite or perhaps because of the demanding schedule, the rowers develop rapidly in more ways than one.

“You see the development from year to year for how the rowers not only physically develop, but mentally get tougher, become more committed, and set [their own] goals,” commented Rudolph-Shabinsky.

Another unique aspect of Dominican University’s rowing program is the diversity of the team. “Dominican University is a Hispanic-serving institution. 70% of our students here are racial minorities,” Rudolph-Shabinsky explained. “There’s no other university like this that has a competitive rowing program. And I thought to myself, ‘If I’m going to start a rowing program, wouldn’t it make sense to…expand the sport beyond the borders that it’s been in?’”

Beyond competition, the rowing team has put in the works to help some of the smallest and sickest members of our society.

The team has participated in fundraising for the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, which connects pediatric cancer patients with sports teams for emotional support. The team has expressed plans to “adopt” a child undergoing cancer treatment through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.

Engagement with the foundation was inspired by now-rising sophomore Lily Adkins,  a survivor of childhood brain cancer who now competes on the university’s women’s rowing team.