The current Shocker Rowing boathouse is located on the riverfront of McLean Boulevard. However, during its 50 years as a program, the team has called many places its home.
“The very first one when I was rowing was an abandoned laundry building that was at the corner of Murdock and Wichita Street,” former rower Don Wadsworth said. “So we had to walk across Waco and Murdock and carry down the boat to the little river by Murdock there.”
Wadsworth joined the program in 1976, the second year of its existence. One of his teammates was Fran Engelcke (then Fran King).
“You just saw women taking four oars at a time,” Engelcke said. “You wouldn’t be carrying four wooden oars at a time. Very heavy, very old equipment. It was hard, we were a club at the time. It was the first year for real Title IX, so they had to have a women’s boat to have a men’s team.”
Engelcke admitted that the boat the women rowed in was likely not up to competitive parameters, but they turned a blind eye because they wanted to row.
“The technology either helps keep you safe or helps you stay competitive,” said Calvin Cupp, WSU’s current head rowing coach. “But you know, rowing is still about the people in the boat, whether the boat is made out of carbon fiber or Kevlar or some combination.”
The technology has changed since Engelcke has rowed with newer, lighter materials. Because the team has resided at the current boathouse since 2018, they no longer have to transport their boats to the river.
The Wichita State rowing team celebrated its half-century anniversary over the weekend with an alumni rowing session, cocktail reception, dedication and the annual Plains Regional Regatta.
Alumni event
Alumni and current rowers had an alumni rowing session on Saturday. Former and current rowers took to the water to celebrate the 50th anniversary.
“I’m only 21, so I can’t even fathom 50 years,” junior Cassidy Barr said. “1975, when it started, and all these people who rowed before I was even born. It just goes to show that it’s a timeless sport that keeps upgrading and updating as time goes on.”
Cupp has been a mainstay for half of the program’s existence. Along with celebrating the program’s 50th anniversary, he celebrated his own milestone of 25 years, during which he oversaw the program’s expansion.
“As an institution, I believe that we have an important role to help make our community better,” Cupp said. “I think us being downtown in the heart of the city, having boats and bikes, having events, (and) having community engagement opportunities such as smores and oars.
“We’re a lot more than Shocker Rowing, which is probably the biggest change that we’ve made since I started. Because before we were just an intercollegiate program, and now we are a very dynamic program that impacts our community and our campus community, not just the students who are rowing.”
The team has launched environmental initiatives, including their partnerships with Wichita Clean Streams and the Arkansas River coalition.
“Our river is one of our great natural resources in our community,” Cupp said. “We want people not just to take care of it. We want people to utilize it … We host clinics and give lessons and special events, and all of those draw people to the downtown area. And so in a real way, we’re not just in town. We are interacting in town, we are trying to contribute and add to our community in a real way.”.
Cupp said the partnerships with the local community have improved not only within the community, but also the program itself. Their sponsor, BG Products, even allowed them to use their warehouse as a home.
Staying in touch with the local community was also important long ago during Engelcke’s time at the program.
“I think we had eight boats for the whole crew,” Engelcke said. “We were under the auspice of the Wichita Rowing Association at the time, they were generous.”
Cupp hopes to see the program remain alive for its 75th anniversary. Whether he’ll still be in the boathouse is to be determined, but he admitted he takes it “one day at a time.”
“I love what I do, and I feel lucky most days to get to do it,” Cupp said. “My whole goal is just to try to make sure, and it’s the same thing I said when I was hired, and I said, ‘I want the program to be better when I leave than it was when I got here.’”
