U.S. national team members make a splash on Day 1 of the Stotesbury Club Regatta

Nothing ignites greater motivation for a high school athlete more than connecting with world-class athletes and competing in front of them. It offers some perspective of what they’re striving for.

Three professional rowers who have competed as members of the U.S. national team were recognized on the finish-line dock beside the grandstands Friday during Day 1 of the Stotesbury Cup Regatta on the Schuylkill.

Brooke Mooney, Cara Stawicki, and John Tanguay shared the dock for a photo op before heading over to the event sponsor’s tent. There they offered personal tales and sage advice with many of the rowers from 186 participating schools while dodging the afternoon’s periodic rain showers.

“I definitely feel the nostalgia of being back,” said Tanguay, who rowed at Hopewell Valley Central High School in Pennington, N.J. “I didn’t race Stotes, but similar regattas. It’s definitely the excitement and the smell of hot dogs and slushies that brings me back. You don’t get that at the Olympic level.”

Tanguay earned the silver medal last year at the Tokyo Paralympics in the PR3 mixed four with coxswain event with a time of 7 minutes, 20.13 seconds. He also won a silver medal in the same event at the world championships in 2019.

Stawicki, a Lehigh alum from Wall (N.J.) High School, was a world championships gold medalist in 2019 in the lightweight pair event. Her advice to the next generation of rowers is simply to believe in themselves and that maybe the presence of athletes who have competed at the highest level can plant a seed of self-belief.

All three athletes felt small doses of fame during Friday’s regatta. Participants noticing their Team USA regalia stopped them on the Kelly Drive walkway for a picture or just to introduce themselves.

“I’m realizing how much it means to them,” said Mooney, who was on the U.S. team that finished fourth in the women’s eight in the Tokyo Olympics last year. She also also coaches at the Hun School of Princeton. “It’s cool to see that all these younger athletes are looking up to us. I’m just excited to be here so I can talk to them and answer questions about rowing. See if we can get them excited.”

Mooney, a Washington graduate, also claims the fastest 2-kilometer time for a female on an indoor rowing machine. Mooney’s 6:21.1 time from March 25, 2021, beat the previous record by 1.7 seconds.

The murky, dark stream of the Schuylkill has been a docking point for each of those three world-class athletes at some point in their careers.

Mooney was at the Independence Day Regatta in 2016 in her early days of competitive rowing. Stawicki has trained on the racecourse for more than 15 years, and now is with the Whitemarsh Boat Club. And Tanguay — who swears the Schuylkill toughens its rowers — has competed in the sweltering heat of multiple Independence Day regattas.

Thunderstorms halted the afternoon action Friday. A midday storm that continued sporadically into the early evening impacted the semifinals schedule — some being canceled and others postponed.

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Before the rowing commenced, a Tri-State Toyota Dealers representative presented the Schuylkill Navy with a $30,000 donation. The funds will be put toward improving Philadelphia’s historic rowing venue. The Phillie Phanatic made a cameo appearance during the presentation.

“Toyota and their dealers have been amazing partners to us,” said Bonnie Mueller, commodore of the Schuylkill Navy. “It’s not easy to do what you do, it requires an army of resilience pushing through adversities like a pandemic, drudging, or weather events. None of that is possible to do alone. Even if you’re rowing single, you can’t do it alone.”