Team History
Chuck Crawford started Delaware men’s crew team in the spring of 1991. While simultaneously coaching the women’s program, which had its inaugural season the year before, Chuck spent the first year teaching the all-novice athletes the basic techniques of rowing. The following year the men’s team started racing other schools and competed for the first time at the Dad Vail regatta in Philadelphia.
Starting with about 20 athletes the first year and 30 the second, the team steadily grew during the nineties and continued to add to its list of accomplishments. Chuck and his coaching staff continued to follow the “Sprints Style” of building a program by concentrating on fielding both competitive Varsity and Novice boats, rather than combining the two.
In the early nineties, the Dad Vail was the only collegiate championship regatta for clubs who were not invited to Eastern Sprints. In 1992, Chuck guided his crew in their first competitive season to a second place finish to the University of Massachusetts at Dad Vails in what was then called the O’Brien Cup.
By 1996 the team consistently had at least four competitive eights at both the Varsity and freshman levels, and continued to improve its finishes at regattas. That year Delaware’s Varsity Eight finished second at Dad Vails to Temple.
Chuck left the program from 1997-2000 to return to coach at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia. During this time, coaches Frank Skomorucha and Nate Clark headed the program.
With coaching support from John Williams, Chuck returned to Delaware Crew in 2001. Without the ability to give the scholarships needed to attract heavyweight high school recruits, Chuck decided to concentrate building a lightweight program because the team would be able to compete on a level playing field and better develop as a whole around that category.
By 2003, Delaware lights had become a highly competitive crew. With the Varsity boat containing two future national team members, Evan Price and Ivan Baldytchev, Delaware won the Dad Vail lightweight event and finished sixth at IRAs, knocking off the past year’s winner, Yale.
With financial assistance from the Dad Vail committee and The University of Delaware Alumni Association, in 2003 Delaware was able to travel to England to compete in the Henley Royal Regatta. After advancing to the second day by beating Trinity College – Dublin, Delaware lost by a length to eventual Temple Cup champions Oxford Brooks.
With the credibility established by the ’03 lightweights, Delaware began to recruit even more lightweight rowers from high school and began to enlist heavyweight rowers who wanted to row for the program. To satisfy the growing size of the program, Chuck brought in coaches Vince Puma to coach the freshman lightweights, Joe Kleiman to coach the freshman heavyweights, and Andy Belden to coach the Varsity lightweights.
As Delaware Crew continues to grow in size and increase its level of competition, the team is grateful to receive increasing support from its coaching staff, parents, and other donors of time and money who wish to help the team.
National Team Members
Chuck Crawford - 1967 Junior World Rowing Championship - Men's Junior Eight - 7th, 1968 Junior World Rowing Championship - Men's Junior Eight - 3rd, 1972 World Rowing Championship - Men'sLightweight Eight - 1st, 1980 Junior World Rowing Championship - Men's Junior Eight Coach - 9th, 1982 Junior World Rowing Championship - Men's Junior Eight Coach - 2nd, 1983 Pan American Games - Men's Pair with Coxswain Coach - 2nd; Men's Pair without Coxswain Coach - 3rd, 1991 Pan American Games - Men's Four with Coxswain Coach - 2nd; Men's Four without Coxswain Coach - 2nd, U.D. Head Coach 1991-1996; 2001-Present
Thomas Ellis - U.D. Assistant Coach 1992-1996, 1984 World Rowing Championship - Men's Lightweight Eight - 5th
Vincent Puma - U.D. Freshmen/Novice Lightweight Coach 2004-2007,
2004 World Rowing Championship - Men's Pair with Coxswain - 8th, 2006 World Rowing Championship - Men's Pair with Coxswain - 4th
Evan Price - U.D. Lightweight Rower 2000-2004, 2006 World Rowing Championship - Men's Lightweight Quad - 5th
Ivan Baldychev - U.D. Lightweight Rower 2002-2006, 2007 World Rowing Championship - Men's Lightweight Single - 6th
Coaching Timeline
| Head Coach | Assistant Coach | |
| 1991 – 1996 | ||
Chuck Crawford |
Tom Ellis (1991 – 1996) | |
| Mami Galloway (1992 – 1993) | ||
| Karen Klinger (1992 – 1993) | ||
| Amanda Wemple Kulka (1995 – 1996) | ||
| 1996 – 1999 | ||
Frank Skomorucha |
Mike Keenan (1996 – 2000) | |
| Nate Clark (1996 – 1999) | ||
| 1999 – 2000 | ||
Nate Clark |
Mike Keenan (1996 – 2000) | |
| 2001 – Present | ||
Chuck Crawford |
John Williams (2001 – Present) | |
| Chris Gorzinski (2002 – 2004) | ||
| John Heinzel (2002 – 2004) | ||
| Jon Heimal (2003 – 2005) | ||
| Sara McCloskey (2003 – 2004) | ||
| Vincent Puma (2003 – 2007) | ||
| Rob Colburn (2003 – 2007) | ||
| Alex Urbanik (2004 – 2005) | ||
| Rebecca Ivory (2005 – 2006) | ||
| Joseph Kleiman (2005 – Present) | ||
| Andrew Belden (2006 – 2008) | ||
| Joseph Federici (2008 – Present) | ||
| Peter Seymour (2008 – Present) | ||
| Phillip Kleiman (2008 – Present) | ||