To the editor:
For those who saw George Clooney’s “Boys in the Boat” at the Bay Theater, remember the 54 Olympic athletes powering 60ft. boats - Ln1: Germany; Ln2: Italy; Ln3: Switzerland; Ln4: Hungary; Ln5: Great Britain; Ln6: USA; then the epic photofi nish that secured GOLD for USA?
Imagine the same boat race, but you’re cheering on your own kids, grandkids, friends, neighbors. Ln1: Germany’s been eliminated by St. Mary’s; Ln2: Suttons Bay; Ln3: Northport; Ln4: Leland; Ln5: Leelanau; Ln6: Glen Lake.
What about boats? High performance rowing equipment can cost $50,000 per crew. So what if - to prepare for such a race - every Leelanau County school and homeschooled received a donation: unlimited use of a team dedicated 60ft. rowing shell and oars?
If such a race were organized this October, would the relatively few students needed to form a team at each school get excited and prepare?
“Girls in the Boat” have favorable odds to save $200,000 in college expenses; recruits from our area already row D1 for Harvard, Georgetown, Cornell, Michigan, MSU, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Louisville and Kansas.
Potentially a windfall for lakeendowed Leelanau youth, college rowing scholarships go almost exclusively to out of state students. Watch “A Day in the Life of a University of Michigan Rower,” filmed locally, on YouTube.
Haven’t yet heard about a sanctioned club rowing team forming at your school? Inquire at PO Box 175, Lake Leelanau.
Erik Zehender S. Lake Leelanau Dr. Lake Leelanau
