Club Crew

Winter training camp, 2019

Men’s crew debuted as a club sport at Fordham in 1915. After a hiatus caused by World War I & II, crew resumed in 1957, beginning a half-century of successful competition. The team has competed at the IRA National Championships, the Henley Royal Regatta and the San Diego Crew Classic, with victories at both the IRA and San Diego. The focal point of the spring racing season is the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate regatta in the nation. Fordham men’s crews have captured medals in 25 events at the Dad Vail Regattas in both heavyweight and lightweight eights and fours. Most recently, the team has medaled in the last four Dad Vail’s. The Rams have had their greatest success in lightweight events with six wins in varsity four and an additional four wins in the eight. They have also had success in the heavyweight category with two wins in the eight, along with four silver and one bronze medal finish.

Fordham Crew trains on Eastchester Bay, Long Island Sound, and the Hutchinson River from their current location at the Harlem Yacht Club in City Island, NY about four miles from campus. Fordham is in the process of developing a new facility for both Rowing and Sailing, also on Eastchester Bay and closer to campus, with plans of opening their new boathouse in 2019.

Both the men’s club and women’s varsity teams have been under the direction of head coach Ted Bonanno for the last thirty years. During Bonanno’s tenure, Fordham has had 10 undefeated crews and 19 national championships, 13 at the Dad Vail, three at the ECAC National Invitational Collegiate Regatta, one each at the Division-I national championships, IRA Championship and US Rowing Collegiate Championships. In addition, both men’s and women’s teams have won and broke course records at the Head of the Charles. In the past years, Coach Bonanno has run senior national team development camps that produced numerous U.S. National and Canadian Henley championships. As a competitor, he participated on the US national team in the 1970s. Bonanno has also served as the head coach of the Puerto Rican, Guatemalan and Indian Olympic rowing teams; along with coaching US and foreign teams at numerous World Championships and Pan Am Games.