2024 Pull for Navy Banquet, Craig Thrasher Award, and Alumni Guest Speaker
Ticket sales are now closed!
Mark your calendars for another great Pull for Navy Banquet! The date is set for Saturday (evening), February 24th, 2024. Ticket Sales close after February 11th. It will be great to see Navy Crew alumni back together to reminisce about old times and meet our 1/C Midshipmen on the eve of their final racing season. We are honored to announce that David Kucik '73 has been selected to receive our Craig Thrasher Service to Rowing Award for his outstanding service to the rowing community. After winning both the Eastern Sprints and the IRA's as a Navy oarsman, and a stint in the Navy as a submarine officer, Dave embarked on a 43-year coaching career in men's collegiate rowing. As a freshman coach at Wisconsin, he helped the badgers win four Ten Eyck team points trophies at the IRA. As the Director of Rowing at Cornell University, he guided the heavyweight team to new heights and helped develop multiple national team and Olympic athletes. However, Dave is most well known for his time as the Director of Rowing at Purdue University, where he molded both the men's and women's teams into club rowing powerhouses. At Purdue, he guided the Boilermakers to 9 Dad Vail team points trophies, earned multiple coach of the year honors, and was awarded the American Collegiate Rowing Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. Above all the impressive results, Dave was focused on the development of student-athletes, a culture of boathouse unity, and to share his passion for the sport of rowing. Dave will be presented the Craig Thrasher Award at the Pull for Navy Banquet in February. We are are also excited to have alumnus Tim Strabbing '01 as our guest speaker at the banquet. As a four-year rower of the Navy Heavyweight Team, Tim was Brigade Commander at USNA and finished first in his class in 2001. Tim was awarded the Thompson Cup in his first class year, recognizing his contributions to Naval Academy Athletics, on and off the water. Tim was awarded a Marshall Scholarship to attend Oxford University, earning a Master’s Degree in Russian and Eastern Studies. As an infantry officer in the Marine Corps, Tim served two combat tours in Al Anbar, Iraq, including leading a platoon in the Battle of Fallujah in 2004. Tim subsequently taught U.S. foreign policy and irregular warfare in the Political Science Department at the Naval Academy, and served as the heavyweight rowing team officer representative. After leaving active duty, Tim served as a civilian policy advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. Tim then worked for six years as the Executive Director of the Viola Foundation in New York City, focusing on education, national security, and faith-based philanthropic initiatives. Tim Strabbing currently serves as the palliative care chaplain at Ascension St. John Hospital and as an associate pastor at Hope Community Church in Detroit, Michigan. We look forward to hearing from Tim about his incredible journey which started right here at Hubbard Hall. |
Pull for Navy Banquet Details and Ticket Sales
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Navy Rowing Fall Season Update: Four Shell Dedications and Banquet Date!
There is a lot to catch everyone up about! Click on the link to read about our medal-winning performances this fall, four new shell dedications, and to nominate alumni for our annual Craig Thrasher Service to Rowing Award!
Mark your calendars! We have locked in Saturday, February 24th for the annual Pull for Navy Banquet. As always, we welcome all alumni and families back to support Navy Crew and honor our First Class Midshipmen on the eve of their final racing season. More information about ticket sales and our guest speaker will be sent out soon. |
Navy Crew Excellence Fund Campaign - Help Support Navy Crew
Dear Navy Crew Alumni, Parents, and Friends:
As we enter another season of competition for our Navy rowers, I am excited to announce a new initiative designed to provide the resources needed for Navy Crew – heavyweights, lightweights, and women - to continue to compete and win on the water. The Navy Crew Excellence Fund (NCEF) was established in 1998 with a goal of augmenting the capital (equipment) budget at the boathouse. Over the last twenty-five years, your generosity has provided more than $5 million currently invested in our inventory of racing shells. In fact, nearly every shell currently in the boathouse has been funded by your philanthropy. With careful stewardship of your gifts, we have preserved the corpus of those funds to provide nearly $200,000 annually for shells, oars, ergs, trailers, and launches. However, as you might expect, our program needs have grown as competition among our peer elite rowing programs has gotten tougher. In addition to the capital budget, additional funding is needed to recruit and retain top notch assistant coaches who develop the skills of recruited rowers and walk-ons alike. As well, we want to provide additional funding for our spring break training trips to minimize out of pocket costs for the midshipmen, and for travel for emerging competition opportunities like our Kings Cup championship trip to the 2019 Henley Royal Regatta. In all, we hope to grow the NCEF to $7.5 million by 2030 to generate $300,000 each year for shells and equipment, assistant coaches’ salaries, and travel opportunities for all three of our programs. To donate, read through our fundraising brochure or go directly to our donation link within the USNA Alumni Foundation (make sure it lists "CREW" in the dropdown menu!). If you are mailing in a donation, please make sure it is earmarked for "Crew" and sent to the Foundation's new address: USNA Foundation, 301 King George St., Annapolis, MD 21402. My sincere thanks for your consideration. Row Navy! Robert Friedrich Director of Rowing |
Craig Thrasher Service to Rowing AwardThe Craig Thrasher Service to Rowing Award will be given out annually to a member of the Navy Crew alumni in recognition for their outstanding service to the rowing community.
This award is created in memory of Craig L. Thrasher (USNA 1963) for his extraordinary contributions to the rowing community. Craig spearheaded the creation of the Navy Masters Rowing Program and the establishment of the Navy Crew Fund. In Buffalo, New York, he formed and coached the women’s program at the West Side Rowing Club, collecting numerous national and international awards. Craig was a driving force behind the design and build of the Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association Boathouse, and with the introduction of the sport to otherwise underserved minorities. He will be remembered as an Eastern Sprints and IRA Champion, and as a finalist with the Class of 1963 Plebe Crew in the 1960 U.S. Olympic Rowing Trials. Each year, the Navy Rowing Alumni Stewards will review the nomination list to select a winner of the Craig Thrasher Award and present it at our annual Pull for Navy Banquet. You can nominate a rowing alumnus/ae for this award using the following Craig Thrasher Award Nomination Form. Nominations are due by December 1st each year. If a nominee is not selected, they will roll over for consideration in future years. Craig Thrasher Award Recipients 2023 - Lyman S. A. Perry '60 |
2021 Pull for Navy Video
Navy Wins King's Cup at Prestigious Henley Royal Regatta
Navy Crew Letter Winners Plaque
Navy Crew has finalized a new project in Hubbard Hall that displays all varsity letter winners and four-year squad members in Navy Crew history. We've worked hard to collect names dating back to the late 1800's.
After researching the athletic department archives and cross referencing Lucky Bags and the N-Room bronze plaques, we have compiled a comprehensive list that will be displayed on plaques surrounding the erg room hallways on the second deck of Hubbard Hall. Pleas stop by the boathouse to check out the new plaque and reminisce on your times at Hubbard Hall. |