The Riverside boathouse has been the center of Brookline rowing for almost 30 years. Serving as a social hub for the crew team, the boathouse has proved to be an integral part of the high school rowing experience. This past March, however, the team’s funding was decreased considerably due to high costs of maintaining the boathouse.

According to junior Juliette Chandler, in the past, the crew team had fundraisers to help support the growing cost of renting the Riverside boathouse.

“The Riverside rent cost we used to pay was even more than what BHS allotted us, so we held a ton of annual fundraisers, like the Ergathon and the Crew-a-thon, just to make that amount. Now the price is way out of our range,” Chandler said.

According to captain Tailo Chow, a senior, the boathouse is very important in many aspects of crew.

“The boathouse serves as a place where people can meet and get ready before the start of practice. This involves things like going to the bathroom, filling water bottles and changing. More importantly, it is a place where we can store our boats,” Chow said.

Both the girls’ and boys’ coaches were quick to notify and update the team about this change.

“We were notified fairly early in the process. Our coach is very transparent with us, and as soon as it became a problem she kept us informed,” captain, Ben Kimia, a senior, said.

As of now, the crew team is sharing Boston Latin’s boathouse. According to Chandler, the boathouse and surrounding area has three boat racks by the water and multiple porta potties, which is a huge change from the former location which had bathrooms with showers and changing rooms, as well as heating and a team room to keep bags.

Chandler said rowing out of BLS has many benefits and makes the team stronger.

“Another huge pro out of the whole situation is the bond we now have with BLS. In the past, our two teams have always been friends, but their warm hospitality has really strengthened our teams, and we are really appreciative of how kind they are being. Us sharing the close quarters has made both of the teams tighter, and now we have close allies on the river,” Chandler said.

According to Chandler, losing the boathouse has not negatively affected the team’s success.

“Last spring was our first season in over 30 years not at Riverside, and it was one of our most successful seasons on record. We won second place at States, where in past years we haven’t even made grand finals. Even though it was hard, we stuck through the adversity and it made us faster as a team,” Chandler said.

According to Chow, the crew team is also still enjoying rowing on the water.

“The attitude has shifted since we still get to practice the sport we all love,” Chow said.