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Bill Stowe Awarded 2011 USRowing Jack Kelly Award

October 28, 2011

PRINCETON, N.J. – USRowing is pleased to announce that Bill Stowe is this year’s recipient of the Jack Kelly Award.

Given to outstanding individuals who represent the ideals which Jack Kelly exemplified, the award recognizes superior achievements in rowing, service to amateur athletics, and success in their chosen profession, thereby serving as an inspiration to American rowers.

Stowe will be honored at the inaugural Golden Oars Awards Dinner on Wednesday, November 30, at the New York Athletic Club in New York City.

“I think it’s very kind,” said Stowe. “Kell was a good friend, and this award is very much appreciated. It’s exciting. I’m looking forward to being recognized in New York at the dinner.”

“Bill Stowe is one of the truly great competitors, coaches and leaders in our sport,” said USRowing Chief Executive Officer Glenn Merry. “As a young college rower, I recall his image emblazoned on the USRowing safety video that we all watched before our first day on the water. It is a great satisfaction to see his contributions recognized as the Kelly Award recipient this year.”

Stowe has had a long and distinguished career in rowing, beginning with his introduction to the sport in 1955 at the Kent School. After his first taste of international rowing at the Henley Regatta in 1958, Stowe went on to Cornell University where he stroked and captained the 1959 freshman crew to an undefeated year. He capped a distinguished collegiate rowing career by winning the varsity eight at the 1962 IRA Championships.

While in the Navy, Stowe rowed for the Club Nautique in Saigon, Vietnam before joining Vesper Boat Club in 1964 to train for Olympic tryouts. The victory of the Vesper eight in both the Olympic Trials and the 1964 Olympic Games is the subject of Stowe’s book, ALL TOGETHER, written and published in 2005.

In 1967, Stowe accepted the head coach position at Columbia University. He went on to introduce rowing to the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1971. In addition to a short stint as Sports Information Director, Stowe coached the Cadets in defeating Yale University and winning the Dad Vail Regatta the following year. He also coached the Litchfield Rowing Association to numerous youth national championships from 1968 through 1971.

Stowe was selected as the ABC television commentator for the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games. He served on the board of directors of the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen (NAAO), USRowing’s predecessor. He was chairman of the publicity committee and helped organize a rowing safety committee to establish standard procedures demonstrated in a video for rowing organizations to follow.

Stowe is a member of the Athletic Hall of Fame at Kent School, Cornell University, U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the National Rowing Hall of Fame. He served as the president of the National Rowing Foundation, where he is a trustee, and he is a director of Philadelphia’s annual Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta.

Stowe has written and published countless articles about the sport of rowing, comparing his experiences in the sport to mountain climbing. Stowe summited Mount Rainier, Kilimanjaro and the Adirondack 46 High Peaks. A current resident of Lake Placid, New York, Stowe enjoys playing tennis, hiking, cross-country skiing and reading.

For more information about the Golden Oars Awards Dinner, visit www.usrowing.org. To purchase a ticket or secure a table, visit http://usrowing.tix.com.

Co-hosted by USRowing and the National Rowing Foundation (NRF), the dinner will honor excellence in the sport during 2011 and serve as a fundraiser for USRowing’s national teams and its diversity, inclusion and adaptive programs. The celebration will feature a presentation of several of USRowing’s traditional awards, as well as the introduction of the new USRowing “Fan’s Choice” Awards to be announced in the coming weeks.

USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing’s official suppliers include Boathouse Sports, Vespoli, Win Tech, Filippi, Croker Oars, Rudy Project, Concept2, Nielsen Kellerman, PowerHTV and Ludus Tours. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors, ANXeBusiness Corp and Voxer. For more information, visit www.usrowing.org. USRowing has created compelling programs to engage sponsors leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games, with proceeds going to help ensure the U.S. team’s success. Opportunities also exist to partner with America Rows – supporting diversity initiatives and adaptive programs. For more information, please contact Beth Kohl at beth@usrowing.org.