Is rowing too strenuous for women?
Rowing is too strenuous for women.
That was the reason the University of Washington’s Gymnasium Director and Physical Instructor of Women gave in 1907 when she cut women’s rowing from the gym class curriculum.
The narrative at the time was that women’s bodies were too frail to row.
Fortunately, the female rowers on the team at the time didn’t accept this impaired condition and, as many women have done for sports participation in the past and continue to do today; they persevered. They organized their own rowing club and began training twice a week.
After a number of changes in the University of Washington’s program, women were allowed to row again in 1912, the same year that Lucy Pocock arrived in Seattle. Lucy had been making a name for herself in the English rowing scene, becoming the Women’s Champion of the Thames, and with the money she had collected from her multiple winnings (and side bets made by her father), she joined her brothers Dick and George in the United States. Lucy was also running the Pocock family home at the time; cooking, cleaning, and studying. With her family caretaking experience, upon arriving in America, she found a job cooking for the University of Washington’s men’s team. After learning about her rowing experience and her family’s connection to the sport, she was hired as the UW women’s team coach the following year.
As soon as she was able to lift an oar, Lucy had been passionate about rowing. Her interest and love for the sport were inspired by her boat-building father, Aaron Pocock, who encouraged all of his children to row. It was a central part of their upbringing and Lucy recalls Sunday afternoons when all five children would take out a boat together with Kathleen, the youngest sibling, as the coxswain. All of the Pocock children were built for rowing with George growing to over 6’1”, Lucy to six feet tall, and Dick to 6’5”. During this weekend family tradition, they would race the river steamers traveling to and from Windsor Castle, across the Thames from Eton.
Once hired as the UW Women’s coach, Lucy had an immense impact on the women and the program. She was viewed as a role model and an advocate for women in the sport of rowing. Her leadership inspired momentum, resulting in 75 participating women on the team in 1914, the year after Lucy coached there. The next year, 150 women signed up, making rowing the most popular women’s sport at the university at the time. Lucy’s trailblazing proved to have a lasting impact and today - the UW Women’s team continues to be a force in the sport throughout the Pacific Northwest region and the world, sending Olympians to compete on the global stage every four years.
Lucy met her to-be husband shortly after moving to Seattle. During the construction project of the Montlake Cut, every morning Lucy would get into the single wherry that her brother George had built for her and row across Portage Bay to shop for food for the men's rowing team at a farmers’ market on the other side.
James B. Stillwell was at the job site early each morning and he became utterly intrigued by the sight of this lithe 6-foot woman gliding effortlessly over the water right past him. They were married in 1917.
Lucy Pocock was a trailblazer in rowing and life.
It is in her legacy and her honor that Camp Lucy - a ten-day learn-to-row camp for middle school girls - was created to show young women that they too can be STRONG, POWERFUL, SUPPORTED, and BRAVE like Lucy Pocock.
And that is exactly the vibe of Camp Lucy.
“Hi! My name is Malia, I am 13 years old, and in 7th grade. I love rowing for so many reasons. There is such an amazing sense of teamwork and community connected to the sport. I fell in love with rowing because of Camp Lucy. The feeling that comes with rowing on the water with your other teammates all at the same time. that feeling is so magical when all the seats are moving in unison and you feel the wind on your face and you just know that everyone else is having just as much of a fun time as you are and knowing exactly what the person in front of you is doing and feeling that real sense of unity inside your boat. I have tried other sports programs but have stuck with rowing. I am so thankful that I have gotten to explore this amazing sport. I credit my love for rowing and all the amazing things it has done for me to Camp Lucy, it changed my life forever.”
Camp Lucy just finished its third official summer and continues to grow in popularity and participation. This summer, 62 more young women were introduced to rowing through Camp Lucy and gained an “I can do that!” attitude as they learned to navigate a rowing shell and life.
Rowing may well be strenuous, but it is not too strenuous for women, or girls.
Pictured: Camp Lucy in 2024
Photo Credit: University of Washington Women’s Rowing
Pictured: Lucy Pocock
