Northeastern Rowers Watch their Coach Pull for Another School

Northeastern coach Alex Perkins rows in the six seat for the Washington alumni. (Photo by Ben Crawley)

Two workplace colleagues rowed in rival boats in Saturday’s Alumni Eights race, leaving others in their workplace a little unsure of who to root for.

Northeastern University head crew coach Alex Perkins rowed for the University of Washington. Associate head coach Trevor Appier was in the Northeastern boat. The Northeastern varsity rowers watched with great interest and maybe a little amusement.

“Coach Trevor has been talking about it for a few weeks now, hinting at it here and there,” said Northeastern rower William Dempsey, certain that the assistant was taking it more seriously than his boss. “Perkins had kept his mouth shut. He doesn’t brag. He’s won enough times that it’s no longer a big deal to him, it’s business as usual.”

The alumni race is mostly a time for the nearly 400 athletes entered to revisit the friendships and rivalries of their college years. “Lots of friendly chirping going on between the boats here and there,” says Appier. But for Perkins and Appier, it’s also a chance to energize their coaching.

“A lot of the things you’re thinking about when you’re in the boat are the same things a coach is thinking about,” said Perkins, who was part of the Washington boat that won Champ Eights race in 2012. “I find that getting out and rowing from time to time brings back what you might be missing just watching it from the launch.”

Dempsey and the rest of the Northeastern men’s rowing team enjoyed switching places with their coaches and watching them navigate the river. Dempsey was pulling for the Northeastern boat, but hoped that Perkins’ University of Washington team would beat everyone else.

“It’s fun to see that they can put up times that are really competitive,” says Dempsey. “Since Perkins got elected head coach last year, we just continue to enjoy practices more and more and the culture is getting better and better.”

Trevor Appier strokes the Northeastern alumni boat. (Photo by Ben Crawley)

For the record, Perkins and Washington finished second to a crew of young Harvard alums. Northeastern was 11^th.

Many of the Northeastern alumni rowing this weekend are also active members of the Northeastern University Rowing Association, which provides financial support to the program and mentoring to its athletes. Seeing them around the boathouse as athletes gave today’s Northeastern rowers a taste of what’s to come.

“It’s nice to feel support from people who have been in your spot, whether it was 20-years ago or whether it was last year,” says Dempsey. “I’m really excited to join the alumni races next year when I graduate and see if I can take down Perkins in the UW boat.”