The Stories Behind The Names
In Rowing, there is a great tradition of naming boats. When a boat or shell is bought it is honored by being christened with a name. That name has meaning to the team. It can also be an opportunity to recognize someone for their commitment to our program. To show our appreciation. It is a great honor in the rowing world to have a boat named after you!
These are the boats we have christened and their history.
Fearless
This is a 2025 Vespoli VHP 39 4+ in our beautiful blue! We are grateful to our 2024-2025 Families who worked hard to raise the funds needed to purchase this boat!
The Fearless was named by our athletes and actually does not mean we are fearless but that we are willing to face our fears.
We hope this boat will give our athletes the confidence to face their fears and conquer them!
Championship Medals Earned
Silver – Girls 1st Varsity 4+, States, 2025
Red 8
This is a 2012 Vespoli ES 8+. This is the 1st boat bought by our Boys Team for their use. We are grateful to our 2023-2024 Families who worked hard to secure donations to purchase this boat.
This boat has not been named yet but we hope it will inspire our Boys Team to be their best!
Sisterhood
This is a 2024 Vespoli VHP 53 8+ in our beautiful blue! We are grateful to our 2022-2024 Families who worked hard to secure donations to purchase this boat.
The Sisterhood was named by our athletes. Our Girls Team is a sisterhood and our success is a result of our love for and trust in each other. This boat will always remind of us the true meaning of Rowing.
Championship Medals Earned
Bronze – Girls Varsity 8+ – Sweep States, 2024
Dauntless
This is a 2024 Lightweight Vespoli 4X in our beautiful blue! We are grateful to our 2022-2024 Families. They worked hard to secure donations during our erg-a-thon to purchase this boat!
The Dauntless was named by our athletes to embody our brave spirit. We hope this name will help our athletes to believe in themselves and go forth with confidence and bravery.
Championship Medals Earned
Gold – Girls Junior 4X – Sculling States, 2024
Her.
This is a 2024 Peinert 1X in our beautiful blue! It is our first single ever!
We are grateful to our 2022-2024 Families who worked hard to raise the funds needed to purchase this boat!
Her. (with a period!) was named by our athletes to symbolize the power of women. The girls on our team can do anything they put their minds to!
We hope this boat helps our rowers to be better scullers and provides them with more sculling opportunities.
Three’s A Crowd
This is a 2022 Kanghua 2X in our beautiful blue! It is our first brand new double!
We are grateful to our 2021-2022 Families who worked hard to raise the funds needed to purchase this boat!
Threes A Crowd was named by our athletes as a play on words since this boat only fits two rowers.
We hope this boat helps our rowers to be better scullers and provides them with more sculling opportunities.
Championship Medals Earned
Bronze – Girls Varsity 2X – Sculling States, 2025
Ursula
This is a 2022 Super Lightweight Wintech International 4X in blue! It is our second brand new quad.
We are grateful to our 2021-2022 Families who worked hard to raise the funds needed to purchase this boat!
The Ursula was named by our athletes to compliment our other 4X – the Neptune. The name Ursula is associated with strength. We hope this boat gives our rowers the strength to be their best!
Championship Medals Earned
Bronze – Girls Lightweight 4X – Sculling States, 2024
Godspeed
This is a 2022 Lightweight Vespoli 4+ in our beautiful blue! It is our second brand new four.
We are grateful to our 2021-2022 Families who worked hard to raise the funds needed to purchase this boat!
The Godspeed was named by our athletes and means “a prosperous journey”.
We hope this boat will bring each of it’s races a prosperous journey to the medal stand!
Championship Medals Earned
Gold – Girls 2nd Varsity 4+, States, 2025
Silver – Girls Novice 4+ – Hooch, 2024
Silver – Girls U17 4+ – Hooch, 2022
Silver – Girls Freshman 4+, States, 2022
Neptune
This is a 2021 Lightweight Vespoli 4X in our beautiful blue! It is our first brand new quad. We are grateful to our 2020-2021 Families. They worked hard to secure donations during our erg-a-thon to purchase this boat!
The Neptune was named by our athletes and means “god of the sea” in Roman mythology. We hope this name will help our athletes to dominate the sea!
Championship Medals Earned
Silver – Girls U17 4X – Hooch, 2022
Bronze – Girls Junior 4X, States, 2022
In This Together
This is a 2020 Lightweight Vespoli 8+ in our beautiful blue! It is our first brand new eight. We are grateful to our 2019-2020 Families whose donations helped to purchase this boat.
In This Together captures the period during COVID-19. Our 2020 Season was cancelled in March in order to stop the spread of COVID. It was very disappointing to have trained all year and then not be able to race. But, the girls continued to train on their own and entered some races virtually with ergs. This boat will always remind of us our perseverance and that with COVID or not, we are in this together! We cannot achieve our goals alone. We must always work together to realize collective success!
Championship Medals Earned
Silver – Girls JV 8+, Scholastic Nationals, 2023
Gold – Girls Junior 8+, States, 2023
Gold – Girls U17 8+, Regionals, 2022
Silver – Girls Junior 8+, States, 2022
Gold – Girls Junior 8+, States, 2021
Bronze – Girls U17 8+, Regionals, 2021
Girls In The Boat
Girls In The Boat is a 2019 Lightweight Resolute 4+ made just for us in our beautiful blue! It is the first brand new boat we ever bought We are grateful to the 2017 and 2018 Teams who donated and fundraised to purchase this boat.
Girls In The Boat is a play on words of the book The Boys In The Boat by Daniel James Brown. This is an excellent book on rowing which we highly recommend reading! It is also a true story of American grit in the 1930’s. Naming this boat Girls in The Boat will remind us of the grit and determination needed to be successful.
Championship Medals Earned
Silver – Girls Freshman 4+, States, 2025
Silver – Girls Novice 4+, Hooch, 2023
Founders Club
The Founders Club is a 2013 King Super Lightweight 8+. It was a demo until we purchased it in the Fall of 2017.
It is named The Founders Club to honor the 12 girls who began this club: Tori Abdalla, ’17, Cameron Cunningham, ’17, Leniza Dever, ’17, Jennifer Huha, ’17, Sophia Isaac, ’17, Isabella McKinnon, ’17, Nicolette McPharlin, ’18, Rebekah Pereira, ’18, Veronica Pereira, ’16, Grace Plass, ’17, Anna Schneider, ’19 and Elizabeth Weis, ’19.
These are the girls who joined our first year in 2015 when we had very little resources. Despite our lack of resources, they stuck with it, got their friends to join and returned each year until they graduated. Their perseverance will always be remembered as the reason this club exists.
The Alm1gh7y and The Lim17less
The Alm1gh7y and The Lim17less are 2012 Swift Midweight doubles. These were a gift from the Class of 2017. They were painted our HGRC blue and they have won many medals!
These boats are dedicated to the Class of 2017 and their names were designed by Tori Abdalla, ’17 to represent their spirit. All of the girls in this class attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Of these seven girls, five graduated Suma Cud Laude and Leniza Dever received our first rowing scholarship! They are attending Boston College, Boston University, Florida Institute of Technology, Stetson University and University of Florida.
Nil Sine Labore
“The Labore” is a 2014 Swift Super Lightweight Quad. It was a demo until we purchased it in 2016. It was our very first sculling boat and has won many medals!
Nil sine labore is Latin for “nothing without work”. This is very appropriate for our team and Rowing in general. Rowing requires a lot of work and sacrifice because of the time and physical demands needed to be successful. But, it’s rewards are great – achieving goals you never thought possible, living values that make you a better person and making friends that will last a lifetime. Nothing worth having comes easy.
Robert & Eunice Hone
“The Hone” is a 1999 Vespoli Millenium Midweight 8+. We purchased it in February of 2016 and refurbished it to “like new” condition with new paint, seats, riggers and shoes. The refurbishment was completed in October of 2016 and it has won many medals since then.
We are happy to name it after Bob and Eunice Hone. From our very first practice, they have been our support. They were here practically every day to assist with whatever we needed and they have contributed financially too, buying oars, boat racks and many other items for our team.
Bob began rowing in the 1950s for LaSalle High School in Philadelphia. He is a founding member of this club – ensuring that this boathouse was built back in 1990 with financial support and many hours of his time. Bob has served as President of the club as well as on our board.
Eunice is amazing. She helps with whatever we need – driving the launches, coaching and keeping an eye on everything to ensure we are running smoothly. Another thing we love about Eunice is that she can do anything! She is so mechanical and really has an eye for how things work. When we needed a dolly to roll the launch down, we put it on our To Do List. But the next day we came to practice, we saw a brand new dolly that someone had made. It was Eunice.
Eunice is a rower herself which makes her valuable as a coach. She was also one of the founding members of this club and has been President many times.
Bob and Eunice helped get this program running. We would not have begun without their efforts. We truly appreciate them and we would not be where we are today without their support.
Ben Bonomi
“The Bonomi” is a 2001 Vespoli Lightweight 4+. We purchased it in December of 2015 and refurbished it to “like new” condition with new paint, seats, riggers and shoes. We began rowing it in March of 2016 and it has won several state and regional medals since then. This is our first boat we ever christened.
It is named after Bennett Bonomi. Ben was the President of Hollywood Rowing Club when we began our team in 2015. He helped us get started. He made it possible for us to row here. He was very supportive of youth rowing and wanted to pass his knowledge onto the next generation. He volunteered a great deal of time to our club – always willing to help with technique and training and ensured club members adhere to safety standards.
Ben began rowing at the Coast Guard Academy in 1975 and competed in many prestigious regattas. After serving our country, he was a pilot with FedEx. He was a devoted father to three boys and a loving husband with a strong Christian faith. He died unexpectantly on December 23, 2015.
We hope the values Ben showed to us – kindness, inclusiveness and patience – will live on in all who row this boat. He was a positive role model at our club and we should all aspire to live his values.
Unfortunately, in 2021, the Godspeed was damaged. Ben Fields of Keelsen Boatworks picked it up from us for repair. Nick Bartick of Keelsen did not repair our boat and would not return it to us. We spent years trying to get it back with unreturned emails and calls. So, we no longer have the Bonomi.
Championship Medals Earned
Gold – Girls Freshman 4+, States, 2019
Silver – Girls U17 4+, Regionals, 2019
Silver – Girls Junior 4+, States, 2018
Bronze – Girls Junior 4+, States, 2017
Hollywood
“The Hollywood” is a 2001 Vespoli Midweight 4+. We purchased it in December of 2015 and refurbished it to “like new” condition with new paint, seats, riggers and shoes. We began rowing it in March of 2016 and it has won many medals since then.
Championship Medals Earned
Bronze, Girls Junior Varsity 4+, States, 2019
Bronze, Girls Freshman 4+, States, 2018
Bronze, Girls 2nd Varsity 4+, States, 2017
