A Letter from the New BCA President
Dear Fellow Beach Crew Alums and Friends of the BCA,
As the new President of the Beach Crew Alumni Association, I am honored and thrilled to once again be one of the leaders in our rowing program, and I look forward to reconnecting with you along our shared journey of building a strong, competitive and sustainable future for Beach Crew, the athletes and BCA.
For alumni and friends of BCA who are not familiar with me, I am Tom O’Toole. I rowed for CSULB from 1985 (Frosh 8) through 1990 (V8 Captain). I graduated CSULB in 1990 with a BS in Finance. Thereafter, I coached the Beach Crew Frosh/Novice in 1991 and 1992 and coached on the 1992 Jr. National Team. I graduated (again) from CSULB in 1993 with an MBA and finished my formal education in 1999 with a JD which ultimately led to me becoming an attorney specializing in business/real estate transactions.
Now, as I intentionally dial-back my career, I am able to come full circle and meaningfully re-engage in Beach Crew. As they say, I left Beach Crew, but it didn’t leave me. I am extremely encouraged and excited about the future of Beach Crew.
Shifting gear, I would like to extend a huge “Thank You” to the BCA Board and the recently retiring board members, including Ken Glenn (former President), Neil Swaigler (former Treasurer), Dave Straley (former Director and financial guru) as well as all the other Board Members, Coaches, Boatmen and countless other volunteers and donors who have given so much of their time/talent/treasure to the Beach Crew program to continue the traditions and shepherd the program through some challenging years. Your efforts are greatly appreciated and will have a real impact on Beach Crew for many years to come.
As you are all well aware, the sport of rowing at CSULB has an incredibly rich history of success. Since 1957, so many fast men’s and women’s CSULB crews have rowed out of the Pete Archer Boat House. Some of you may still have the shirts and medals you won. I know I do (ok, in the attic).
Now, with 2028 Olympic Rowing coming back to Marine Stadium, our home venue in Long Beach will once again be on the world stage. This is a great and rare opportunity for the Long Beach rowing community, and more specifically, Beach Crew. There is only one collegiate rowing program in the entire country that can claim their home training center is the Olympic rowing venue (twice). Go Beach!
As for me, Beach Crew had an immensely positive impact on my life, and still does. Not only the life-long friendships and fond memories on and off the water, but as a young person, the challenges CSULB Rowing presented to me mentally and physically, I can say without a doubt contributed greatly to the person I am today. I am a firm believer that personal growth is found in how we respond to the challenges presented to us.
One main reason I sought the role of BCA President is I want to help establish that same environment where mere girls/boys are transformed into strong and capable women/men who can succeed at anything they set their minds to. That is what I learned as a Beach Crew oarsman.
To me, that means fostering a rowing program that consistently fields fast competitive crews at high levels. It will take all of us pulling together over a period of time, but given our history and our innate tenacity, this is entirely possible for Beach Crew.
As I become re-familiarized with Beach Crew and the BCA, I am truly amazed at the dedication and effort of the coaches, our boatman and many volunteers, as well as the alumni and board members. A look under the Beach Crew hood immediately revealed the love of this sport by so many who want to see Beach Crew reclaim its rightful position as a consistent formidable competitor. Thank you to all who do so much for Beach Crew! Your efforts and generous time and financial contributions are what makes this sport possible for all current and future athletes.
I left Beach Crew, but it didn’t leave me.
As we pursue our goals, here are a few priorities I would like to pursue with the Board (no particular order):
- Engage and listen closely to identify and understand the specific needs of BCA.
- Increase and bolster the BCA member information list to make it as complete and accurate as possible.
- Using the more comprehensive BCA member list, increase communications and information to BCA members so that all members are aware of how the program is performing and are able to connect and communicate with others.
- Make BCA financial information more transparent as well as easier to review and access via the website.
- Increase communication and, where possible, cooperation with LBRA and the LB Juniors to foster mutually beneficial relationships between the three programs sharing the boathouse. As well, engaging in the local community to establish similar mutually beneficial relationships.
- Increase social activities for BCA members so as to increase engagement and friendships, comradery and a general GO BEACH atmosphere.
- Continue to make sure the men’s and women’s crews have the equipment they need to compete at the highest levels. We have already made great progress over the last few years.
- Develop and implement a solid plan to build a true endowment that will fund the needs of the program into the future. Consistent paid coaching would stabilize the program and provide a solid foundation for fielding fast boats that compete at the highest levels. We will need to be as bold and creative as possible.
- Explore and develop a student athlete scholarship program and criteria therefore (self-funded or in conjunction with CSULB).
How you can help:
A. Use the button below to put your BCA contact details on file and, please, forward this email to any BCA alumni, or potential friends of BCA, that you know to make our organization as big and inclusive as possible.
B. I invite you all to share your feedback, ideas and stories from your Beach Crew rowing days. You can also add your old photos to the Beach Crew photo archive.
C. Attend any of the upcoming alumni gatherings this Fall and Spring. We can announce any informal alumni gatherings in addition to our more “official” BCA gatherings, such as the Naples Island Collegiate and Masters Rowing Challenge (the Pancake Regatta) on November 14, 2026. The alumni lunch follows the regatta that afternoon.
D. Simply contribute any time/talent/treasure you can spare to help BCA and Beach Crew progress meaningfully toward the goals expressed herein. All ideas are welcome. There is so much un-tapped talent in our group. For example, you can volunteer on race day at the Pancake Regatta.
There is one thing we all know about rowers: they know how to set big goals and go after them. Rowers are do’ers. My challenge to you is to become involved in some manner, “THINK BIG” and let’s go after it together!
Please feel free to contact me (or any other Board Member) with any and all ideas to move the Beach Crew program forward toward its rightful place.
Tom O’Toole, Class of 1990
BCA President
Thomas.O’Toole@BeachCrew.org
925-324-6229 direct
“It is amazing how much can be accomplished when a group works together and no one cares who gets the credit”
John Wooden
