Above: The lights of Naples Canal – Photo credit: John Van Blom

Dear Beach Crew Alumni and Friends of Long Beach State Rowing:

It’s that time again where we want to express our gratitude to all of our alums, parents, and friends who make our efforts possible. In 2016, we strived for excellence, including the dedication of the John Cashman 4+, welcoming the Queen Mary as a new premiere sponsor of the Naples Island College Head Race, and the push through the state legislature to approve the naming of the State Highway 1 Cerritos Channel bridge span after Joan Lind Van Blom, specifically noting the BCA’s efforts in the text of Senate Concurrent Resolution Bill 102 (SCR102). Beach Crew is more than just an experience for our athletes at The Beach. It’s a community of supporters who enrich our purpose, our legacy, and the impact to those who seek the experience. Beach Crew is now in its 60th racing season. While we are still defining details on a “diamond jubilee” gathering, 60 years is a feat that should be commended.

We continue to be grateful of our coaching staff and their efforts. Since last spring, our athletes have been coming home with more medals and have finished higher in their respective levels. Long Beach State returned to the American Collegiate Rowing Championships in Gainesville, GA, after a 4-year hiatus. Back at home, the Naples Island College Head Race has gained participation, and with the continued support from The Queen Mary, the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Long Beach Century Club, our efforts continue to climb and make the difference.

In March 2016, the BCA became an independent 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. While we remain a project of the CSULB 49er Foundation, this move enables us to get more of every dollar that you give directly to our efforts and the team’s operations. This also greatly improves our procurement process and response to donors.

Over the past year we have heard several inquiries on where to obtain officially-licensed team merchandise. We are happy to announce a new permanent vendor through Sew Sporty. The BCA also has its own merchandise which you can order directly through us.

CSULB continues to be a university of choice for many prospective students. The campus announced on December 19 that enrollment applications for the upcoming Fall 2017 term have reached an all-time high. The university received a combined 91,268 applications, with 61,716 from first-time freshmen and 29,552 from transfers. Around this same time, Kiplinger’s Business Magazine ranked CSULB 52 in the list of Best Values in Public Colleges and ranked 156 among all colleges. A total of 200 colleges were ranked. We hope to take advantage of this continued trend and introduce the sport those who have never touched an oar.

Before we sign off for the rest of the year, we’d like to remind everyone that if you have not updated your membership for this academic year, please consider that there is still time for a tax deductible donation to the BCA. Your support is making a huge difference in maintaining a quality rowing team at LBSU. You can still send your $25 membership fee and any other contribution via http://beachcrew.org/give/

The team’s Spring 2017 schedule will be released on BeachCrew.org. On the behalf of the BCA Board of Directors, all of us wish you the best for the holidays and into 2017.

Go Beach!

Brandin Grams ’10
Director of Outreach

Dear Beach Crew Alumni and Friends of Long Beach State Rowing:

As 2015 draws to a close, we want to express our gratitude to all of our alums, parents, and friends who make our efforts possible. This year brought us some great additions, including the dedications of the John D. Boyle 8+ and the Joan Lind Van Blom 8+. We also saw what happens when we lose someone so special from our community. We all came together. That’s what makes Beach Crew a part of our lives, and it’s one that will be a part of you forever.

The BCA continues to play an advisory role with the team’s annual operation. This year, we welcomed new additions to our coaching staff and have been grateful of their efforts and expertise. One addition we are proud of are the new corporate and business sponsorships, such as the Boathouse on the Bay restaurant. Many of these sponsors have committed annual support to our cause and we are grateful to have this support. The BCA continues to coordinate the Naples Island College Sprints and Head Race with USRowing. There will be some changes to this event next fall, including making it a one-day event and pushing it ahead in November. We continue to be a channel partner with The Rowing Channel (TRC), an effort launched in 2014 by a number of west coast higher-education institutions and the American Collegiate Rowing Association, to bring live coverage of our major events to you. The BCA Saturday Rows continue to be a hit, seeing new and familiar faces from time to time. This has been inspiring our community to get back in a boat. We were daring enough to enter an 8+ in the Men’s Alumni 8+ at the San Diego Crew Classic, only to be shattered by a broken rudder during the first heat.

In 2016, the BCA will be rolling out a new 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. It is currently in final development. This will enable us to get even more of every dollar that you give directly to our efforts and the team’s operations. As we move into the Fall, Beach Crew will enter its 60th racing season and there is movement for a “diamond jubilee” celebration. Our records of activity back in 1956 are still a blur, but we’ve been able to confirm things from our co-founder, Dr. Ludwig Spolyar, from these early days. Nonetheless, you will hear more about this next year as we get closer.

The campus announced that 90,000 students have applied for the Fall 2016 semester, and we are hoping to get a few excellent athletes from that pool. In our own efforts, over 200 people have inquired through BeachCrew.org/join directly to us about rowing at LBSU since we first launched the effort back in Fall 2013. There’s no doubt that people want to come to Long Beach. We definitely have something special here.

Before we sign off for the rest of the year, we’d like to remind everyone that if you have not updated your membership for this academic year, please consider that there is still time for a tax deductible donation to the BCA. Your support is making a huge difference in building a quality rowing team at LBSU. You can still send your $25 membership fee and any other contribution via http://beachcrew.org/alumni/donate

The team’s Spring 2016 schedule will be released in January. All of us wish you the best for the holidays and into the new year.

Go Beach!

Brandin Grams ’10
Director of Outreach

Friday, August 28, 2015
UPDATED: September 7, 2015 11:47PM PDT

By: Brandin Grams (’10, B.S., business)
Director of Outreach, Beach Crew Alumni Association
CSU Long Beach 49er Foundation

Photo Credits: Hope Wilkinson, Karen Keehn (1973, B.A., psychology), Jean Strauss, Andi Parsons, Carol Beard, Maddison Kerst

LONG BEACH, CA —

Long Beach State has lost a legend in the 49er Hall of Fame, only to be remembered by her endless prowess for success and as an ambassador to the sport of rowing. Forget just being a role model, to many, she was a hero. She was a fierce competitor, but also passionate of promoting Physical Education throughout her career.

Joan (Lind) Van Blom (1974, B.A., physical education; 1976, credential)  passed away in the morning hours on Friday, August 28, 2015, after a near two-year battle with complications of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive form of brain cancer. She was 62. Prior to this time, Joan’s story was that of a storybook, whose athletic achievement became a legend. But on August 21, 2013, at the Pete Archer Rowing Center, she collapsed after an indoor rowing session, depicting the fate of what’s to come.

Joan was the first woman to win an Olympic medal for the United States in rowing, taking silver in the single sculls at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, and another in the quadruple sculls at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Joan was also a member of the 1980 Olympic team, which boycotted the Moscow Games. She not only medaled as a rower, but also medaled internationally as a coach in the Pan American Games, and currently holds 11 world records on the indoor ergometer.

Joan had a 35-year career with the Long Beach Unified School District as a physical education teacher and was instrumental in winning a million-dollar grant to put rowing machines in each of her school district’s nine high schools. Joan retired in 2012.

Through the years, Joan was inducted into the 49er Hall of Fame and was declared a Lifetime Member of the Long Beach Rowing Association, marking her never-ending achievement in advocacy for the sport and healthy living. She was inducted into the National Rowing Hall of Fame in 1985. Joan is part of the Long Beach Century Club‘s best moments in the City of Long Beach, instated February, 2006.

For all of her accomplishments, dedication to rowing and contributions to the sport’s growth, Van Blom was named the recipient of the 2014 USRowing Ernestine Bayer Award, formerly Woman of the Year, which recognizes outstanding contributions to women’s rowing and/or to an outstanding woman in rowing.

The award is named in honor of the late Ernestine Bayer, a pioneer in women’s rowing, who is seen as the matriarch of the sport in the United States. Joan was honored on Saturday, December 6, at the 2014 USRowing Annual Awards Reception presented by Nathan Benderson Park in Jacksonville, FL

Joan is survived by her husband John Van Blom (1972, B.A., art) and their son, John Jr. John is a four-time Olympian and was also inducted into the 49er Hall of Fame. Joan has two sisters, Loretta Madsen and Carol Hansen. Both entries can be seen at the 49er Hall of Fame, located at the Walter Pyramid, Ukleja Room, on the CSULB campus.

Recent Activities

On February 21, 2014, the Beach Crew Alumni Association hosted John and Joan Van Blom for an interview at the 49er Hall of Fame, conducted by Dave Straley (’72). The interview can be seen on the Beach Crew Alumni Association’s YouTube page. It is also available for viewing by appointment at the University Archives, Room 300, third floor of the CSULB Library.

Racing Shell Dedication

After a successful annual membership drive Fall 2014, the Beach Crew Alumni Association announced the dedication of two racing shells introduced in the Spring 2015 racing season. A Women’s Resolute 8+ shell was dedicated as the Joan Lind Van Blom. The Men’s golden Vespoli 8+ shell was dedicated to a influential and respected alum, John D. Boyle. The dedication ceremony was Saturday March 7, 2015, after racing commenced at the Southern California Opening Day Regatta. CSULB President, Dr. Jane Close Conoley was in attendance and made a special presentation. The ceremony was broadcasted by The Rowing Channel (TRC) and can be viewed at their website.

Biography

Jean Strauss, a former Long Beach-native, has been involved during this time with Joan’s biography, titled, “The Olympian,” scheduled to be released in Spring 2016, 40 years after her first Olympic race. She invites everyone to see a preview of what’s in the works:

Joan Lind – America’s Sculler from Jean A. S. Strauss on Vimeo. At the 2015 San Diego Crew Classic, Olympians and National Team Members talk about Joan Lind Van Blom and the impact she had on the early years of women’s international rowing – and the impact she continues to have to this day.

JOAN – on rowing from Jean A. S. Strauss on Vimeo. Joan Lind Van Blom is a two time Olympic silver medalist. The first woman to ever win a rowing medal for the US at the Olympics (Montreal, 1976), she represents a generation of women who, once given the opportunity to compete, raised the level of athleticism and grace in a sport that for over a millennia was the domain of men only. This short film contains footage from a documentary currently in production.

Related Articles:

• 49er Hall of Fame Profile: Joan Lind
• (11-29-2013) Orange County Register: Joan Van Blom rows against a rough tide [Doug Kirkorian]
• (12-23-2013) Long Beach Press-Telegram: Joan Van Blom rows on [Mike Guardabascio]
• (12-03-2014) USRowing: Joan Van Blom is the 2014 Ernstine Bayer Award Recipient [Ed Moran]
• (01-06-2015) Orange County Register: Long Beach couple gets through life one oar stroke at a time [Bob Keisser]
• (06-06-2015) CSULB Beach Magazine: Call to the Hall: Row Your Boat
• (08-29-2015) Row2k: Two-time Olympic Medalist Joan Lind Van Blom Passes [Ed Hewitt]
• (08-29-2015) USRowing: In Memory of Joan Lind Van Blom [Ed Moran]
• (08-29-2015) Long Beach Press-Telegram: Long Beach’s Joan Van Blom, rowing legend, dies of brain cancer at 62 (Mike Guardabascio)
• (09-04-2015) Long Beach Gazettes: ON THE WATER: A Tribute to Joan Lind Van Blom (Jo Murray)

Other Videos:

• 1976 Olympic Women’s Single Sculls Final (Joan claims silver, furthest against the rocks)
• (03-07-2015) Dedication of the Joan Lind Van Blom Resolute 8+ Racing Shell

Memorial

Plans for a memorial are set for Saturday, October 10, 4:00PM to sunset at the Pete Archer Rowing Center. Please RSVP to [email protected]. This article will be updated below of such plans. Our community subscribed to the B-Newsline will be notified of these events.

Photo Credits

Larger Photos: Hope Wilkinson
Earlier/B&W Photos: Karen Keehn (1973, B.A., psychology)
Where Credited: Andi Parsons, Maddison Kerst, Carol Beard