Cardinals Name Shell After Senior Class of 2020
July 10, 2020 | Rowing
The class, who missed their senior season due to COVID-19, will be celebrated for their hard work.
The University of Louisville Rowing Team's Senior Class of 2020 along with rowing alumni have raised funds for the naming rights and have christened their best boat as the Leave A Legacy.
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The Louisville Rowing Alumni wished to honor the Class of 2020 for missing the opportunity to represent UofL in their senior and final racing season because of the COVID-19 Pandemic that canceled the spring season of competition. Under the direction of previous captains Amy Van Syoc ('14) and Gabi Biedenharn ('17), the alumni and current team parents raised above the threshold of $3,500 proposed to be able to name one of the Cardinals' racing shells.
"This is such a Louisville Rowing thing to do," said Derek Copeland, UofL's head rowing coach. "Alumni seeing an opportunity to step up when their team needed it. The seniors choosing the name that speaks to their experience. "Leave a Legacy is our best rowing shell and also some great advice from a group of unstoppable women."Â
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The Cards' coaching staff presented the alumni with suggestions of names that represented the graduating class and asked them to vote for their favorite. The alumni came back with the suggestion that they would rather that the seniors in the class of 2020 choose their boat's name.
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The class deliberated and decided that Leave a Legacy was a fitting tribute to their passion and gratitude to the program.
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The boat will also will have a Class of 2020 represented on the shell as well. Copeland hopes to host a special naming event, possibly during the Red and Black Regatta on the first Saturday in October, pending the progress on the pandemic.Â
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"It is with great pleasure that thanks to the generosity of our alumni and parents we get to name the "Leave a Legacy" in honor of the class of 2020, who showed grace, dignity and class in the manner in which they contributed to the program throughout their four years, most notably by forfeiting their senior season due to the constraints placed on society by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It is fitting that we chose to name one of our elite Pocock xVIII racing shells in their honor, as the boat will represent the University of Louisville at the NCAA championships as the team qualifies in the upcoming years. That way, those athletes will be represented in a fashion which was denied them due to circumstances beyond anyone's control," said UofL assistant coach Ed Oxlade.
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The Louisville Rowing Alumni wished to honor the Class of 2020 for missing the opportunity to represent UofL in their senior and final racing season because of the COVID-19 Pandemic that canceled the spring season of competition. Under the direction of previous captains Amy Van Syoc ('14) and Gabi Biedenharn ('17), the alumni and current team parents raised above the threshold of $3,500 proposed to be able to name one of the Cardinals' racing shells.
"This is such a Louisville Rowing thing to do," said Derek Copeland, UofL's head rowing coach. "Alumni seeing an opportunity to step up when their team needed it. The seniors choosing the name that speaks to their experience. "Leave a Legacy is our best rowing shell and also some great advice from a group of unstoppable women."Â
Â
The Cards' coaching staff presented the alumni with suggestions of names that represented the graduating class and asked them to vote for their favorite. The alumni came back with the suggestion that they would rather that the seniors in the class of 2020 choose their boat's name.
Â
The class deliberated and decided that Leave a Legacy was a fitting tribute to their passion and gratitude to the program.
Â
The boat will also will have a Class of 2020 represented on the shell as well. Copeland hopes to host a special naming event, possibly during the Red and Black Regatta on the first Saturday in October, pending the progress on the pandemic.Â
Â
"It is with great pleasure that thanks to the generosity of our alumni and parents we get to name the "Leave a Legacy" in honor of the class of 2020, who showed grace, dignity and class in the manner in which they contributed to the program throughout their four years, most notably by forfeiting their senior season due to the constraints placed on society by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It is fitting that we chose to name one of our elite Pocock xVIII racing shells in their honor, as the boat will represent the University of Louisville at the NCAA championships as the team qualifies in the upcoming years. That way, those athletes will be represented in a fashion which was denied them due to circumstances beyond anyone's control," said UofL assistant coach Ed Oxlade.
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