2008 Olympian Jennifer Kaido instructs freshmen on the art and teamwork of rowing. Pictured with Kaido in the rowing barge are George Go, Jon Montoya, Tim Leath, A.J. Hamilton, Connor Smith, Kirby Cox, and Jared Cottingham.
Rowing figures prominently in Homer’s epic: the Greek king Odysseus spends years at sea leading his fleet home from the Trojan War. This Attic red-figure stamnos from Vulci c. 480-450 BCE depicting the myth of Odysseus tied to his ship's mast in order to resist the enchanting song of the Sirens is a famous scene from the Odyssey, for instance, in which Odysseus and his men must row by the winged Sirens without succumbing to the pleasures of their song. (image of detail of stamnos in British Museum is from Ancient History Encyclopedia).
Jon Montoya ’18 puts all his effort into the ergometer as Professor Wickkiser offers encouragement and watches his progress.
Professor Wickkiser discusses rowing technique with her students and Professor of History Stephen Morillo.
Professor Morillo competed in rowing as a Rhodes Scholar.
Professor Wickkiser introduces her students to Olympian Jen Kaido.
Kaido tells students about why she was drawn to rowing, why she continues in the sport.
Freshmen Logan Taylor, Jesse Arzola, and Jon Montoya listen the 2008 Olympian.
Kaido shows students the different parts of a rowing scull.
A.J. Hamilton, Connor Smith, Dylan Murphy, Logan Taylor, Matt Kroll try out the ergometers and learn rowing technique in the IRC boathouse.
Tim Leath and Kirby Cox carry their oars to the water.
Connor Smith and Dylan Murphy carry their oars.
Kaido shows the students the parts of the oar and how it will be placed in the barge.
Students get final instructions from Kaido before she boards the barge and the head out onto the water.
Jon Montoya, Jared Cottingham, George Go, Connor Smith, and A.J. Hamilton
George Go prepares to shove off.
Tim Leath and Jon Montoya
Tim Leath
The second group hits the water, including Matt Kroll, Sam Watts, Connor Smith, and Professor Morillo.
The boat used by the Wabash Rowing Club in the 1990s is still in the IRC boathouse. Time to re-start the club?
Kirby Cox and A.J. Hamilton compete in an impromptu ERG relay.
Kirby Cox
A.J. Hamilton and Professor Wickkiser check Jared Cottingham's progress.
Connor Smith, Sam Watts, Matt Kroll, Jen Kaido, Stephen Morillo, Logan Taylor, and Jesse Arzola on the barge.
Caught up in singing sirens, one-eyed giants, six-headed monsters, and surly suitors, readers of Homer’s Odyssey may overlook the fact that Odysseus and his men do a lot of rowing.
Not a problem for students in Professor Bronwen Wickkiser’s freshman tutorial, Homer’s Odyssey: Hero & Homecoming.
The Classics professor took her students to Eagle Creek Reservoir “to enrich their intellectual exploration of Homer’s epic by learning how to row.” And their teacher? An Olympic rower!
Indianapolis Rowing Center (IRC) Executive Director and 2008 Olympian Jennifer Kaido taught Wabash students the basics of rowing on ergometers in the IRC boathouse, then instructed them as they rowed “barges” on the lake.
Professor Wickkiser expected the students “to gain a sense of the skill, manpower, and precise teamwork necessary to propel ancient ships, and a deeper appreciation of seafaring in Homer and other ancient texts.”
The rowing session may have exceeded her expectations.
“I was surprised by how much the students picked up in just over an hour,” said Wickkiser, who trains and competes in national regattas with the IRC. “Rowing requires discipline and technique, not just brute strength. It is also the consummate team sport: the boat will not move well unless everyone in the boat is working together as a synchronous whole. It was gratifying for me to see the students encouraging each other to do their best, especially in the erg relays. And they really seemed to enjoy it!”
Joining the group was Professor of History Stephen Morillo, who competed in rowing while a student at Oxford University.
The rowing immersion experience fits well into Classics department efforts to “make the ancient world more accessible and more interesting” to students. Last spring the department sponsored a reenactment of a suovetaurilia, a feast that allowed the campus to experience that ancient world through sound, smell, and taste. The rowing experience put an aspect of that world right into the students’ muscle memory.
“When we experience these other senses, we can experience the emotions they may have triggered,” Wickkiser said. “That understanding can prompt us to ask important questions that shed light not only on the past, but the present.”