All in same boat — and loving it

The Portage Lakes Rowing Association has 21 dues-paying members.

NEW FRANKLIN, Ohio (AP) — Cindy Parish is a 50-year-old transplanted Southern Californian who now lives in Bath and works in the continuing education office at Cleveland State University.

Ellen Wilson, 60, lives in North Canton and teaches language arts to middle school pupils in the Canton Local School District.

Fifty-five-year-old Jean Vossberg lives in the Portage Lakes area and works as an engineer for a pump company in northern Summit County.

Lynette Janke, 58, a resident of the Highland Square area of Akron, teaches music at Buchtel High School.

All have grown children and all are divorced. But these are coincidences rather than bonding agents.

What brings these women and nearly a dozen others together at 6 on Sunday mornings is rowing.

“It’s our turn,” Parish said, explaining why they participate in this physically demanding sport. “We’ve been taking care of husbands, children and jobs for the last 25 years. Now, it’s our turn to do something that we truly enjoy doing.”

Parish, Wilson, Vossberg and Janke are members of the Portage Lakes Rowing Association. The four-year-old organization was the brainchild of Barak Kraus, a 38-year-old real-estate broker who lives on Mud Lake in the Portage Lakes.

The association has 21 dues-paying members. They practice on the Portage Lakes every Sunday morning and Tuesday evening and compete in races in Northeast Ohio and Columbus.

Two-thirds of the members are women, most in the 50-to-60-year-old range and with no experience in rowing until a few years ago.

In fact, Janke is one of the few women in the rowing association with any water sports in her background.

“I grew up in a family that was on Lake Erie all the time, and I still go to Mom’s place up there,” said Janke, who has three grown daughters. “But I had never been on a crew before 2005, when Barak started the Portage Lakes Rowing Association.

“I just figured I’m divorced, I raised my children, it was my turn to play, and, what the heck, I’d give rowing a shot.”

Kraus, who is married and has two young children, isn’t surprised that his club is made up mostly of women.

“The Western Reserve Rowing Association in Cleveland is the same way,” he said, “and it’s pretty much that way throughout the country.”

Statistics from the NCAA reflect what is happening across the country.

In 1982, there were 862 collegiate female athletes rowing at the Division I, or larger-school, level. By 1995, there were 1,804 female rowers. A decade later, there were 5,101 in Division I.

Kraus believes there are several aesthetic reasons rowing is popular with women.

“When you look at the boat from the land or on TV,” he said, “it’s very elegant and the synchronicity of the rowing makes it look very beautiful. That is very appealing to women.”

Rhoda Procuk, another member of the Portage Lakes Rowing Association, agrees.

“Rowing is like ballet on water,” said Procuk, 50, of Brecksville, who sells commercial real estate in Cleveland. “It’s very elegant. And when you add a sunrise over the water, that is really beautiful.”

The twice-weekly, two-hour workouts on 250-acre Turkeyfoot Lake, 50-acre Rex Lake and 85-acre Mud Lake are physically and mentally demanding.

That suits Parish, who first rowed at age 42 with the Long Beach Rowing Club in Southern California.

“You are really pushing yourself, and, believe me, we sweat a lot, even in April,” she said. “But at the same time there is all this physical exertion, there is something else about it that is so fluent and smooth. That whole thing is just very relaxing.”

The benefit of the exercise is undeniable.

“It truly is a great cardiovascular sport,” said Dr. Brad Banko, 46, of Cuyahoga Falls, who is the club’s treasurer. “But what it makes such a wonderful and beneficial lifetime sport is the smooth motion — there is very little stress on the joints. Most of the work is actually done by the legs and heart.”

The association has six rowable boats — all second hand purchases from college programs and defunct rowing clubs — and a pontoon craft that is a safety boat. The dues of $225 a session are used to rent dock, storage and hall space at Craftsmen Hall off Rex Lake Road.

The summer session began in April and extends through July. The fall session will then begin and run through November.

The association competes annually in three races in Cleveland, another on the Cuyahoga River and one in Columbus. The highlight to date was capturing a silver medal in the mixed eight-person race against 31 boats in the Summer Racing League in Cleveland last August.

“That was a thrill,” Kraus said. “We know what we’re up against — Western Reserve has around 500 members — but we go and just try to do our best.”

But what some contend the association does best has very little to do with water and stroke technique.

“The gourmet breakfast each Sunday is unbelievable,” Janke said. “We used to eat doughnuts, but now it’s advanced to a gourmet feast that is fantastic.

“It is exercise turned into a nice little social club with great people and great food.”