SEBASTIAN — Luke Margolis fell short of his goal to set an individual rowing record, but he still came back to Riverview Park to root for his Sebastian River crew teammates.
If needed, he would have been happy to jump back on the ERG rowing machine for a shift as the Sharks established a combined world record for the longest continuous row in the mixed 19-and-under category by rowing for 50 hours.
He wasn’t needed as T.J. Scannell, a senior, and Melvin Abt, a junior, rowed the final two one-hour shifts on the Concept2 indoor rowing machine pushing the Sharks to a total of 504,310 meters rowed in 50 hours.
Earlier, Margolis fell short in his bid to row as an individual for 50 consecutive hours. The 6-foot-3, 270-pound senior halted his effort at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, after 22 hours.
The rowing began at Noon Friday, Jan. 17, during the Erg-A-Thon Fundraiser, which was held at the same time as the Sebastian River Fine Art and Music Festival.
“From 3 to 4 a.m. was the worst,” said Margolis, who hopes to row for Stetson University this fall after recently being accepted to attend the school in DeLand. “Mentally, I felt terrible. My back was sore and my legs were tired. I almost gave up six different times. My coaches and teammates helped so much. I can’t remember a lot of it. The whole thing was a blur at that point. It was pretty bad.”
A massage Sunday morning before coming back out to the park was a welcome relief in what now is a workout to remember.
“If I ever do something like this again, I have to make sure to stay warm,” said Margolis, who said the temperature at the park dropped down to 36 degrees at one point. “The water and everything I tried to ingest was cold. That was a mistake. I don’t know why my body stopped digesting; nothing was absorbing. I was getting none of the nutrients I needed.”
Abt rowed for another minute unofficially after the 50-hour mark was reached at 2 p.m. Sunday. He wanted to savor the moment.
“This is one of the best feelings to get this last shift for the world record,” said Abt, who originally wasn’t scheduled to finish the event. “We’d like to make this sport better known to the public. It was really great how so many people came out to support Luke at 2 or 3 in the morning.”
Scannell rowed a shift at 9 a.m. Sunday and then came back to row half a shift from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
He was followed by freshman Malik Bellamy, who rowed from 11:30 a.m. to Noon, before Scannell volunteered to row for another hour after a teammate was stuck in traffic and couldn’t get to the park in time.
“T.J. took (the shift) happily; they stick together as a team,” said Sebastian River coach Tom Lange, who started the crew program in the fall of 2005 after graduating from Florida Tech. “He was there to pick it up. An event like this will make us a better team in the long run.”
Scannell never knew about the crew program until a hike approximately a year ago near Canal 54, where he saw the team training near its boathouse in Fellsmere.
“I went to the summer camp and joined the team,” said Scannell, 17, who is taking the better-late-than-never approach during his senior year. “We have to raise money to put a team out there. These boats aren’t cheap, so we have to have some type of fundraiser. I like how we have come together to do this – 50 hours is an accomplishment.”
Breana Thornton, a sophomore coxswain, enjoyed a new role during the weekend, helping to sell refreshments with her teammates both before and after the 50-hour row was completed.
“I took a shift at 3 a.m.,” said Thornton, 15, who also camped out with her teammates. “It was a little cold and we were all bundled up in blankets. I’m a coxswain, so I never row. This gave me a better understanding (of the sport).”
Thornton’s good friend, Savannah Todd, also a sophomore, then rowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.
“My hands were numb,” said the 15-year-old Todd. “During a race on the water, you get hot and your adrenaline gets going. This was different.”
Bellamy, who also sold refreshments Sunday, had a feeling that he might be needed to also row a shift. The freshman was ready to help.
“I want to help put the team on the map,” Bellamy said. “In the fall, this was one of the hardest sports and things to learn. But, it’s paid off.”
In the past, Sebastian River has set records for tandem heavyweight mixed 19-and-under 100,000 meters in 7 hours, 23 seconds; small team lightweight women 19-and-under 100,000 meters in 7:22:03, large team lightweight mixed 19-and-under 100,000 meters in 6:39:22 and 4 ERG million meters in 20:23:00.
“By going 50 hours, we set the bar high for another high school team to break it,” Lange said. “We won’t know how the fundraising has gone until the kids turn in all the money. In the past, the most we got was $12,000. I’d like to see if we can get past that. The sport is growing and the kids have made quite a commitment. Both nights were pretty cold. The coaches and I, when we went through what we would do for training, planned this into it. We like to have them on the water, but we also like to get them on the rowing machine or in the weight room to strengthen their endurance.”
An eight-man scull can cost $40,000 and a four-man scull can cost $20,000.
A set of oars might cost as much as $3,000 and an ERG machine ranges to as much as $1,000. Sebastian River High School considers the sport to be a club team, which makes fundraisers imperative.
“It’s amazing what kids will do if you ask them,” Lange said. “They’re not only here, but they’re also volunteering at the Frog Leg Festival. We also get a lot of help from our graduates. The young adults have really helped us with their time and money. You can see the work ethic and determination that they’ve built their careers upon.”
Sebastian River will open its home season Feb. 15 with Opening Day at Canal 54 with 11 high schools and clubs entered in the event.