The Wolverine Crew was started in the Fall of 2000 thanks to a Belen Senior who had trained the prior summer at the American Barge Club, while thinking how great it would be to have a rowing team at Belen. Convinced that rowing, always considered the sport for the academically inclined and the prestige sport of the Ivy League schools, would be a perfect fit for Belen, a school known for student excellence in both academics and athletics, Alex Echevarria (Class of 2001) talked his father into supporting his dream of bringing Crew to Belen. Believing that additional college opportunities would result for Belen students that participated in Crew, Alex Echevarria, Sr. agreed to help.

Early in the Fall of 2000, both father and son approached Principal Father Marcelino Garcia, SJ and Athletic Director Carlos Barquin with the idea. Both responded favorably provided that another party would be responsible for obtaining a rowing site, a coach, and equipment. The Echevarrias immediately went to work on securing a training site. Friend and rowing aficionado, Aldo Berti MD, agreed to allow Belen to use his facility on Blue Lagoon near the Miami International airport for a modest fee. With access to a small boathouse also used by the American Barge Club, located on a canal with access to the Blue Lagoon Lake, the next challenge was to recruit as many Belen students as possible for the new Belen Crew. By then, others were helping the cause and during the lunch periods, Alex Echevarria Sr., Rene Revuelta, Rick Laviña and other Belen parents spoke with Belen students about Crew. They placed a single scull on slings in the middle of the Belen Courtyard and let the students ask questions, touch the equipment, and sign up for a trial run at rowing at the Belen/ABC boathouse. Much to the amazement of the organizers more than 40 Belen students arrived on a pleasant fall day in October to try out. By the end of the fall semester, less than thirty had endured the frustrating first few months of crew training, but they would become the first to earn medals as Belen rowers the next Spring.

With great enthusiasm Belen’s rowers arrived at their first regatta. The Novice eight was stroked by Alfie Vargas, who Alex Echevarria would later recall “was more pumped up for a regatta than anyone I have ever seen. Blasting So Fresh and So Clean on his head phones, Alfie was the confident smack talker we would all learn to love, but as we reached the starting line for our first race we were all jittery. Some had forgotten how to scull the boat into position, while others were chatting to ease the anxiety. A loud and abrupt “shut up!” from coxswain Chris Camargo put a stop to the chatter and settled us down. Right at the start, six of the eight pair of shoes ripped off the footboards, including mine and Alfie’s, which comprised half of the stern. Even so, Alfie managed to maintain a stroke rating of nearly 40 strokes per minute and Belen powered that old boat to a first place finish in their heat and placed third overall in the Novice 8+ category in their first race!”

The Wolverines success continued during that inaugural season that began with the dream of one student that wanted to compete for his school and ended with a Belen boat winning a silver medal at the State Scholastic Championship regatta. “Our hard work and will to win was the deciding factor in our school’s being state runner-up; beating boats form well established programs like Edgewater, Leon, and Bishop Moore,” remarked Echevarria, who added “We placed second to a boat from state powerhouse Winter Park that would later place in the top five in the national championship. This was a great group of Belen student athletes and I will always be proud of them. At first we didn’t know if we would have equipment to row or someone to coach us, or if we’d even have a chance to win, but we stuck with it and proved that Belen Crew could be a success. Their story is an inspiration, and I will always hold them in a special place.”

In the third year, a lake near Belen owned by Rinker Materials was identified and through his contacts new steering committee member Jesus Inguanzo provided the team with its own rowing site on a secluded private lake deep within Rinker property. The school donated the original tent structures that became Belen’s first boathouse, and parents built the rest including the boat racks and a floating dock that was moved from the original site at ABC to Rinker in sections on the backs of parents’ boat trailers and pick-up trucks.

Since that humble but successful beginning, Belen’s rowing program has been a source of pride for the school and for the members of the Wolverine Crew. Over the years, many more experiences have become cherished memories for rowers and parents alike, but this is how it all began. Much gratitude is due all those who have contribute to the program over the years, but to the Echevarrias, and to the founding members of the steering committee; Alex Echevarria Sr., Rolo De Leon MD, Ray Casas, Rick Laviña, and Eduardo Garcia, and to Fr. Marcelino Garcia, S.J. we will always be especially grateful.

If you have stories and photos you’d like to share about the early days of the Wolverine Crew, please submit them to us and we will incorporate your memories in the official history of Belen Rowing. We also welcome stories from Belen alumni that rowed in Miami with the Big 5, at Miami Rowing Club, or elsewhere, and of course we welcome stories and photos from those of you that were rowers in Cuba. We look forward to preserving the memories and sharing them with the world! If you are a Belen alumni and were a rower, coxswain, or rowing coach or official, we think that you will especially enjoy this section and the Alumni Corner. We look forward to getting both up soon! Let us hear from you!