64
| SUNRAYS JANUARY 2014
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
I
t all started in Philadelphia on the
Schuykill River in 2000. Always
drawn to water, Marty Mirabal took a
break from apartment hunting to watch
a group of rowers traveling down the
river―“I want to do that!” she thought.
Soon after, she researched and found a
group of rowers in the area; so, she took
the plunge and decided to join them.
At first, Marty was regarded by her row-
ing group as a fragile person. Little did
they know this lady! Chemo may have
stripped her of her hair, but she wasn’t
going to put up with being treated dif-
ferently. The next time she showed up
to rowing class, her entire head was
covered with temporary tattoos and her
mode of dress outrageously colorful. It
worked―she was one of ‘em!
A lesson in rowing
Marty showed me a large framed picture
of “Boathouse Row” in Philadelphia. To
me, it looked like a strip of beautiful up-
scale residential homes on the river, ev-
ery one lit up like a Christmas tree. I was
so wrong. There are 15 houses (some 150
years old) organized by the Schuylkill
Navy, an association of rowing clubs. All
of the houses are dedicated to boaters.
Boathouse Row is the center for training
national and world rowers, including a
long list of Olympians.
Now, for those of us non-rowers, there
are three types of rowing boats: sweep
boats, sculling boats, and dragon boats.
It takes 11 months of training and a lot
of stamina to row a sweep boat, because
only one oar is used. If you yearn to be a
sculling boat rower, add another month’s
training. Marty took up rowing when she
was in her mid-40s and pointed out that
safety takes high priority in the training
process, especially for older rowers.
If you’ve ever seen a 30-foot dragon
boat, you know how majestic it is with
its brilliantly-colored dragon head and
tail. Seated at its head is a drummer who
keeps the beat and, at its tail, a tiller to
steer the course. Between the two are
up to 20 highly-muscled rowers seated
side by side. With that much power and
physical drive, the dragon glides on top
of the water at a very fast clip.
On to competition!
Teams are pitted against teams of the
same age group, and that’s only fair.
Over the course of her rowing career,
Marty competed in all three boat cat-
egories and in both National and World
competitions, which are held every four
years.
Marty’s first World Dragon Boat compe-
tition was held in Rome in 2002. After
a brilliant surge right out of the chute
in the 500-meter race, her team’s boat
was rammed by an out-of-control boat.
They recovered and earned a 1st place
Energy and
Passion
Personified
By Tina Berryman
PHOTOS BY BURTON ANES
