About us
One team, thirty-six years deep
Who we are, where we came from, and where we put boats in the water.
Who we are
Marquette Crew is the student club rowing team at Marquette University, founded in 1990 by two women athletes, Liz Shanahan and Beth Ohmann. Today we field men’s and women’s squads, each with novice and varsity crews, racing fours and eights across the Midwest and beyond. More than 1,200 rowers have come through the program, and we’re currently the fastest-growing club sport on campus.
The team is open to any enrolled Marquette student. Men’s and women’s squads mostly share practices and travel together, coxswains race with either squad, and after one full year every novice automatically moves up to varsity. Grit, dedication, and teamwork are the words we keep coming back to — but so is family. Most people who join stay all four years.
Our history
Founded by two women with a borrowed boat
In 1990, Liz Shanahan and Beth Ohmann started a rowing club at a university that didn’t have one. What began as a handful of students and borrowed equipment grew, year over year, into a program fielding full men’s and women’s squads.
After one year of varsity, [DRAFT — supplied copy ends mid-sentence here. Placeholder continuation:] the program had outgrown its beginnings — more boats, more races, and a waiting list of students who’d never rowed but wanted to. Thirty-six years on, that’s still the story: a team that takes people who’ve never held an oar and turns them into racers.
⚠ History copy is incomplete in the source material — the highlighted passage is a draft pending the client’s real narrative.
Where we row
Milwaukee is the sixth teammate
Our boathouse sits on the Menomonee River — that’s home. Depending on the day and the water, practice might run up the Milwaukee River through downtown, and when the lake is calm we row out onto Lake Michigan itself, under the Hoan Bridge with the skyline behind us.
When Wisconsin winter closes the rivers, the team moves into Humphrey Hall, where rows of ergs and a lot of early mornings carry us through to the spring thaw.
A competitive club team
No cuts doesn’t mean no standards
We hold no tryouts, cut no one, offer no athletic scholarships, and don’t recruit high-school rowers. And every fall and spring we line up against programs that do — racing the Milwaukee River Challenge, Head of the Rock, Head of the Hooch, and the MACRA and ICRI championships.
That’s the deal at Marquette Crew: anyone can earn a seat, and every seat gets earned.
Ready to row?
Your seat in the boat is open.
No tryouts, no cuts, no experience required. Tell us you’re interested and we’ll take it from there.
Fill out the interest formTakes about two minutes. No commitment yet — we’ll just say hello.