AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin student-run club rowing team is asking for help after an accident resulted in the destruction of the equipment needed to get out on the water.
"When you go to regatta, you know the trailers coming with your boats that you’re going to race in, that you’re going to pull your heart out in. To have a fear of 'Maybe, I’m not racing,' it was like probably the worst experience I've ever had," said co-fundraising chairman, Nicholas Ray.
According to the team, their boats were in transit to Oklahoma City for the Stars and Stripes Regatta on June 22 when an accident on the road ended up with the loss of three boats, oars, and their trailer.
No one was hurt in the accident, but the loss suffered equipment-wise makes it so they will be unable to compete in the fall.
"Without the trailer, we can’t go to competitions, and then without our boats, we can’t row out on the waters. One of the boats that was on there, was one of our nicest boats that we’ve used for competitions in Tennessee and Georgia. Not having a good racing shell to row in, that’s going to be a big loss for the team," said equipment manager, Elizabeth Green.
The group rows on Lady Bird Lake six days of the week at 5:15 a.m. They are a student-run organization who is asking for support of Texas Crew Foundation, their alumni association.
According to Texas Crew president David Garza, the nonprofit entirely supports the Texas Crew teams.
"We have to pay for everything ourselves. All this equipment was stuff that we did a lot of fundraising for, worked extremely hard for," said Texas Crew head coach, Peter Rosberg.
The nonprofit also lost their five top boats in that trailer fire. They rely on donations and volunteers and said the loss will likely impact their ability to provide programming.
If you'd like to know more or are interested in donating to Texas Crew visit its GoFundMe* here. The Austin Rowing Club has also set up its own GoFundMe page.*
*This Gofundme.com site is not managed by Spectrum News. For more information on how the site works and the rules, visit gofundme.com/safety.