A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team

The Chicago Sprints is a regatta hosted by the Lincoln Park Boat Club and held annually at the Lincoln Park Lagoon in Chicago. In Chapter 8, Coach Jessica tells the team that they will be competing in the Chicago Sprints in a few months and describes it as “one of the biggest Midwest races” (104).

In Chapter 5, when the team visits the University of Wisconsin to use its rowing tank, they learn that the coxswain is “the person who usually sits in the stern of the boat, facing the bow” (48). Additionally, the coxswain must be a slight person who “coordinate[s] the power and rhythm of the rowers” (48).

In rowing, a crab or “catching a crab” is an error that takes place when a rower loses control of their oar. In Chapter 8, Cooper explains that it happens “when a rower can’t remove the oar blade from the water at the finish of the drive” (113). Because the momentum of the boat is so strong, the oar gets trapped in the water and the handle flies back into the rower’s chest or over their head, often flipping them backward.

An erg machine, also known as an indoor rower, is a piece of exercise equipment used in training for rowers that simulates the action of rowing. In Chapter 2, Cooper describes the concept of indoor rowers as looking “like a motorcycle with a sliding seat” and having “a handle that you pull back and forth” (23).

The Grand Rapids Invitational is a major rowing event for high school crew teams that takes place each year in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1999, Cooper and the Manley crew team compete there and finish third in their division. It is also the last time that they race together.

The Lincoln Park Lagoon is a small, humanmade body of water in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago. It is the primary place where the Manley crew team practices rowing.

Manley Career Academy is a public high school on the West Side of Chicago. It is the school attended by Cooper and his teammates on the rowing team. In Chapter 1, Cooper explains that “Manley is known for its success in basketball, but [it] also ha[s] a rep for being one of the most violent schools on the West Side” (9-10).  In 1997, Ken Alpart introduced the rowing program at Manley after many other schools turned down the opportunity.

A shell, or more commonly a racing shell, is the term used for the long, narrow boat in the sport of rowing. The two primary sizes in competitive rowing are four-person and eight-person, although shells exist for one or two rowers as well.

The St. Louis Regatta is the second major event that the Manley crew team competes in. Cooper points out that it takes place at Creve Coeur Lake and is a much bigger event, and much nicer, than the Chicago Sprints.

In rowing, the stroke, or stroke seat, is the individual located closest to the stern of the boat and to the coxswain. This is one of the most important positions in the boat because they set the rhythm and rate for the rest of the crew team.

The University of Pennsylvania is an Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The university has a tradition-rich rowing program and is the alma mater of both Ken Alpart and Mike O’Gorman, who rowed there and later started the rowing program at Manley.