Photo by: SMC Athletics / Piper Westrom
ROW | Gaels Christen New Pair Boat, Named for Alum Jack Coyne
9/9/2025 10:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
MORAGA, Calif. — It was a day for celebration on Friday, September 5, as the Saint Mary's Rowing Program christened their new two boat, the Jack Coyne. The boat was named for and christened by Saint Mary's alum Jack Coyne '67, who was SMC Rowing's first captain, rowing as a part of their lightweight 4+ boat. Coyne, surrounded by fellow Saint Mary's alums and current rowers and members of the coaching staff, helped host the christening event, as Saint Mary's Rowing continues to show upward growth in both roster size and level of competition in recent history.
The festivities began with a welcome prayer, given by Saint Mary's Athletic Chaplain Mary Volmer. "May we all find calm water, and weather the rough together." was the resonating message from Chaplain Volmer's opening prayer, a message that rings true on the water and figuratively in life.
Following the prayer, Jack stepped up to christen the boat, but first shared some words of his fond memories of his time at Saint Mary's. As the boat was christened, Jack recited a traditional Gaelic toast; "May you have enough happiness to keep you human, enough hope to keep you happy, enough failure to keep you humble, enough success to keep you eager, enough friends to give you comfort, enough wealth to meet your needs, enough faith to banish depression, and enough determination to make each day better than yesterday."
The day ceremony culminated with Head Coach Brian Ebke sharing a state of the program. "The program is in an awesome place right now. We had a very good year last year in all regards. From a competitive standpoint, we've been steadily moving up in our conference…We have 49 women on the team, we started with 25 or 30 four years ago when I first got here, and I remember the days when we could barely get two eights and a four on the water at practice, and today, we had five eights, with three additional left over…Our athletes also do a great job with their academics and have really worked to build our visibility on our campus, and really take pride in being Saint Mary's student-athletes."
#GaelsRise
The festivities began with a welcome prayer, given by Saint Mary's Athletic Chaplain Mary Volmer. "May we all find calm water, and weather the rough together." was the resonating message from Chaplain Volmer's opening prayer, a message that rings true on the water and figuratively in life.
Following the prayer, Jack stepped up to christen the boat, but first shared some words of his fond memories of his time at Saint Mary's. As the boat was christened, Jack recited a traditional Gaelic toast; "May you have enough happiness to keep you human, enough hope to keep you happy, enough failure to keep you humble, enough success to keep you eager, enough friends to give you comfort, enough wealth to meet your needs, enough faith to banish depression, and enough determination to make each day better than yesterday."
The day ceremony culminated with Head Coach Brian Ebke sharing a state of the program. "The program is in an awesome place right now. We had a very good year last year in all regards. From a competitive standpoint, we've been steadily moving up in our conference…We have 49 women on the team, we started with 25 or 30 four years ago when I first got here, and I remember the days when we could barely get two eights and a four on the water at practice, and today, we had five eights, with three additional left over…Our athletes also do a great job with their academics and have really worked to build our visibility on our campus, and really take pride in being Saint Mary's student-athletes."
#GaelsRise
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