Undine Barge Club is an amateur rowing

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

 club located at #13 Boathouse Row in the historic Boathouse Row

Boathouse Row

-Early 19th century beginnings:The history of Boathouse Row begins with the construction of the Fairmount Dam and the adjacent Water Works. The Dam was built in 1810 as part of a lock at the Falls of the Schuylkill to bring coal downriver. The Dam submerged rapids and transformed the Schuylkill...

 along the Schuylkill River

Schuylkill River

The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...

 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. The club was founded in 1856. Undine was not initially listed as a founder of the Schuylkill Navy

Schuylkill Navy

The Schuylkill Navy is an association of amateur rowing clubs of Philadelphia. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States...

, but is now considered a founder because an Undine member, Mr. B. F. Van dyke, was elected to represent the Club as secretary treasurer of the Navy from its birth in 1858. In 1860, Undine purchased Keystone Barge Club's (the 1st) boat and equipment, as Keystone had disposed of its boathouse.

The Club's name is derived from the Legend of Undine

Ondine (mythology)

Undines , also called ondines, are elementals, enumerated as the water elementals in works of alchemy by Paracelsus. They also appear in European folklore as fairy-like creatures; the name may be used interchangeably with those of other water spirits. Undines are said to be able to gain a soul by...

, and the Club has an upriver house for social functions named Castle Ringstetten, which is the name of the castle in the legend. The boathouse and Castle Ringstetten were designed by renowned Victorian-era architect Frank Furness

Frank Furness

Frank Heyling Furness was an acclaimed American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his eclectic, muscular, often idiosyncratically scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan...

 and exemplify his original ideas that laid the foundation for modern architecture.

Prominent members

• Jen Klapper - 2009 US National Team member (Adaptive Mixed Four)
• Mike Naughton 2009 US National Team Coaching Staff
• Meghan Sarbanis - 2009 US National Team member (Lightweight Women's Single Sculls) 2003 US National Team member (Lightweight Women's Pair)
• Joe Quaid - 2007 US National Team Coaching Staff
• Sam Saylor - 2006 National Team member, 2007 US National Team member (Men’s Lightweight Quadruple Sculls)
• Jon D’Alba - 2006 National Team member, 2007 US National Team member (Men’s Lightweight Quadruple Sculls)
• Cody Lowry- 2006 National Team member, 2007 US National Team member (Men’s Lightweight Quadruple Sculls)
• Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg - 2006 National Team member, 2007 US National Team member (Men’s Lightweight Quadruple Sculls), 2010 National Team member
• Andrew Quinn - 2009 US National Team member (Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls) 2008 US National Team member (Men’s Lightweight Quadruple Scull)
• Tim Young- 1996 Olympic Team member, Silver Medalist

External links

• Undine Barge Club on wikimapia.org