ODBC - Where it all began
The history of Alexandria rowing began with the
Old Dominion Boat
Club (ODBC). Founded in 1880, the ODBC is the one of the oldest
boat clubs in the United States. The Club was formed by a group of
Alexandrians to promote recreational water activities on the
Potomac. Rowing was the primary activity, and boats were available
to members to row up and down the river. The ODBC resides in a
clubhouse built in 1923 at the foot of King Street, on the Potomac
River in Old Town Alexandria.
 In 1947, members Julian Whitestone and Jack Franklin began training young
men from George Washington and Francis Hammond High Schools at the boat club,
and scholastic rowing was underway. As more high schoolers caught the rowing
bug, they decided they needed some help, and in 1951 started Alexandria Crew
Boosters.
By 1960, the program had grown to the point that the school system and Crew
Boosters took over prime responsibility from the Old Dominion Boat Club. This
evolved into the TC
Williams High School varsity rowing program.
In late 1998, ODBC President Steve Danzig and Rowing Committee chairman Jim
Dooley (GWHS crew alumnus '67) approached Alexandria Crew Boosters with a
proposal that ODBC again sponsor youth crews. ODBC Select Rowing
was the result. Starting in 1999, rowers wore ODBC colors of orange & black for
the first time in many years.
Since that first season, the ODBC crews have
competed in regattas up and down the east coast, including the
prestigious Head of the Charles in Boston and the Head of the
Schuylkill in Philadelphia.
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