AUSTIN — A trailer fire destroyed row boats and oars belonging to Austin Rowing Club and Texas Crew ahead of a competition in Oklahoma City -- but not their winning spirit.
The teams were on their way to the Stars & Stripes River Festival competition on Friday when the trailer carrying their equipment caught on fire in Alvarado, Texas, about 30 minutes south of Fort Worth.
The Austin Rowing Club, a nonprofit organization based out of the Waller Creek boathouse in Downtown Austin, lost six of its best boats and at least eight oars in the fire, its president Nicole Goad told KVUE.
Texas Crew, a UT-Austin student-run club rowing team, lost three boats, a trailer, its oars, and all of its equipment, president David Garza said.
"To lose a boat is really hard, especially when you're losing six. The value of those boats is over $100,000, and when you're a nonprofit, you primarily rely on donations to get new equipment," Goad said.
Most of these donations come from people who believe in the nonprofit's mission, one that's been around since the 1980s: making sure everyone gets a chance to ride on the water.
"The way we do that is by offering rowing services at a reduced, discount rate to people who might not otherwise afford to row," Goad said. "And then to have this large loss of equipment, it's just a lot to go through."
But Goad's not too worried. She knows the community will be there for the Austin Rowing Club just like the club has been there for the community.
"A little bit shocked, definitely sad. But you know, at the end of the day, when it comes to rowing, just get on the boat, and you keep rowing," Goad said. "We're original Austinites, right? We keep Austin rowing, and we like to keep it weird."
Some good news, though: all of the Austin Rowing Club members who competed Saturday placed either first, second, or third at the competition, Goad said. It's thanks to help of Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma City Rowing, who let the team borrow their boats for the competition.
Both the Austin Rowing Club and Texas Crew are raising funds to replace their damaged equipment.