The late Greg Kannerstein ’63 was honored this week when the Haverford crew team christened its newest boat “Mr. Haverford.” That’s the nickname the beloved Kannerstein earned over the course of 41 years at the College, where he served as dean of the college, admission director, baseball coach, professor, and more. The decision to name the 8-person boat for Kannerstein, who was athletics director when the Crew team launched as a club sport in 1998, was an easy one says William Leeser ’15, a captain of the 25-member team, along with Nora Okoth ’16, and Tina Rothschild ’16. “Greg Kannerstein helped start the team when he was AD,” says Lesser. “He hired Coach Val [Valeria Gospodinov, a member of Bulgaria’s 1988 Olympic rowing team], and he was one of our biggest supporters.” The boat was purchased using funds from a variety of sources, including donations to the team through the Athletics Department, and the proceeds from fund raising efforts and the sale of an old boat. During the fall and spring seasons, the team, which each year welcomes new members with no rowing experience, practices out of the Villanova University boathouse in Conshohocken, Pa.
Photos by Brad Larrison.