The Washington-Liberty High School crew team gathered April 18 at Columbia Island Marina to celebrate the christening of the girls’ newest eight-person-plus-coxswain racing shell.
It’s named in honor of distinguished alumna and rowing pioneer Ellie Cochran.
Coaches, rowers’ family members and team supporters assembled at the squad’s home boatyard near the Pentagon for the ceremony. The event recognized Cochran’s historic contributions to the sport and her legacy within the W-L rowing community.
An Arlington native, Cochran attended Walter Reed School, St. Ann’s Catholic School, Swanson Middle School and finally what then was named Washington-Lee High School, graduating in 1973.
In 1972, Cochran became the first female in the nation to win a gold medal at the prestigious National Schoolboy Regatta when she served as a coxswain for the W-L boys varsity two shell.
At the time, Cochran was the only girl on the W-L boys team as the school did not start a girls crew team until 1975. Cochran’s achievement helped pave the way for a future strong W-L girls rowing program.
In college, Cochran was a coxswain for the University of Virginia men’s team for two years before the school’s women’s program was established.
During the April 18 ceremony, Cochran and team leaders shared remarks before officially christening the new “Ellie Cochran” shell.
Washington-Liberty assistant boys crew coach Bob Sheppard came up with the idea to name the boat after Cochran. Sheppard had been a teammate of Cochran’s at W-L.
“I can still hear her proud mom’s voice in my ear saying Ellie was the first girl to ever win a medal at nationals,” Sheppard said.
Cochran, who now lives in Minnesota, attended the ceremony and wore that storied national medal in addition to displaying her vintage coxswain’s megaphone from her rowing days.
“I want to say how honored and humbled I am,” Cochran said. “Crew at W-L was always so wonderful and it’s so nice to see everybody here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Washington-Liberty head crew coach Kara McPhillips reflected on the importance of connecting today’s athletes to the program’s history.
“Our rowers and coxswains benefit every day from the barriers Ellie helped break,” McPhillips said. “Naming this shell in her honor is a reminder to our athletes that they are part of a long legacy of leadership, grit and excellence. We hope every crew that races in this boat feels inspired by the story behind its name.”
The christening was part of a busy morning for the W-L team, which also participated at a regatta in Georgetown.
The newly-named Ellie Cochran shell will be entered in regattas for the remainder of the spring high-school season, the first on April 25 on the Potomac River. The new eight shell is the first for the W-L program in a number of years.
“It’s rare to get a new shell, because they are expensive,” W-L team secretary Greta Menard said.
At the April 18 regatta on the Potomac River in Georgetown, all of the Washington-Liberty girls entries finished fourth. On the boys side, two varsity eight boats placed second and a second eight was third.
In final races, a boys novice A was fourth and a novice B seventh.
“It was especially exciting to see how we had improved relative to competition that we saw earlier this year, even boats that we raced just last weekend,” McPhillips said.
