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Saint Augustine University became the first HBCU to create an all-women’s rowing team in the country, a sport known to be dominated by white men.

Since last summer, the team has been working and was approved and authorized by the American Collegiate Rowing Association. They have been participating in virtual competitions and plan on doing live water competitions this fall.

So far, there are five women on the team, which enables them to compete

in the Quad category. But their coach, Dr. Mark Janas, plans to add five more to the team to be eligible to compete in the other eight categories. Dr. Janas also plans on making a difference with this new team.

“Rowing, like cycling, hasn’t traditionally been a part of the HBCU experience, and we want to change that,” Dr. Janas said.

According to one of the SAU rowing team members Mikahya Hill, when they researched other HBCUs with a rowing team, their research took them to only one: Howard University. Howard was the first HBCU to have started a rowing team back in the ’60s.

Hill says that they’re ready to get out into the water, be a part of the moment that adds more “melanin” to the sport, and be an inspiration to other Black girls.

“I wanted to be a part of that type of movement and change a predominantly male white sport [with] a little bit of melanin magic, to have Black girls doing it,” Hill said. “I want to do this so we can inspire other Black girls at other schools who want to be rowers.”

According to a study done by Global Sports Matters, the NCAA women rowers were 73 percent White, 5 percent Hispanic/Latino, 3 percent Asian, and 2 percent Black in 2020. Among rowers of all levels, 13.75% of all rowers in this country were people of color in 2020.

“ACRA is proud to do whatever we can to support our sport’s growth and encourage SAU and other HBCUs to join our organization,” ACRA president Cam Brown told ABC 11.

Since rowing is an expensive sport due to proper equipment, SAU’s rowing team is currently accepting donations.