Cultivating Leaders Through Tradition

By: Odegaard Fields ’26 and Alexander Powers ’26

THE FOUNDING PRINCIPAL of the Regimental Monomoy Team was best verbalized by CDR Lonnie Christian: “We’re a maritime academy, so everyone should row.” The training staff who build the Regimental Preparatory Training schedule ensure that each Midshipman Under Guidance (MUG) company rows twice during their first week at MMA. For many midshipmen, it’s their first time on the ocean.

As the open lifeboats known as Monomoys cast off their mooring pennants and clumsily row out into Castine Harbor, another evolution quietly begins. The midshipman coaches, drawing on the experience of past leadership roles and previous competitions, start scouting for strong, determined, and motivated MUGs to represent Maine Maritime Academy on the East River for the George C. Previll Memorial Inter-Academy Monomoy Challenge.

The Inter-Academy Monomoy Challenge is an annual rowing event between Maine Maritime Academy, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, SUNY Maritime College, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Each college competes in heavy wooden or fiberglass boats once used by the Coast Guard and as merchant-ship lifeboats. Rowers rely on seamanship, communication, and grit.

Established by the Marine Society of the City of New York, the Challenge takes place annually at SUNY Maritime in New York City. Teams compete in a round-robin race and a seamanship skills event designed to highlight the reward of teamwork and unity over
individual strength. Afterward, everyone gathers for a celebratory BBQ and awards ceremony—a moment of camaraderie that reminds us that although we compete fiercely on the water, we’re united by the same purpose: upholding the traditions and values of the maritime profession.

This year, Maine Maritime Academy took first place in both the Monomoy head-to-head race and the Seamanship Skills Competition, reclaiming the trophy from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and bringing it home to Castine. The victory was hard-earned—built on pre-dawn practices, late-night seamanship exercises, and countless hours spent perfecting the rhythm that turns a group of individuals into a single, cohesive crew.

The 2025 training staff were members of last year’s competition team—many of whom returned to row alongside this year’s MUGs. That blend of experience and fresh determination created something special: a collaboration beyond class rank, where mentorship flowed naturally, and lessons were passed down inside the boat. Returning to campus now as training staff, these midshipman remember the uncertainty and steep learning curve that comes with your first morning on the water. Unlike the structured shoreside schedule, leadership in a Monomoy isn’t about command, it’s about example, patience, pride, and teaching through shared effort.

That exchange of knowledge, tradition, and grit is what makes the Monomoy program so meaningful. It bridges the gap between classes, builds confidence in future leaders, and creates a sense of Academy pride that cannot be forced.

As the team fine tunes their techniques and race day approaches, the coxswain will eventually stop calling cadence, calling the rowers’ attention to the sound of the oars dipping in and out of the water. The midshipmen tune in to the boat’s natural rhythm and learn the value of focusing outward. It soon becomes clear that the fastest boats are the ones that move in sync. This lesson, one that goes far beyond their time at MMA, inspired the team motto: “The only way to row faster is to row faster together.”

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