Belmont High School junior Nolan Zimkus won’t forget Saturday, May 17 easily. It was, after all, prom night. It also happened to be the night an Arlington man stole a trailer load of 11 racing shells from a parking lot in Arlington, wrecking them along the Arlington/Belmont town line.
“I was on the bus coming home from prom [when I heard],” Zimkus said. “When we got to the high school, I went over there to see if I could help.”
He spent the next while salvaging oars and rigging, some of that time still wearing his prom finery. The boats were collected as evidence, he said.
“The loss of our team’s rowing shells will have a devastating effect on the A-B Crew program, which is home to 80 young rowers in Arlington and Belmont,” the group wrote in a statement. “Our organization is working to assess the impact and determine how it will affect the future of the program.”
A community outreach page, established by the Arlington-Belmont Crew, raised $77,104 of its $100,000 goal Saturday morning.
Zimkus, 16, is finishing up his junior year at Belmont High. He’s been rowing with the club for three years–a total of six seasons.
“We are working hard to keep a positive mindset,” he said. “We’re continuing to get in as many workouts as possible.”
Leela Howe, 15, is a first-year rower and a member of the novice girls team. The Belmont High School first heard the news on Sunday morning. She has felt her emotions shift from sadness to confidence as the team has focused on rebuilding efforts.
“The most important thing about the team is the people,” she said. “And together, we can come back from something as tragic as this.”
According to the statement, the boats, stored on a trailer, were taken from Spy Pond in Arlington Saturday night, driven through Arlington into Belmont. Most of the 11 boats were damaged or destroyed. According to the club’s President of the Board of Directors, Salpi Der Stepanian, the boats are expensive, ranging from $7,000 up to $30,000 depending on the type.
For now, the rowing community has rallied, with one boat maker, Vespoli, loaning the crew boats so they can compete in the Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association races on Sunday in Fall River, which is the last race of the season, according to Zimkus.
“The rowing community has been really positive. A lot of teams have reached out,” he said.
According to a story published in March 2024, two Belmont High School students started the original school crew team in 2005. They combined with Arlington in 2009 to form A-B Crew.
The program peaked at about 130 kids a few years ago, with close to an even number of Belmont and Arlington students. Today, the program consists of about two-thirds Arlington students because the organization’s “summer learn to row” program funnels through Arlington’s parks and recreation department.
To donate to the group’s recovery effort, abcrewteam.org/fundraising/