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Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, New
Jersey, he ran track and cross country. But when he
arrived at nearby Stockton State College, he sought
a sport that presented more of a challenge. A friend
suggested the crew club.
“I wanted to do more than just run,” he explained. “I
wanted to use my whole body. I wanted it to be more than
a pair of legs and a set of lungs.”
As it is with so many other rowers, his love affair with
the sport remained torrid after he finished college. He
earned a spot with the Vesper Boat Club, established in
1865 and headquartered on historic Boathouse Row along
the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. He rowed for Vesper
for eight years and with the nearby Malta Boat Club for
another five. During that time, he was part of an eight-
man team that took top honors twice at the prestigious
Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.
When D’Italia landed in Mount Pleasant in the early
1990s, he was concerned that his rowing days might be
over. However, he soon discovered Blyth and company,
though he also found that Shem Creek isn’t the best place
to test the capabilities of a racing scull and the strength
and stamina of a rower.
“A single scull is not conducive to chop or waves. I was
swamped many times by tugboat waves,” he said.
The Charleston Rowing Club later moved its
base of operations to a former canoe-rental facility
at Palmetto Islands County Park in Mount Pleasant.
Club members now can access the Wando River by
way of Horlbeck Creek.
Blyth, 67, also a Mount Pleasant resident, last year had
hip replacement surgery that kept him off the water for
five months. He was quick to point out that the injury was
not a result of rowing.
“Rowing is the best aerobic exercise, and it’s fun,” he
said. “I like to row all over the harbor. I’m out there for
fun and adventure.”
He added that he was drawn to rowing because he
“never got along well with engines.” He spent a lot of time
in Arkansas as a child with his grandparents, though he
“lived all over” because his father was in the Marine Corps.
He learned all about sailing, canoeing and rowing at a Red
Cross instructors’ school in Wisconsin and taught others
about these watersports. When he relocated to Mount
Pleasant in 1978, he sailed off Sullivan’s Island.
Still looking for a hobby he could call his own, Blyth,
who already had a pilot’s license by the time he landed in
the Lowcountry, took up flying until the cost of fuel made
Ellen Becker gets ready to row on Horlbeck Creek.