The Journal of San Diego History
the Olympia (1897), the Nautilus (1904), the Twilight Maids (1904), and the YWCA
(1912). Women’s collegiate rowing began with the formation of the Rowing Club of
State Normal School of San Diego in 1898. Women formed four crews—the Sylphs,
the Dog-Watch, the Sobre las Olas, and the Asparas—to compete in local regattas.
SDRC provided quarters for many of the women’s teams, including locker rooms,
showers, and equipment storage.^4
Crouse recalled that she and her sisters rowed for fun and adventure:Our boyfriends would go out in their boats, rowing or sailing,
and in the summertime would not come back for days, sometimes
weeks. When they did return, they would tell us what fun they
had had camping on some beach. They made it sound like a great
adventure. What fun it would be for ZLACs to have
such an adventure. We thought about it a great
deal. I personally dreamed of it day and night. We
could row, sail and swim as well as the boys. Why
couldn’t we do as they did? The answer was always
the same. We were girls, and girls just didn’t do
such things.^5SDRC’s Henry H. Palmer joined Crouse and her friends
on their early escapades. A Princeton University-educated
rower and swimmer, Palmer had come to San Diego to
recover his health. He helped ZLAC to acquire its first
barge, taught the crew to row, attended parties, and
chaperoned the young women when they took holiday
outings to Rancho Guajome, San Luis Rey Mission, El Cajon
valley, and San Miguel Mountain. Crouse described him as
ZLAC’s best friend, “a perfect gentleman in every respect,In the late 1920s, ZLAC purchased land on Mission Bay in Pacific Beach and planned to build a new clubhouse.
This view of Pacific Beach, looking south from Mount Soledad, shows Mission Beach (upper right) and Crown
Point (upper left) with Point Loma in the distance, 1928. ©SDHS #8328.Woodblock print showing
the ZLAC boathouse, 1907,
signed by Leda Klauber.
Courtesy of ZLAC Rowing
Club, Ltd.