On Saturday, February 28, 2026, the Hingham High School Crew team held their annual “Ergathon” fundraiser at local gym and partner to the program, MassMVMT. At this event, athletes formed teams of four, picked a theme or group costume, and rowed for an entire hour to support their team.
Teams competed to see who could get the most meters within the hour, devising various strategies to divide up the work within the team: some teams chose to do short sprints and others longer stretches. In the end the champions were teams “80s” and “Gru’s Crew” for the girls, and “Attack Helicopter” and “Catch Me If You Can” for the boys.
Saturday’s event also featured a parent row, allowing the families of athletes to get a taste of what their student’s sport is all about. Ginger Niehoff, a junior and member of Ergathon team Mari-Row, offered “I loved participating in the Ergathon because I was able to support my other teammates. It was incredible to see people of all ages sharing the same enthusiasm for rowing!”.
But beyond simply being a fun competition for the team, the Ergathon plays a major role in keeping the program running. In the past 20 years, the program has grown from just 20 athletes into the second largest sport at Hingham High School. With this exponential growth comes a large demand for resources, both on and off the water.
From oars to shells to coxswain equipment to tools and upkeep of the light plant, all the money raised through Ergathon is put to use, allowing athletes to continue to do the sport they love in a safe environment.
By early afternoon Saturday, the donations came to over $35,000 out of the $50,000 dollar goal from over 300 donations and donors. Athletes were asked to each make a page on the donation site, offering why the sport is so important to them. From this page donations could be made directly under a certain athlete. This created a drive for fundraising within the team, and the fundraising champions came out to be Spencer Farish and Nate Bradl.
Coco Prohm, a Sophomore, noted the unified effort that went into this large accomplishment, stating it was “to raise money for the team, by the team.”” To view these athlete testimonials and donate, visit https://www.mightycause.com/event/HHSRAErgathon2026#page-tabs.
Why is this program so deserving of your donation? The Hingham High School Crew program does not only have a reputation for athletic excellence, gaining state title after title, but also high academic performance – doing good by the name of HHS. And, unlike many other sports at Hingham, Crew is no cut, meaning anyone is welcome, regardless of experience or skill, providing opportunities to seasoned rowers as well as students that might have been cut from their original sport.
The donation’s website, Ergathon 2026, will remain live through this week. Donations of any size are encouraged and appreciated greatly by the program. Help Hingham High Crew smash their goal and propel them forward into an exciting spring season!
