A packed Campus Club library filled predominantly with girls came to a hush as four college-aged guys followed by an older man made their way to the front of the room. The young guests, seated in a row facing the audience, were clearly surprised by the large turnout. Prompted by Cat Lambert ’15, president of Princeton Athlete Ally, the group introduced themselves. They were the Warwick Rowers, best known for their annual calendar filled with naked team photos created not only to raise money, but also to combat homophobia. A key figure in the making of the calendar was Angus Malcolm, their photographer, who has been with the Warwick crew for six years and was also present.
The visit from the UK-based rowers was orchestrated by Jamie Shenk ’16, a member of Princeton Athlete Ally. Princeton Athlete Ally, a student group that engages in the discussion of LGBT issues and the importance of allyship in sports, is a subgroup of the national organization, Athlete Ally. Having found out that the Warwick rowers would be doing a publicity tour in the United States, Shenk quickly teamed up with Lambert to form a discussion panel. As a result of their joint effort, University students had the opportunity to hear the four University of Warwick students and their photographer discuss why they strip down every year.
In the UK, naked sports team calendars are apparently not all that uncommon, so when the University of Warwick’s men’s crew found themselves strapped for cash, they turned to a calendar to raise funds for their expensive sport. At first, their product was only shared amongst their friends, parents and relatives. It wasn’t until Malcolm reached out to online gay outlets that had shown interest in buying the calendars that they realized their untapped potential. As sales skyrocketed, the team quickly became an icon in the LGBT community. Malcolm expected the rowers to be outraged or even just made uncomfortable by the new audience their photos had gained, but instead, the students seemed just fine with it.
Fast-forward six years, and the Warwick rowers are now an internationally recognized force in the fight against homophobia. The organization Sport Allies was created out of their fame and has now transcended the confines of the campus on which it was created, forming partnerships with teams at other universities.
Though the rowers are all firmly supportive of the cause, it became clear throughout the panel that it is Malcolm who really spearheads the project. He set the tone for the message the group now represents, noting that “we [as Sport Allies] wanted to say we’re not only getting naked and raising money for our club, we’re also getting naked for gay men. We want to make the point that’s not just ‘O.K.,’ ” he said. “We’re not just ‘tolerating’ that. We’re really proud of the fact that the gay community has supported us.”
From a quick glance through any of the photos they’ve produced, it’s easy to see the popular appeal. Yet what the rowers represent has become more than just their naked bodies. The calendar serves as a medium through which a greater message can be spread. The nudity is almost irrelevant; it’s really the relationship between the LGBT community and the sports world that’s being put under the microscope and redefined. What’s being explored by this project is not whether male nudity is acceptable but whether these two seemingly disparate communities can come together, how the sports world can recognize the way in which those who fall outside its accepted conventions are marginalized and how this treatment can be changed.
For the Warwick Rowers, this project is about being able to take a stand and to say that there is no need for any one group to be threatened by another.
There’s still room for the organization to grow as it expands its efforts across the UK and globally, but it’s gotten off on the right foot. The message that it attempts to disseminate has reached its audience and rung true. As Malcolm noted, “Sport Allies is about recognizing that the LGBT community is marginalized in sports, and this is about saying that’s not right.” And with this message in tow, even though they’ve already exposed so much of themselves, we can expect to see a lot more from the Warwick rowers.
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