[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4492]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                ROW4RICE

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 25, 2015

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Rice University Rowing team has 
taken a step to further rowing sports in the City of Houston. To help 
raise the funds needed to build a water sports facility on Buffalo 
Bayou in downtown Houston, two of the teams coaches will row 3,000 
miles across the Atlantic in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge. 
Coaches Mike Matson and David Alviar, attempting to be the first Texans 
to complete this feat, will begin this massive undertaking in the 
Canary Islands, and finish on the Caribbean island of Antigua.
  The duo will take this challenge in a boat named after Ann McCormick 
Sullivan.
  Ann Sullivan was a firefighter with Station 68 in Houston when on May 
31, 2013 a 5-alarm fire at the Southwest Inn took the lives of 4 brave 
men and women, including Ann. This deadly fire completely shook the 
community. Ann was just 24 years old.
  Coach Mike Matson was a volunteer firefighter in the City of Stafford 
and had the opportunity to run calls with Ann. Ann, nicknamed ``mighty 
mouse,'' was a strong, resilient firefighter, who was never afraid to 
step into danger to help others. Mike recalls training days when Ann 
would extend the heavy hose full of water to its full length, a task 
difficult even to the largest men on the squad. Ann lived up to this 
name, never wavering in her determination.
  Coach Mike felt that it was fitting that the boat be named after one 
of Houston's heroes who truly represents the spirit of resilience 
needed for this race. Under the name Row4Rice the two coaches will 
raise money to build proper facilities to host rowing, kayaking, 
canoeing, and other water sports. They have pledged to donate $5,000 to 
the Ann McCormick Sullivan Foundation to support women in firefighting. 
Mike, David and the rest of the Rice rowing team are to be 
congratulated as they begin this massive undertaking in the spirit of 
one of Houston's heroes.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________