In 1955, Manuel A. Flick, the accountant-turned-restaurateur started the high school crew races launching again March 15 on the Schuylkill. Manuel had never raced and never learned to swim but when he took his son, a high school sophomore, and his friends to the Boathouse Row, seeing all the shells in the boathouse made him inquisitive. And out on the river, they were racing. It was the first time for Manuel, seeing racing. He got in touch with the Fairmount boat club and asked about sponsoring a high school crew. At the time, the only competitions for these high school crews were the end-of season regattas, including the Stotesbury and the City Championships. He thought that it was silly to have only two or three races for kids who didn’t attend private schools. Don Horvat, a top rower in Yugoslavia who brought his love for the sport to Philadelphia, got involved in the Manny Flicks in the 1970s and early 1980s when more schools began to be involved. The races are under the umbrella of the Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association, and some 3,000 rowers will be participating in five Sunday races starting March 15. The series culminates with the May 2-3 City Championships followed by the Stotesbury Regatta, the largest high school rowing competition in the world, May 15-16.