Rowing Crew Questions
 

I hope that I put this in the right forum. I have a friend with a teenaged daughter who is interested in crew. She needs some help so I figured that some people on GC might have advice. I hope that there are rowers out there.

My friend's daughter took rowing lessons last summer at a camp for two weeks. She picked it up very quickly and demonstrated an ability for rowing. When school began, she joined a boat club in New Jersey and continued her lessons. When the season ended and the weather became cold, she joined a gym to continue her progress on the erg. Now Spring is around the corner, and the season is about to begin. The problem is that the commute to and from NJ is too long for her. She is a junior and preparing for the SAT. The commute can take an hour each way. She wants to continue with crew, but she is could not find a team in NYC. She decided to start a team with her school. About a dozen girls are interested, but they cannot find a place to row. This poor girl has encountered one obstacle after another, but she is still determined to row.

here are my questions:
Where in NYC or the surrounding area can someone row?
What summer boarding camps are available that cater to rowing?
What opportunities are available to her for crew in college?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. :) Thank you.

When I was in college I was one of the founding members of our club crew team. Crew is a very expensive sport, especially if you're starting with nothing. We started off using shells and boathouses of a neighboring school. If she is looking to go to college in the northeast, there are plenty of rowing opportunities varying from a varsity sport with scholarships to a club team. The ideal body type for a rower is tall and muscular, so if that's how she's built she'll be more favored for a spot on a college team.

More info about camps and area clubs can be found at www.usrowing.org and www.row2k.com/links

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/athletics/comm/Teams/wcrew/

e-mail them with questions. Hopefully they'll respond.

http://www.alohafoundation.org/

The camps at the Aloha Foundation in Fairlee, VT offer crew. Aloha is a beautiful, all girls camp, that caters to helping young women succeed. I have been a counselor there twice ('97 and '03) and think very highly of the organization. PM me if you need any info.

ahh i love crew- i rowed all through high school on the hudson... i haven;t touched an oar in years though:( b/c i hurt my back and didn't ever go back... anyway- thats awesome that she's interested- its such an awesome sport- but like lil'hannah said- very expensive... not sure about summer camps- they gave some excellent sites though- i'm sure you can find osmething- but there are lots of colleges that offer rowing- ithaca- cornell.... but they are going to be more expensive schools that have the funds to support such endeavors..... have her start looking at schools- if they have a rowing program- they will prob publicize it b/c it is often used by the school for women to even out title VIIII if htey have a big football program or the like....also- some schools do a lot of recruiting too- and there are tonnsssss of scholarships too b/c of title 9.... but in any case there are many opportunities out there- good luck on the search:)

Funny you would mention title 9. Arizona state started a womens crew team in the desert because of Title IX.

Re: Rowing Crew Questions
 

Get on the net and do a search. Most of the Ivy league schools have crew. I am sure there are places near NYC to row. Princeton has a boathouse near campus and almost all the colleges in Phila have crew. Here is a pic of boathouse row in Phila.

http://www.artist1.com/Limited_BV.htm

My school just started a crew team
 

We had our first meeting today. The coach showed us a video which included a lot of technique, good and bad

When you guys say it's expensive, what does that typically include?