I don't know how to row. Does that make a difference?
No one knows how to row before joining Westerville Crew. For those joining for fall rowing, we hold summer learn-to-row sessions to lessen that anxiety but we have brand new rowers who skip learn-to-row and show up on the first evening of fall rowing. For those contemplating starting during our spring season, we have winter rowing indoors on rowing machines. We teach 99% of our rowers how to row.
What about tryouts if I don't know how to row?
Westerville Crew has no tryouts and no cuts. It is our interest to get kids participating in a sport, particularly one that is so team oriented as crew and one that you can do the rest of your life. (There are not many 50 or 60-year old football players, but there are many rowers in that age group).
What do I need to bring?
Absolutely bring a water bottle. For the fall season, wear shorts and a tee-shirt. Sandals or Crocs are nice because they are easy to take off when getting into a boat (as the boats all have their own fixed shoes). For the start of spring season (usually early in March), wear shorts and a t-shirt, but also a "wind-breaker and wind-pants" type jacket and pants that can be easily removed once you warm up. A nylon outer layer is nice because it will shed splashed water droplets and wind.
Will anybody laugh at me?
Only if you tell good jokes, but normally there is no talking in the boats except the coxswain (pronounced cox-sin) who steers and directs the rowers through an on-board amplification system. (And parenthetically, coxswains don't often have a great sense of humor. (Is the use of "parenthetically inside of parenthesis redundant?))
How do you advance in rowing if there are no cuts/no tryouts?
At each level (novice and varsity), there are multiple boats. The coaches select the rowers for each boat based on work ethic, quality of your stroke and speed. Speed is measured using a "rowing ergometer" (indoor rowing machine), an objective measure of how hard you can pull on an oar. The seats in the fastest boat (the "A" boat) are the most sought after.
I like to participate in 3 other sports, band, theatre, and a bunch of other stuff. Will rowing conflict with these?
While Westerville Crew has a no cut/no tryouts policy, those rowers who achieve the highest level (about 40% of the graduating rowers last spring received scholarships) are those who row all year. Naturally, you'll be a better rower with the greater amount of time spent rowing. Also, when you commit to rowing, you are also committing to making every workout and regatta during that season.
How long does the season last?
For the fall season, until the last Sunday of October for most rowers. In the fall of 2010, Westerville Crew took 36 of its rowers to Chattanooga TN for one of the largest races in the US. That was the first week of November.
For the spring season, most rowers finish after the Midwest Championships in the middle of May. Those who qualify for Nationals finish 1 month later. To qualify for Nationals, you must finish in the top 3 of Midwest Championships in your event. The largest contingent that we have ever taken to Nationals is 36 rowers (four eights-- that is (eight rowers + a coxswain ='s an eight) X four eights. 32 rowers qaulified in 2011 for Nationals, so about 1/3 of the team continued workouts until mid-June.
If I love rowing this season, what is the next step?
Don't stop. Westerville Crew itself never stops. Rowers can choose which seasons to row. If you loved the fall season and you don't want to get fat-and-pretty during the winter, then start indoor workouts using rowing machines in November. If you swim competitively during the winter, then return after the Feb swim championships. If you started during winter conditioning on the indoor rowing machines, then continue in the spring. We have a summer rowing program (though it is a more relaxed program-- come when you want).
If I drop out of rowing, can I have my money back?
No.
My mother's watch does not work well. What happens if I am late to practice?
Nobody will be there. We have "hands on" at 5:15. That means we expect all boats to be on the water by 5:20-5:25. We have 4 docks that accommodate 2 boats each. It takes less than 2 minutes to launch.
I like sleeping in on Saturday morning. I deserve it after a hard week of school. Can I miss just Saturday mornings?
No.
My religious convictions are such that I cannot compete on Saturdays. How does this affect my rowing?
You are expected to attend every regatta and workout. If you cannot, then don't join.
I have a youth group meeting on Wednesday evenings. Can we be off the water early?
No. We do not formulate the schedule according to the particular needs of any of our 80+ kids.
I would like to try Crew for 2 weeks without making a commitment. Can I?
Yes and no. The opportunity to try crew is during summer rowing or winter "erging" (using rowing machines). Once the on-water season starts, if you show up, that is taken as a commitment. For example, during the first 2011 summer learn-to-row, approximately 50 rowers attended. Others took the second or third Learn to Row..
Going to football games on fall Friday nights is an important part of my high school socialization. How do you accommodate that?
Actually, most of the coaches have a shortened workout on Friday evening, often consisting of perhaps 5000 meters of drills followed by a 5000 meters "bridge-to-bridge" timed piece in the fall. Friday evenings in the spring often consist of faster workouts and earlier dismissal. So row hard and you'll be to the game before the sweat dries (but shortening the workout is at the discretion of the coach).
If I row all year, do what is expected of me, and enjoy the sport, what can I look forward to?
Virtually all rowers who start early (freshman or sophomores) and row all year, achieve a high level (Nationals qualifying boat) by the time they are an upper classmen.
I'm not that big (but my mother tells everyone I'm really strong. It makes her feel good). Does size matter?
Our lightweight men's eight was 4th in the US at Nationals in 2008 and 2011, and our lightweight women were 5th in 2007. Usually they are in the top 10 nationally. We look forward to making skinny kids athletic. Put in the time, do the work, and you can expect a high degree of satisfaction. Our lightweight mens eight was undefeated in the fall of 2010, including winning their event in a regatta with more than 7000 competitors.
I'm overweight. My mother says big boned, but I know better. Can I row?
We have lots of kids who have lost 25 to 50 lbs, some quite dramatically. For many kids, rowing is the first real exercise they have done. The advantage in rowing is that the water supports the weight of the boat/rowers. Despite large size, there is no unusual stress on the joints (as in an overweight person in a running or jumping sport). You can expect to lose significant weight if you are overweight. We do ask that you give up one food -- your choice -- such as ice cream, pizza, pop, or potato chips. You make the choice and you stick by it. You'll discover that you'll never have to go hungry and you will lose weight.
My parents are like "really involved" in my life. How do you handle such parents?
We love them to death. Westerville Crew is an all-volunteer organization including all coaches. It cannot exist without significant parental involvement. It's interesting to see how new novice rowers sometimes seem embarrassed in having a parent around, but that lasts for about a week. They soon discover that we are what we are due to our parents.
Is rowing dangerous?
My immediate response is yes. Rowing is a water sport. My more reasoned response is yes, but we ameliorate the dangers by using good judgment. We row almost exclusively eights (8 rowers + coxswain) in practices and we've never rolled an eight over. (Fours, double and singles are easier to roll over-- the smaller the boat, the easier to roll). We swamped an eight once in heavy water in a particularly bad wind. The tornado sirens once went off when we were 6000 meters from the dock on a perfectly sunny evening (before the advent of smart phones and instant weather maps). In years of rowing with many hundreds of kids, we've never had a serious accident. You must know how to swim. As smart phones have proliferated, it is far easier to monitor the weather and avoid surprises.
What kind of fees can I expect?
The fees are in the range of $525 for a season. That covers it all including food at regattas, entry fees, and hotel costs for our overnight regatta. It does not include the cost of a "uni" (unisuit only worn by varsity team members which is purchased once). There is no nickel-and-diming. Fees are typically due the second week (after the parent's meeting). They are non-refundable.
How hard is Crew?
As hard as you want to pull on an oar. Pull easy on an oar and it is significantly easier than pulling hard 2000 times during a workout. The harder you pull each stroke, the faster you move up the food chain (if you are interested in that). There are probably few high school teams in the country that put in the meters that Westerville Crew puts in. There are multiple reasons, but a primary one is that we don't recruit kids built for rowing; we take everybody and that requires more work. It's sort of like taking a kid who's 6' 2" and allowing them on a gymnastics team when a better team might limit the height to 5' 2". It just takes more work.
I did Learn-to-Row and I liked Crew but some of the kids were googoo-gaga over it. Should I still join?
Some kids fall in love with the sport immediately. Others really fall in love with the sport later. I've had kids tell me after their second year, "You know, I really love this sport now!" (meaning more than they did a year to two earlier).
Who is the worst candidate for Crew?
The one who's mother said you can't get your driver's license unless you join Crew.....but even some of those kids fall in love with it.
I love Crew. What can I do to exercise more for it?
Ride your bike to practice and do your homework.
A lot of rowers from Westerville Crew get scholarships to college. Can I expect one?
Why do you ask such hard questions. You're killing me! First, you should join crew for the "intrinsic" reasons-- that is, the satisfaction you get from getting lots of good exercise, in being with friends who are similarly well-motivated, in setting and accomplishing goals, in experiencing your growth as an athlete and person. The extrinsic reasons for joining crew are not as satisfying in the long term ("Those guys on crew are chick magnets.....like they always get the best dates..." sort of stuff) because you learn that there is a price to pay, like being at practice at 8:00 a.m. every Saturday morning and oh, yea, forget that hot date for the homecoming dance because you won't be back from the regatta until 8:00 p.m.
So back to scholarships. Yes, Westerville Crew rowers have an enviable record in getting scholarships but few, if any, join with that goal in mind. For girls, there are approximately 2250 rowing scholarships provided by colleges and an inadequate supply of good rowers. That's an effect of TitleIX where colleges are mandated by the Feds to spend as much on women's sports as men's. With a quota to meet and not enough skilled US rowers, it is not unusual for colleges to look abroad to fill their ranks.
Additionally, the Ivy League schools love their rowing. So to test your Ivy League football knowledge, how many football games did Princeton win in the fall of 2010? Answer- only one. They lost 9. But how did their rowing team fair? Very well, winning two titles at the Head of the Charles Regatta, one of the most prestigious rowing races in the world. Their women's eight was the top ranked team for most of the spring season. Their lightweight men are the two-time defending champions for the EARC and IRA national championships. You catch the drift. It is well understood that there are ten of thousands of highly qualified students applying to the Ivies, but something more than class standing and ACT/SAT scores are needed for differentiation. The Ivies love their rowers. In the fall of 2010, a rower on Westerville Crew was granted early decision to an Ivy because he was academically qualified and the rowing coach wanted him on their team. We have a former Westerville Crew rower on scholarship at Stanford and another at Cal Berkeley- two schools where it is difficult to get the attention of the Admissions Committee, unless of course, their rowing coach calls first..
So there is a need to be filled and rowers who attain the necessary skills and speed are courted by some of the best academic institutions in the country.
But you can't treat crew like a job. Do it because you love it.
I am a seriously ungifted athlete. I mean when my genome was created by my parents, there was a clause among the DNA clutter that disallowed me from participating in sports. How could I possibly do crew?
Great question (and better than the last). First, if you are so skinny your grandmother asks if you have worms or an eating disorder (grandmothers do not understand political correctness), and you really want to do crew, at least consider being a coxswain. The coxswain (pronounced "cox-sin") is the person who holds sway over the rowers in the boat, calling out commands, steering the boat, and constantly adjusting his/her rowers' strokes while trying to achieve perfect timing. We love our coxswains to death at Westerville Crew and we hold them in high regard (but then again, they are a well-motivated, smart bunch of kids). Having a bit of an "attitude" helps....you know, when that 6'4" guy in stroke seat says something untoward to you, and you respond, "You talkin' to me!".
Grades are important to me. Crew practices are every school day. How can I have enough time for homework and crew?
Mixing crew and good grades is one of those personal decisions you must make. If you have to study longer and harder than anyone else who you know to eek out decent grades, then you may not be able to participate in crew. If, on the other hand, good grades come easily to you and you find yourself spending too much time on more trivial endeavors (video games, lots of Facebook), then you may get more satisfaction from crew. There is no doubt that you must give up something to row because your time from 5:15 - 7:15 each evening is filled with some activity. If you always study during that time and have no other time available for study, then you should fore-go crew.
I am an athlete. I played on a travel soccer team and stayed in every Holiday Inn in the country. Our van has 560,000 miles on it. We have frequent flier miles on airlines you've never heard of. I'm a really good soccer player but I'm getting crisp on the edges. I'd like to try another sport. So if Westerville Crew is good, how much travel is there?
Not too much, actually. In the 2009-2010 school year, for example, the team traveled outside of Ohio twice-- once to the Head of the Ohio regatta in Pittsburgh (a 3 hour drive...sorry, no frequent flier miles) and once to the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, TN. For the Chattanooga trip, the team traveled by bus. Fortunately, the Midwest Championships are always held in Cincinnati, OH and Nationals have been held there for more than 10 years (due to a very fair venue and central location in the US). There are large regattas (rowing competitions) in Ohio and Westerville Crew's own Hoover Invitational hosted over 1750 high school rowers in the spring of 2010, the fifth largest single day regatta in the U.S. We don't have to travel far to find good competition.
I would really like to consider Crew but what about the costs. Do I have to sell candy bars to relatives I've never met to pay for it?
Westerville Crew is not a profit making business, like a dance studio. It is a 501(c)3 corporation (non-taxable, non-profit making entity) in which everyone is a volunteer. There are no fund raisers in the form of selling candy bars, Christmas wreaths, or restaurant coupon packages. None of that. Instead, Westerville Crew hosts two large regattas per year that help provide funds to allow the organization to purchase equipment, along with its dues that are typically less than one would pay for "pay to play" school-sponsored sports. Far more money has been awarded in collegiate athletic scholarships to our members than the amount paid to Westerville Crew in dues.
I've heard in school that Crew is hard.
And I've heard from kids at Crew thousands of times that Crew is fun. Talk to a rower and you'll hear the benefits. Westerville Crew is designed to allow ordinary kids to achieve at a high level. This requires a dedication that many kids have not experienced and when they experience, they like it. A sense of achievement is a great feeling for kids (and all other ages too).