Crew. Head of the Charles. Winklevoss. Regatta. All things that apply to rowing are inherently preppy. The sport can’t help it; nurtured in England and fine-tuned at Yale, rowing is bred to be blue-blood. How has the preppiest sport around been forgotten by our Sperry-wearing, Polo-sporting culture at Minnetonka?
Rowing, engrained in the Ivy League community, has been slowly gaining momentum in the metro in the past few years. Clubs, including Twin Cities Youth Rowing (TCYR) and Minneapolis Rowing Club (MRC), have been gaining more and more Minnetonka students every year.
The sport is centered on a boat of 4 or 8 rowers seated backwards. With their feet strapped in, rowers use their legs for leverage, completing strokes which move them over the water. In the front of the boat is the coxswain (cox-in) who steers and shouts directions to the crew. As a team, they race for the best time on the water. Competitive racing occurs at regattas that can draw teams ranging from a local to international perspective.
Physically speaking, the sport is demanding. Practice can include 4-mile warm-up runs, endless ab exercises, numerous squats, and unbearable sprints on the water. “We do various crazy workouts the coaches come up with, and, of course, row,” says TCYR captain Catherine Ahrens (’13). However, your rock hard abs and amazing physical fitness will make up for all the pain.
For those looking to join, TCYR in Minneapolis is one of the most accomplished and disciplined teams, with their girls placing 10th at the internationally renowned “Head of the Charles” Regatta in Cambridge, Massachusetts this past fall. There are four seasons available to match anyone’s schedule and practices last three hours. “It’s time consuming,” says Ahrens, “but beyond worth it. I love rowing and I don’t know what I would do without it!”