Rowing by the Season
New to rowing? Here’s a quick guide on the sport!
Rowing is a great sport for both middle and high schoolers but it can be confusing if you’re new to it. Here’s a brief overview to get you started:
SEASONS & RACING FORMATS:
Rowing is a year-round sport with races in the Fall, Summer, and Winter but the official scholastic racing season is Spring. There are two types of racing in rowing: sprint races and head races. Sprint races are 2000m long and are raced in the Spring, Summer, and Winter. Head races are longer races, generally 5000m long and take place in the Fall. At PCRA we participate in 2 - 4 races per season. In Winter, there are no on-water regattas but we compete in indoor rowing competitions using ergs.
TEAMS:
Most rowers start out on our non-competitive Development team. This is our program for beginners and kids who are still developing their conditioning as well as technical skills. When an athlete is determined to be ready to race, they join the Novice team at the coaches’ invitation. A novice rower is defined as someone in his or her first competitive season. Coaches evaluate rowers on Development and Novice constantly for readiness to move up to Varsity.
There is an expectation of commitment for any rower invited to join a competitive team. Attendance affects seat placements AND inclusion in regattas. Your rower is required to communicate with his or her coach immediately should they need to miss practice for any reason.
Summer Season
Race Team practice for both the boys and girls teams takes place weekdays throughout the summer. Novice and Varsity are combined during this season and attend the same regattas. The season typically starts in mid June and runs through mid August. Evening practices will be held in June (while athletes are still in school) 4:00pm - 6:30pm and will switch to mornings 6:15am - 8:30am once public schools are released for summer break.
Race Team athletes will participate in summer regattas at coaches’ discretion. Select Varsity athletes are invited by head coaches to compete at US Club Nationals.
Fall Season
Fall season begins in late August with Pre-season where athletes tryout for a spot on the Varsity and Novice squad. Following this try-out week, coaches will release the final Varsity and Novice placements and those athletes will attend varsity practice every weekday. Boys Varsity team will have practice every Saturday morning and the Girls Varsity team will have a workout to complete every Saturday on their own or (with plenty of advanced notice). Novice team has practice weekdays. Fall season ends in late November.
The Fall racing season consists of 3 - 4 regattas. Athletes should plan to race or practice every weekend in October. Select athletes will be invited to race at the Head of the Charles in Boston.
Winter Training
Varsity Winter training takes place at our brand new erg studio located at 89 Wolfs Lane Pelham, NY 10803. Varsity will also be able to practice in the tanks at Iona College Hynes Athletic Center one day a week throughout the winter. Winter season for Race Team runs from late November through the end of February.
Teams are separated during the winter training months due to limited space in our Studio. (Varsity Girls and Novice Girls practice together as do the Varsity Boys and Novice Boys).
Spring Season
Varsity Spring Season begins in early March and runs until mid to late May. Qualifying crews will continue training through early June until competing at USRowing Youth Nationals. Mid April through mid May are when the majority of the regattas take place. PCRA’s Varsity team attend 3 - 4 regattas a season.