San Diego Rowing Club established 1888, oldest club in region

The coaches candid

Rowing Coaches (Susan and Benton) from last year's Crew Classic, focused on the races by San Diego Rowing Club Juniors. They will be at the Ergathon, plus this year's Crew Classic at Mission Bay.
Wishing them a great season. The team thanks these coaches for their great training and support.

Teen Rowers Compete in Ergathon

San Diego Junior Rowers to Compete in 90-Mile Race

at Westfield UTC to Raise Awareness of Their Sport

San Diego’s future Olympic athletes will be rowing 90 miles -- the equivalent of a race from San Diego to Catalina – in the middle of Westfield UTC Mall, raising awareness of their sport and funds for a new racing boat.

Joined by an Olympic gold medalist, three teams of high school rowers from the San Diego Rowing Club will be competing in the special event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, February 8, 2014, in the mall, in front of the Forever 21 store.

An estimated 80 rowers will participate in a three-hour test of their mind, body and spirit as they go head-to-head in an all-out effort to win their race on Concept II rowing machines. They will be cheered on by dozens of teammates, family, and friends as they compete in SDRC’s Third Annual Erg-a-thon.

Come meet Olympic Gold Medalist Susan Francia, SDRC’s Women’s Varsity Coach, who will be cheering on the team and sporting her medals for inspiration. Francia is a two-time Olympic champion, with gold medals in the Women’s Eight at Beijing in 2008 and at London in 2012.

The San Diego Rowing Club’s Juniors Program offers one of the premiere places to learn to row, developing athletes who go on to compete on college crew and national teams each year. The club trains students from dozens of high schools across the city, who compete in races across the state.

Rowing is an NCAA-sanctioned women's sport. Crew provides opportunities for college recruitments for men’s and women’s teams at some of the nation’s best colleges and universities. It is a sport that can be pursued not only in high school and college but over a lifetime, as proven by members of SDRC’s Masters Program.

To further promote the sport and develop future Olympians, the San Diego Rowing Club will hold rowing camps for all ages this summer at its Mission Bay boathouse. Camps are open to middle school and high school students of all levels, including beginners with no previous rowing experience. Information will be available at the Erg-a-thon.

San Diego is acknowledged as one of the nation’s best places to row and train. San Diego is also home to the San Diego Crew Classic each April on Mission Bay. The event brings to San Diego major U.S. and international college rowing powerhouses, including teams from UC Berkeley, whose longstanding rivalry with the University of Washington crew team is depicted in the New York Times bestseller "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown.

Editors: Video and interview opportunities include stationary rowing competition (Erg-a-thon), competing athletes, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Susan Francia, a 26-foot boat on site, and Rowing Club members. 

Contact: Chris Callaghan, - chris@sandiegorowing.org. SDRC's website, www.sandiegorowing.org; and SDRC's Juniors website, www.sdrcjrs.com

What's an ERG?

As you can see in the photo, and ERG machine is one that will give you the best full body workout you've ever imagined. Rowers hate to erg, but they know that's how they get better at their sport. Do you want to try an erg? You can support your San Diego Rowing Club Juniors on Feb 8 at the UTC Mall, and see them raise money for new equipment.
It's free to the public to watch, and you can even try out the machines if you like.
So, once the rowers have some funds, and get the new equipment, then what? Then they will try to win at Nationals. That's right. With the newer equipment, they will be faster and more medals will be won.

These were some of the awards for the Crew Classic, held in San Diego's Mission Bay every spring. You can also watch these great student athletes compete at this event. Please support these rowers with encouragement, cheers, and financial support if you are able. Contact Liz Whall Hartt if you have further questions: 917 846-6521.
http://www.sdrcjrs.com/

SDRC rowers Erg-a-thon on Feb 8 @ UTC Mall. Save the date to watch them.

Rowing With a Passion: Christmas Regatta in Long Beach Results: Coach Susan Francia summarized the results from the most recent regatta. Overall, SDRC Women were superstars! Congrats to the entire team...

Christmas Regatta in Long Beach Results

Coach Susan Francia summarized the results from the most recent regatta.

Overall, SDRC Women were superstars! Congrats to the entire team and coaching staff.

"Great racing this weekend by all crews.  We came away with 6 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze.  The 2 singles killed the competition bringing home our first 2 gold medals (and top 2 times).  Our B quad raced a tough race and finished on the wrong end of 2 seconds off first place for a bronze medal.  Our A 4+ also fought a solid race for silver and our B 4+ had a fantastic row to win the gold.  The pair had a phenomenal race to bring home another gold despite having Sarah (usually a port) on starboard.  Our top 2 doubles swept their races (with top 2 times) for 2 more gold.  Our third double was in a completely new combination and got 4th place in a very tight race.  Our mixed quad with Katya and Bessie beat up on some poor master's rowers (who kept insisting they were going to win) and came in second (not to the masters).

And our A quad made up of all girls went up against the mixed juniors quads after we had to scratch our entry in the women's competition.  They gave the boys a run for their money in spite of some laughter at the starting line.  They weren't laughing when the girls came away with a silver, less than 2 seconds off first place.  Great job to all crews, we'll keep working to turn more of those medals into gold!"

Did you know that we are the best fed of any rowing club on the West Coast? Just ask the girls about the great food at the regattas.

Sports enthusiasm is contagious

Tina has a passion for sports and is a true competitor. She played waterpolo (3 years), swim team (4 years), softball (4 years) and rowing (1 year plus). She's also an excellent chef, and likes to bake. She's been very active with her church and charity work through her high school career. She's worked at the snack shack for three summers, by the beach in Del Mar.

Why rowing? Tina is a "Water Girl" she says. She just loves being on or by the water, so you know she's not afraid to get wet. She recruited many of the waterpolo players currently on her old team. This year, though, she's focused only on rowing, as she sees the benefits of a lifelong sport, all the way to being a master rower.

Want to recruit her? Tina has had official visits to at least one University, has been contacted after July 1 by one coach, and has had two unoffical visits to rowing programs. She's got excellent GPA (3.5 weighted), high test scores, and erg times (7:52 2k after three months of rowing).

She's not well known...YET. But you can discover her and ask more. We're being contacted by the recruiting networks, who say they can verify our data. We'll be glad to speak to you in the meantime.