What’s next after Introduction to Rowing?

written by Brock Sampson

Now what?

What do I do after my Introduction to Rowing Class? I’ve learned some basics about boat and personal safety on and off the water. I now have reverence for equipment. I’ve also learned about rowing terminology and the basic rowing stroke. I’ve even had a chance to row in a team boat and scull several times! Shame on your ITR coach if this isn’t the case:-)

There are three options that I usually suggest to my students when their interest in rowing is at its peak, and I want their journey in rowing to continue with Austin Rowing Club:

1.Get on our Sub Listing for all existing and new crews out there

Club Crews are self-organized and self-selecting groups of members who row together at a certain day & time. Most Club Crews row weekday evenings at about 6:00 or 6:30 PM, or weekday mornings at 5:45 or 6:00 AM, or weekend mornings (or afternoons).

If you are looking for subs for your crew, or want to sub, or are looking for regular crew, this is the forum. This list is for communication among beginning and intermediate-level (i.e., non-competitive-level) rowers in ARC.Any members can form a Club Crew, whenever a boat is available and a qualified cox or quad-bow is on board.

When you have a crew together, you then need to name a Boat Captain, and select a crew name. Some names crews have used: Clean Sweep, POSH, Rojo’s, Rowing Stones, Rock ‘n Row, OarWhat?, Hull Raisers, Different Strokes, Dawn Patrol, Crew U, Rowed Rage, Rowed Hard, Crewzers, OARmageddeon, Odd Quad, Death Row, Brew Crew, Quad Zilla, Motley Crew, Rowtini’s, RowBots, Quad Almighty.

CLICK HERE to join this forum! As a reminder, you must be a member to sub for a crew, though;-0

By the way, members looking to get ‘checked’ out to row a single scull on your own, please attend a single scull clinic on Saturday and Sunday mornings!

2.Take the ITR-2 Advanced Level Classes

This class is for rowers who have COMPLETED the Intro to Rowing Course, but want to further develop their skills under the guidance of a coach in a class setting. The Rowing Skills course may be taken once, or multiple times. This course offers instruction in both sweep and sculling. 6 sessions per month. $125 for non-members, and $75 for members.

CLICK HERE for the next available class!

3.Take a private lesson with our most excellent coaches.

Our coaches are proven to get you on the water, and get you confident and fast quickly!

CLICK HERE to see all available times for our awesome private coaches!

Great! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to use this BLOG to ask!

Austin Rowing Biography: Elisabeth Gardner

By Kourtney de Haas, Austin Rowing Club

One of the rotating topics featured on this blog will be the rowing biography of various ARC members.  We continue this week with Elisabeth Gardner, who has served on the Board of Directors for several years, including the last three years as President.

KdH: How/where/when did you discover the sport of rowing?

EG: I grew up in Comfort, Texas which is on the Guadalupe River – lots of canoeing and tubing, but no rowing.  I had probably seen rowing in the Olympics on TV, but it didn’t seem like something that was accessible to me so it didn’t make much of an impression.  I moved to Austin in 1994, but it took seven years of watching the graceful rowers on Town Lake for me to google rowing in Austin and discover the Austin Rowing Club.

KdH: How/when did you discover Austin Rowing Club?

EG: I took the Learn to Row class at ARC in July of 2001 and I knew immediately that this was the sport for me.  The LTR instructors I remember:  Paul Scripko, Arch Bell, and Darla Parker.  After completing LTR I jumped in with both feet.  I began going to the boathouse every evening to see if anyone needed any subs, I got together with other July LTR grads and formed Motley Crew and Austin Powerz, I helped form the Novice Competitive Women’s Crew, and finally we merged the Novice Women’s Crew with the Major Babes to form the Women’s Competitive Crew.

KdH: Do you have any outstanding memory or story, good or bad, related to rowing that you can share with us?

EG: Good – There have been many good rowing related memories, including winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2003 Masters Nationals regatta in Rancho Cordova, CA.  I hadn’t been rowing that long and although I had trained extremely hard for this, I still wasn’t sure I was ready.  Winning with my team was an incredible feeling and if I hadn’t been hooked before, this regatta did the trick!

Bad & Good – Installing the Heart of Texas race course has always been one of my favorite parts of regatta prep.  We used to borrow Capital Cruise’s bat boat and in shifts of 8-10 people we would form two assembly lines and move up and down the length of the course installing two lines of buoys at a time.  It’s hard work, but fun to do as a group.  Well… in 2003 things things started off smoothly.  We had almost completed the first two lines when I looked down the course and noticed an unusually high number of ducks on the lake.  The number kept growing and I remember saying, “please tell me those are ducks!”  They weren’t – they were loose buoys.  Unfortunately the twine that had been purchased to string the buoys wasn’t intended to be used in water and was falling apart almost instantly once it hit the water.  This meant we had 200 buoys that we were going to have to chase down and fish out of the water and even more that hadn’t been installed yet that would also have to be restrung!  That was the bad part.  The good part was that I instantly got on the phone and asked someone to send out an arc-announce to rally the troops and help re-string all of the buoys.  It was great to see the ARC community turn out in such a big number on such short notice to get the work done.

KdH: How often do you row now, and in what types of boats?

EG: Lately, I don’t row nearly as much as I’d like to.  Work has been extremely busy this year and I’ve been on the road more than usual.  I will row in any type of boat from singles to eights, but my favorites are doubles and eights.

KdH: Where is the best place you have ever rowed?

EG: The best place I’ve rowed outside Austin, of course, would be Strathclyde Park outside Glasgow, Scotland for the 2005 World Masters Regatta.

KdH: Do you have (or have had in the past) any special roles at Austin Rowing Club or other rowing organizations?

EG: I’ve been co-captain of the Women’s Competitive Crew, worked on many regatta committees including as Regatta Director, served on ARC’s Board of Directors as Vice-President, and I am currently President of ARC [editor's note: Elisabeth's term as President ended December 2010]

KdH: Do you see yourself still involved with the sport of rowing in five years?  If yes, do you have any goals you can share?

EG: Absolutely!  My goal is to row for so long, that USRowing has to add new masters categories!

KdH: If you were to be reincarnated as a piece of rowing equipment, what would you want to be?

EG: Definitely the impeller!  I want to feel the speed of the boat!

Why we are Proud of Austin Rowing Club

by Brock Sampson, Austin Rowing Club

I want to first give thanks to Mr. Rusty Jackson for allowing me to use his beautiful photographs of ARC members and our revered boathouse. Please visit his website for more excellent work!

There are many personal reasons why I’m proud to be a member of Austin Rowing Club. I thought it would be beneficial to talk more about the reasons we all should be proud of who we are, and what we as a membership should strive to achieve in all that we do!

Austin Rowing Club promotes health, wellness and fitness through rowing and water recreation.
Austin Rowing Club continuously implements new recreational and educational programs designed for both young and old alike.
Austin Rowing Club continues to advocate both economic development and stewardship toward Lady Bird Lake and surrounding parks.
Austin Rowing Club is a leader in fostering community involvement and ethic through team work, volunteerism and sportsmanship.
Austin Rowing Club makes the sport of rowing accessible to the whole community.
Austin Rowing Club has built a regionally and nationally renown 25 year long tradition for rowing and recreation in Texas. Because of relentless dedication to our mission, which is to promote the sport of rowing, and promote Austin rowing throughout the country, we will spend the next 25 years building on that foundation to create a community organization unparalleled in this country.

Junior Named to Scholastic Honor Roll

Brett- in red top

In November of 2010, Westlake senior, and Austin Rowing Club junior, Brett Mele was named to the US Rowing Scholastic Honor Roll. She is one of 55 student-athletes from around the country to be honored. The scholastic honor roll recognizes high school seniors who have excelled both in the classroom and in rowing. Applicants are ranked based on SAT scores, GPA, and rowing success on the regional level or higher.

Brett started rowing her freshman year in high school and was elected co-team captain her junior and senior year. Her junior year she bowed the JV quad to a Texas State Championship. Her lightweight four went undefeated spring 2010 and won a gold at the Central Regional Championships. In the lightweight double she qualified at Central Regionals and finished 6th in the nation at the US Rowing Youth National Championships.

Congratulations to Brett for her success in the classroom and on the water.

Austin Rowing Biography: Hamilton Richards

By Kourtney de Haas, Austin Rowing Club

One of the rotating topics featured on this blog will be the rowing biography of various Austin Rowing Club members.  We start this week with Hamilton Richards.

Hamilton Richards

KdH: How/where/when did you discover the sport of rowing?

HR: Having been around boats all my life, I don’t recall when I first propelled a boat while facing backwards, but my first outing in a sliding-seat boat would have been when I was 13. The school I was attending had had a rowing program for many years, my father had rowed there, and my grandfather, a teacher of English and Latin, had rowed and coached rowing there, so it would have been a pretty good bet that I would row (also, I couldn’t throw or catch a ball well enough to have any future in the other spring sport). During my student days there, a new boathouse was dedicated to my grandfather, with a plaque containing the famous verse from Virgil’s Aeneid, “Nunc, nunc, insurgite remis!” (“Now, now, lean into your oars!”)

KdH: How/when did you discover Austin Rowing Club?

HR: When is easier to recall than how: around 1983. Joanne and I had moved to Austin in 1978, and I suppose I must have noticed a boat on Town Lake, as it was called then, and tracked it to its landing spot, which was under the MoPac bridge.

KdH: Do you have any outstanding memory or story, good or bad, related to rowing that you can share with us?

HR: A few years ago I was visiting my brother Jim for a week in Ollala, WA, and he had very kindly put a Maas Aero at my disposal. He had been a rower in years past, but a broken wrist was proving troublesome, so I was sculling solo.  The first few days I rowed in the Colvos Passage, between Olalla and Vashon Island, the water was splendid–like a mill pond for hours at a time–and the rowing was wonderful. No motorboats, beautiful forested shoreline, blue skies. Conditions were perfect for a faster boat, but I was content in the Aero, in whose seaworthiness I had complete confidence.

The third or fourth day, I decided, for no particular reason, to take my cell phone along, and a good thing it was. After an hour or so, up sprang a brisk north wind, a flat calm became 2-foot waves in no more than 10 minutes, and the Aero’s cockpit was awash. The self-bailer was useless–water was pouring in over the gunwales far faster than it could drain out. Fully aware that I had found the Aero’s limits, I fought my way to the nearest shore, where there was a sort of beach and a house. I needed to know where I was, so I could tell Jim where to find me, but there was nobody home. There was, however, a car in the driveway with its doors unlocked, so I took the address from its registration. I called Jim on the cell phone, he found me, we loaded the Aero onto his car, and one of the rare truly lousy rowing days was over.

KdH: How often do you row now, and in what types of boats?

HR: Nowadays I’m a confirmed single sculler, preferably in boats made of wood, the structural material that’s been under development for 400 million years. I like to think that I row four times a week, but it’s probably more like three.

KdH: Where is the best place you have ever rowed?

HR: For me Lady Bird Lake is tied for best with Squam Lake, NH. The latter is beautiful and cool, instead of swans and cormorants you see loons and eagles, and you can drink the water. On the other hand, it is sometimes infested with motorboats, especially on weekends.

Probably the worst was the Nashua River, in Massachusetts. In recent years, thanks to the EPA, the Clean Water Act, and efforts of stalwart local citizens, it has been miraculously cleaned up*, but when I rowed on it, the water was gray and opaque with waste from upstream paper mills. Since it was already so polluted, the towns along its banks saw no harm in dumping their untreated sewage into it. We were told that if we ever fell into it, we would have to undergo a rigorous course of immunizations.

KdH: Do you have (or have had in the past) any special roles at Austin Rowing Club or other rowing organizations?

HR: I was Director of Sculling, back in the days when ARC scullers were a despised minority. Example: If a sweep crew damaged a boat, c’est la vie, but scullers were expected to pay for any repairs.

More recently I’ve been supplying and operating the software ARC uses for managing regattas and for keeping track of boat reservations and usage.

KdH: Do you see yourself still involved with the sport of rowing in five years?  If yes, do you have any goals you can share?

HR: If age-related deterioration doesn’t accelerate too much, I should still be rowing in five years (I’ll be only 76!). And that’s a good enough goal for me.

KdH: If you were to be reincarnated as a piece of rowing equipment, what would you want to be?

HR: Heh. A bow ball, of course.

Coach’s Corner – The Erg

Strong start to juniors spring season

The ARC juniors took to the water this past weekend at the Heart of Texas Regatta, March 5-6. Over 700 boats and teams from Texas, Oklahoma and beyond competed in the annual event. Racing started with a strong head wind which was followed by thunder storms. Racing resumed with just the big boats finishing day one. ARC medaled in every eight event we entered. The races started with a 2nd place finish in the novice boys eight followed by a 1st and 3rd place in the novice girls event. Varsity girls finished the day with a 2nd and 4th place finish in the eight.

Second day of racing brought beautiful weather with calm wind and sunny skies. This was the biggest day of racing with the kids competing in singles, doubles, and quads. The novices continue to shine with a 1st place finish in the novice boy’s single and a sweep of the novice girl’s single (1st, 2nd, 3rd). Novice girls continued on to place 3 quads in the grand final and a 1st place finish in the event. Novice boys had a strong showing with a 4th place finish in the novice boy’s double. Varsity girls dominated the JV double event with four boats in the grand final and a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place finish. Lightweight boys and girls both finished 3rd in their respective double event. Varsity boys finished the day with a 6th place finish in the varsity double, 5th place in the JV boy’s double, and varsity girls quad a 5th place finish.

Juniors Win Erg Relay at Erg Rodeo

The ARC juniors started the spring race season at Erg Rodeo on February 5, 2011. The annual event, hosted on the University of Texas campus, draws over a hundred youth rowers competing on rowing machines for a 2,000 meter distance.

The novice rowers start first with Michael Ragan finishing 5th in the lightweight novice boys race and Abby Colety winning the lightweight girls. ARC would sweep the awards in the lightweight novice women’s race finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd.

On the openweight side Ben White finishes a strong 2nd place for novice boys and Victoria Bartell wins the novice women’s race by over 30 seconds. She was followed by ARC teammates for 2nd and 3rd.

Next up the varsity rowers finished in the top three in all varsity events. Chris Duke finished 2nd in the lightweight varsity boys event and Lucy Ellis finished 3rd for the lightweight women. Final individual races included a 3rd place finish for Philip Johnson in the varsity junior men and Nicole Brandt a 2nd place for the varsity women.

The highlight of the competition was the team relay at the end of the day. Eight rowers raced 1,000 meters each and the coxswain 500 meters. Teammates Philip, Andrew, Chris, Ben, Caroline, Nicole, Hannah, Victoria, and coxswain Brian work together to win the team event.

Newest Club Crew at ARC – the OarWhat?

OarWhat? Crew

OarWhat? — ARC’s newest Club Crew — celebrated Rob Johnson’s birthday after their row this week.    OarWhat? was organized by boat captain Ricardo Ramirez in September with members of the August 2010 ITR class.   The crew rows every Monday night at 6:30pm, and is looking forward to their first race at the Winter Warrior in February.

Crew members:  Rob Johnson, Sabine Johnson, Ricardo Ramirez, Kathy Lopez, Coby Musick, Lacy Sawyer, Gaurav Gupta, Kate Frangos,  and Jose Vaquez.  Jack Graham is coxing until the crew is self-coxed, with  Ricardo and Rob  already well on their way to becoming qualified ARC cox’ns.  Gaurav is next to try the cox seat, in the dark these winter nights.   With encouragement from  Coach Patrick Kelly, the crew is developing skills and confidence that are surprising for these new rowers.

Sabine brought hot Gluehwein (German spiced hot wine) and a special German cake she baked for the celebration on the deck.   Usually the crew is on Rainey Street for refreshments after their row.

 

New Boathouse FAQ and Top 10 Myths

NEW BOATHOUSE FAQ

With the activities of racing, regattas, special events and everyday rowing always keeping our membership busy, it’s easy to forget that Austin Rowing Club’s home for the past 23 years is scheduled to be torn down and rebuilt starting this winter. Town Lake Rowing Center, the limestone boathouse/clubhouse facility on Lady Bird Lake, was conceived by Austin Rowing Club members and privately built in 1987 as part of the San Jacinto Center/Four Seasons Hotel development. Austin Rowing Club members brokered the donation of the boathouse/clubhouse and its accompanying land to the City of Austin as a gift from the hotel developers.

Below you will find the Frequently Asked Questions list for the new boathouse project.

Q: Why is the boathouse being torn down?

A: The Waller Creek Tunnel Project, which proposes to provide flood control for several blocks of valuable downtown Austin property, will alter the geography of the mouth of Waller Creek directly behind the boathouse/clubhouse facility. The boathouse/clubhouse structures stand in the path of this major public works project. Mitigation laws require the tunnel developer to replace any structures condemned by the tunnel project, including the Town Lake Rowing Center boathouse/clubhouse facility. The tunnel project also requires a modest pumphouse structure at the tunnel outlet on Lady Bird Lake, so the new boathouse will incorporate this necessary feature.

Q: Doesn’t this mean both the boathouse and the clubhouse will be torn down?

A: In the first stage of the development, only the boathouse will be torn down, to make room for the new 5-bay, two-story boathouse. The clubhouse will remain standing and operational throughout the new boathouse construction, allowing for continued use of the bathrooms, erg room and office. The new boathouse construction includes new bathrooms, expanded erg room and office space on its second floor. Once the new boathouse construction is complete, all rowing club operations will move to the new facility and the old clubhouse will be torn down.

Q: What is the timeline for this project?

A: Demolition of the current boathouse will occur as early as December 15, 2010, but could be subject to delays into 2011. Contractors will begin the new boathouse construction as soon as possible and have been given incentives to complete the new boathouse by spring 2012, with an opening ceremony scheduled for May or June of 2012.

Q: Will we still be able to row during the demolition and new boathouse construction?

A: Yes, Austin Rowing Club will continue to operate throughout the construction process. Regular rowing, Introduction to Rowing Classes, visiting crews, regattas and special events will all continue.

Q: Where will the boats go during the new boathouse construction?

A: The open field behind the clubhouse has sufficient space, through the use of A-frame boat racks, to host the entire fleet of club boats and privately owned boats. Considerations for wind, rain, hail, freezing precipitation, flooding, sun exposure, vandalism and theft have been made in the design of the temporary storage facility. Careful attention has also been focused on ease of boat access, carrying and racking procedures, appropriate lighting and damage prevention in the temporary storage facility. The temporary storage facility will be covered and fenced, with security gates, lighting and access to water for washing boats. Crews will carry boats to and from the temporary storage facility via a path along the shore from the docks to the field behind the boathouse. The pathways and ground in the temporary storage facility will be graded and prepared for safe foot traffic.

Q: When will the boats be moved to the temporary storage facility, and can I help?

A: Boats will most likely be moved in early December, and yes, members will be needed to volunteer to help move equipment, but that move is dependent on the temporary storage facility being built and outfitted first. The construction of the temporary storage facility in the field behind the clubhouse will be the best indicator to our membership that a move out of the old boathouse is imminent.

Q: Is there a chance the new boathouse will not be built, or that Austin Rowing Club may not be the designated tenant?

A: The entire Waller Creek Tunnel Project, costing $127 million, depends on the boathouse reconstruction to be complete before the main tunnel construction can proceed. The funding for the project was approved in bond elections as early as 1998 and the project is fully funded. The $3 million new boathouse is funded by the project, which itself is ultimately funded through future property tax revenues from the increased future value of land in the Waller Creek flood zone serviced by the tunnel. Given the size and scope of the new boathouse construction, the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department requested proposals for the opportunity to operate the new boathouse. Austin Rowing Club and Texas Rowing Center were the only bidders for this opportunity. Austin Rowing Club’s comprehensive proposal, which was developed by a talented team from our membership, offers unmatched diversity of activity and access to the new boathouse for all users of Lady Bird Lake, and we are very confident of our future in the new boathouse facility. The management of the new boathouse could be decided by City Council as early as December.

TOP 10 MYTHS: NEW BOATHOUSE & AUSTIN ROWING CLUB

#10
MYTH: The recession is so bad right now, the tunnel project and new boathouse won’t be built because the city has no money.
FACT: The Waller Creek Tunnel Project is already funded and supported by a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district which will be in place for 20 years. The future value of property within the TIF district, in the form of property taxes, will fund the project. The TIF was created in 2007, with initial bond elections voted and passed in 1998 for $25 million in startup funds.

#9
MYTH: The city shouldn’t be paying $3 million of taxpayer money for a new boathouse just for 400 rowers.
FACT: No city funds are being used to fund the new boathouse construction. The TIF district, which funds the Waller Creek Tunnel Project with future property tax revenues from the Waller Creek District, guarantees that the private developers who own and develop the land will fund the tunnel for the next 20 years. Austin Rowing Club’s operations model for the new boathouse broadens access to the facility to thousands of potential users through expanded activities and diverse opportunities for facility use.

#8
MYTH: The boathouse won’t be rebuilt once it’s torn down–don’t trust the tunnel developer or the city!
FACT: Mitigation laws require the replacement or reconstruction of any property displaced or destroyed in the development of projects such as the Waller Creek Tunnel Project.

#7
MYTH: Life without the old limestone boathouse is unimaginable–the club won’t be able to function without it.
FACT: The entire array of activities–daily rowing, regattas, visiting crews–are already scheduled, budgeted and planned. Every detail has been carefully considered and provided for, with a minimum sacrifice of convenience to our membership. Expect to continue to enjoy rowing!

#6
MYTH: This process of deciding who gets the new boathouse has been going on for years–it’s taking too long!
FACT: The Request for Proposals was released March 15, 2010, and the proposals were due April 28, 2010. Since that time, the proposals have been in review and interviews of the candidate organizations have been conducted. Because of the need for city personnel to deliberate without outside influence, a “period of silence” is in effect where neither bidding organization can communicate with the City of Austin on the matter of the proposal, other than to request a progress report on the decision making process. We hope to hear from City Council as early as December 2010.

#5
MYTH: The new boathouse was already awarded and Austin Rowing Club is not the tenant.
FACT: As of November 2010, the tenant of the new boathouse has not been chosen. When the new boathouse tenant selection becomes a City Council agenda item, you can assume that calls for support from Austin Rowing Club membership will be made to show our collective interest and concern at the City Council meeting.

#4
MYTH: Rumor has it that Austin Rowing Club is bankrupt, having spent all its money on new boats and the new boathouse proposal.
FACT: This is simply false and a result of misinformation or someone’s imagination. Available for review upon request, Austin Rowing Club’s budget and balance sheet reflects no debt and the complete solvency of the club, utterly lacking liability and strong with assets. Several lines of credit have been extended by banks for our future use. Our fundraising campaign for the transitional period leading up to the new boathouse completion is underway and taking membership donations, and several grant applications promise to yield funds for special programs.

#3
MYTH: The boats will go away if Austin Rowing Club is not awarded the new boathouse.
FACT: Austin Rowing Club, as a non-profit organization, owns the boats, docks, ergs and all other assets related to rowing at ARC–and those assets will always be a part of the club and accessible to our membership.

#2
MYTH: Austin Rowing Club and Texas Rowing Center will share the new boathouse.
FACT: Austin Rowing Club’s existing fleet of equipment, combined with the space requirements of future boathouse vendor partners and planned purchases in the next five years, completely fills the new boathouse to capacity with some boats still being stored outside. Negotiations between Austin Rowing Club and Texas Rowing Center did occur, with city officials acting as mediators and witnesses. During those negotiations, no agreement could be reached on a practical plan for both ARC and TRC to share the new boathouse. Even with a modest rate of growth, Austin Rowing Club’s proposal for the new boathouse demonstrates how our non-profit will exercise every opportunity and square foot of space to provide the broadest access to potential users and the greatest opportunity for our diverse boathouse vendor partners.

#1
MYTH: Austin Rowing Club has been using the old boathouse for free all these years and won’t be able to afford the new boathouse.
FACT: Though Austin Rowing Club’s current contract with the City of Austin does not specify any rent for use of the facility, understanding that the entire facility exists as a result of the organizational and fundraising efforts of Austin Rowing Club members and private, corporate donations of time, money, land and the buildings themselves helps to explain why this situation exists. Of equal importance is the fact that while ARC’s contract with the City of Austin names the city as responsible for maintenance of the facilities, Austin Rowing Club has been diligently maintaining the boathouse since it opened, shouldering the cost of repairs from its own budget, at no cost to the city.