out in nature
Rowing crews from the DC National Rowing Club put in near Riley ’ s Lock on the C & O Canal and enjoy practicing their skills and camaraderie on the Potomac River .
having fun and Staying Healthy out on the Water
By Julian Canha
Four rowers and their coxswain are standing at attention with one foot in their boat and one on the dock , their hands pressing their oar handles down to the boat ’ s gunwales .
“ Ready to shove , and shove .” All five push off the dock together , balancing their weight on their other foot . “ And , down .” The crew bring their extended legs back into the boat and sit on their seats .
They are heading down Seneca Creek towards the Potomac River near Riley ’ s Lock . Another practice with their team , DC National Rowing Club ( DCNRC ), has begun .
The rowing club , with 82 8th- 12th graders , is relatively new to the area , having moved to Riley ’ s Lock in the spring of 2019 . “ The move to Riley ’ s Lock eliminated a 50 minute bus ride on the Beltway for our athletes and also made rowing accessible for high school students in western Montgomery County ,” says Gerry McAree , DC- NRC ’ s president .
Good rowing looks elegant and simple , but that doesn ’ t mean rowing well is easy . “ There are so many things that you have to learn in rowing other than simply how to take a stroke . You have to learn how to balance the boat , how to stay in time with everyone and how to push yourself to go faster . It is a lot to think about simultaneously ,” says Izzy Berman , a senior who will be rowing at Tufts in the fall .
The task in a standard rowing race is to move the combined mass of the rowers and equipment across a mile-and-a-quarter of water faster than the opposition . For an eight-oared shell the total weight of crew and equipment often totals more than 1,500 pounds . A skillful and disciplined crew will consistently propel that mass through the water as one , even when tired and under pressure . “ When the boat is going well you can feel the whole boat moving together and it glides so smoothly through the water even with maximum power being applied ,” says Blake Strauch , a sophomore .
In addition to skill and discipline , rowing fast requires excellent physical conditioning . Physiologists have said that a standard rowing race takes an equivalent physical toll to playing in backto-back basketball games , but in six to seven minutes . “ For me , the intensity of the workouts was a real shock after my experiences in sports . But I ’ ve continued to push
46 plenty I Summer growing 2021