Although rowing is not as popular here as it is on the East Coast, more and more students have started participating in crew according to NorCal womens’ varsity coach Jenifer Aguire. “Crew is an amazing sport,” Aguire said. “Unfortunately, not many people take the opportunity try it out.” Crew is a club sport, so teams are made up of students from many schools in the Bay Area. Junior Natan Reddy rows for the Palo Alto Rowing Club. “Most of the people there are from Homestead [High School],” Reddy said. “Gunn students also practice with Stanford Rowing Club and NorCal Crew, which is the big one in this area.”

According to senior Anna Escher, crew is an individual sport as well as a team sport. Boats enter in many different events, singles, doubles, fours and eights. “ In the fall we usually row in eights which are sometimes co-ed in 5k races, and in the fall we row more in fours and doubles in 2k races,” Escher said.

There are two popular types of rowing. In sweep rowing, each rower has one oar. They are called starboard and port, or left and right, depending on which side the oar is facing. Boats that use sweep rowing are typically eights and fours. Smaller boats use sculling, where each rower has two oars.

According to Aguire, people tend to have misconceptions about crew. “Most people think that crew is an upper body workout,” Aguire said. “That is not true. Crew requires a rower to use their entire body with heavy emphasis on the lower body and core.”

Escher considers crew to be a demanding sport. “Crew is the most time consuming sport I have ever done,” she said. “I have to get up for morning practice and there are practices in the afternoons as well. It eats up all your time and you have to put in extra work to maintain the boats.

Regattas, or racing events, are also all day affairs. “You have to unrig the boat and then load it onto a trailer, and when arrive you have to set it up.” Reddy said. “Then you race till 1 or 2 in afternoon, and then you have to load the boats back on to the trailer and unload them and wash them.” Boats and oars need to be washed and maintained regularily to prevent damage from salt water.

Reddy and Escher’s dedication and passion for the sport is rewarded when the team becomes a team. “It feels amazing when the boat works together,” Escher said. “ It has made me less of a complainer and more mature. I have more respect for athletes who do sports as a profession because I know how hard it is to be committed to something.”

For those interested in trying out crew or doing something new this summer Norcal Crew, Palo Alto Rowing and Stanford Rowing Club all offer summer programs for high school students. “I would definitely recommend other students to try crew,” Reddy said. “The summer camps allow students to get a taste [of] crew without being committed to it.”