Early morning practices, exhausting two-a-days, year-long strength and conditioning training are no longer solely associated with varsity football. Instead, it is also a part of Ohio State’s club crew team.
Club crew has existed at OSU since 1978, and for 25 years the club has continued to grow in size and popularity. Heading into spring quarter, there are 50 athletes on the team, including both men and women. OSU does not offer a school-sponsored men’s program, so the club team is the only option for prospective male athletes.
Each fall, the team has a table at the Student Involvement Fair, where interested students can sign up to join the team.
“The philosophy behind the crew club is to make rowing accessible to everyone on the OSU campus who wishes to try it,” said coach Peter Steenstra.
Most of the athletes have never rowed before their first practice, making training intense. The first-year members make up the “novice squad” while they learn the sport. The “varsity squad” are members in their second year or more with the team.
“I had done three varsity sports during high school and I had never done anything this hard in my life,” first-year member Jessica Swary said.
When the novices are first learning their new sport in the fall, it isn’t always easy, Swary said. When they are out on the water in a racing shell – the crew boat – a coach is right beside them in a small motor boat telling them what to do and running them through various drills needed to learn the proper technique of rowing.
“The hardest part for me is that when you’re rowing, you have to be exactly together because if you’re not, it won’t work,” Swary said.
She said there were many times when rowers would have to stop completely and restart when they got out of sync with each other.
In addition to work on the water, the team regularly practices on ergs, which are machines that simulate rowing.
Training isn’t just done when school is in session. During winter break teammates are given a calendar of suggested workouts in order to maintain their level of fitness.
“There was a workout for every day,” Swary said. “Even on Christmas Day, I had to run for 90 minutes.”
During winter quarter, workouts increase in preparation for the spring racing season. Swary said the team practices six days a week with double sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For spring break, the team travels to North Carolina for another week of intense training. For competition, the team regularly travels to Boston, Indiana, New Jersey and Michigan.
“We have annual dual regattas against Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State, as well as championship regattas where more than 50 crews from all over the country participate,” Steenstra said.
Although it is a club team, OSU routinely competes against school-sponsored teams.
As a club team, a lot of time is spent on fund-raising. The team is responsible for raising nearly all the money it needs each year.
“Rowing has always been viewed as a ‘rich kids’ sport because of the cost of the boats and equipment,” Steenstra said. “But the club has worked very hard over the past 25 years to make this available to everyone.”
The club has two major fundraisers each year. In February team members participate in the “Erg-A-Thon” where they row their ergs on High Street. Also, the team does its “Rent-A-Rower” program, in which members of the community can rent a team member to do yard work, painting, cleaning, baby-sitting or just about anything else to help around the house.
“On average, the team raises better than $80,000 per year to pay for coaching, equipment, spring break and regatta expenses,” Steenstra said. “Over the years, the team has become quite organized in its efforts and is more of a small business than a club.”
Each team member also pays annual dues of $275. Returning members pay during fall quarter, but for new members, it is broken down into a three-payment system because so many first-year members drop out during the course of the season.
The club also receives limited support from the Department of Recreational Sports at OSU.
