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The Baltimore Rowing Club is a rowing club located in Baltimore, Maryland.
The current version of the club was founded in 1979 and promotes competitive and non-competitive sculling, sweep rowing, and coxswaining. The club competes across many levels of experience, including masters, open, novice, and juniors.
The club makes its home in Middle Branch Park along the Patapsco River in the south Baltimore neighborhood of Cherry Hill, and shares its boathouse with a number of local school crews, including Johns Hopkins University, Loyola College, and UMBC.
Baltimore RC hosts three events each year.
- Great Baltimore Burn, an indoor regatta of 2000m erg sprints
- Charm City Sprints, a series of 1000m sprints on the Patapsco River
- Head of the Fort, a fall head race centered around Fort McHenry and held on or near Defenders Day
History of the Baltimore Rowing Club Juniors Program
Rowing in Baltimore has enjoyed tremendous growth since 1979, when a group of former college oarsmen and other enthusiasts of the sport decided to revive what once had been an extremely popular pastime on the Patapsco River. Today three colleges, one major club and a handful of high school crews train here for regional, national and, occasionally, international races. But despite the relatively short existence of today's rowing scene, the sport has a long and storied history here. For roughly 80 years before World War II took away the rowers and waterfront industrialization took the boathouses, Baltimore crews were major powers on the East Coast circuit and won numerous national championships and a few international titles as well.
The Baltimore Rowing Club Juniors Program was formed in the fall of 2002 by the then head coach, Jim McCalister. The group was established to serve as a training forum for juniors whose high schools limit fall rowing and primarily concentrate on spring rowing. As interest on the juniors level grew, the Baltimore Rowing Club today finds itself as its own established program which no longer houses athletes whose schools have existing programs.
In the fall of 2006, under the direction of Alyson Covino, the BRCJ was restructured to develop a competitive team. The team now recognizes three distinct seasons each including races and college visits. Pat Turner, a local developer also donated seed money to provide scholarship for 10 students from Baltimore City to participate in the sport. In the spring of 2007, Honeywell International, along with Pat Turner announced a $100,000 dollar commitment over three years. This allows BRCJ to expand the city rowing program to 25 kids, provide transportation and equipment purchases among other things to enhance and build the team.
Program Details for the Baltimore Rowing Club Juniors
The Baltimore Rowing Club offers a program for student athletes who are twelve years of age, and older. The Juniors team is a competitive-level program specifically designed for students who do not have a rowing program associated with their high school. During the fall and spring seasons, the team travels throughout the mid-Atlantic region to compete in numerous regattas against other high schools and clubs.
Within the Juniors program there are varsity, junior varsity and novice teams. This division is based on the athletes ability and understanding of the sport: varsity rowers have typically been with the team for at least one full year and concentrate on high level competition. Junior varsity rowers have completed a novice rowing class and begin learning how to be competitive while refining their technical abilities. Novice rowers are introduced to the sport by learning proper technique and have the chance to experience racing. To build team unity, all levels practice on the same days at the same times.
The Juniors program is coached by trained and knowledgeable coaches. Specific novice, junior varsity and varsity coaches provide training geared more towards the levels of the individual rowers. Overall, the Juniors program strives to provide our rowers with athletic and social opportunities, along with helping provide balance to their lives. We are always looking to take on new rowers at the beginning of each season, so contact any of the coaches with your interest.
