DETROIT – The Detroit Boat Club was established in 1839 and is the oldest boat club in America. Right now, high schoolers are making waves on the national and international levels.
A lot goes into rowing, from taking care of the boat, training your body, hitting the water, and perfecting what you practice.
It all seems to be going quite well for the rowers of the Detroit Boat Club, as many boys and girls qualified for nationals this year.
“We’re fortunate we’ve got a lot of kids that were athletes who participated in other sports like hockey, basketball, softball, and It really translates for rowing,” said Coach Mike Gentile.
We went out on the Detroit River to get a first-hand look at their training regime.
What’s impressive is that seven girls have been invited to the United States Junior National Team Camp, which is unprecedented.
“I’ve been rowing for the Detroit Boat Club for five years, so this is our first year qualifying a boat for nationals,” said Alex Rollins. “It’s super exciting as we will have four of us there, which is like a decent-sized team. We’re super excited to see what we can do this year.”
Carly Brown was chosen and will race to see if she represents the U.S. in Italy.
“Rowing with all of my friends, we’re all so competitive with each other, but we can all go row in a boat together and work well together but also have each other’s backs,” said Brown.
Those are the highly competitive boats, but if it looks interesting to you, Coach Eric Dilworth says to come to see the sport yourself.
“Everybody come down, adults or high schoolers or any age group, you can come down and learn,” said Dilworth.
The Detroit Boat Club has “learn-to-row” programs through those competing for World Championships and in all age groups.
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