Now that Learn to Row is over for the season there will be more an more opportunities to try your hand in small boats. A critical skill for anyone rowing a single or double is boat re-entry. We’ve all flipped before!
Spokane River Rowing Association strives to make rowing accessible to people of every background and ability; and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in all we do.
Now that Learn to Row is over for the season there will be more an more opportunities to try your hand in small boats. A critical skill for anyone rowing a single or double is boat re-entry. We’ve all flipped before!
Well the spring run off on the Spokane River is not expected to subside to rowable conditions for a few more weeks. SO, SRRA is shifting gears to give us the opportunity to get on the water in mid June at Silver Lake.
This means we need to move some boats. We plan to do this on Monday 13 June. I have entered a session in iCrew from 5:30- 7:30 pm we will need at least 6 people to help de rig, load the trailer and unload at Silver Lake (GU Johnson Family boathouse).
After that, the plan is for rowing sessions:
Specific times will be posted by Coach Voorheees in ICrew. I am excited to get to row at this facility, it has a great dock and Silver Lake is a cool new place to row. Thanks to GU for sharing!
REMINDER: you can only get on the water after registering, paying, and completing the various safety and insurance documents and trainings. It might be a bit daunting at first, but once it’s done it’s done! See details at Membership.
DIRECTIONS TO JOHNSON FAMILY BOATHOUSE
PHYSICAL ADDRESS:
11410 Silver Lake South Rd.
Medical Lake, WA 99022
Take Interstate 90 West to Exit 270 onto SR-904 West toward Four Lakes, Cheney
Continue on to SR-904
Turn right onto W. Medical Lake Four Lakes Rd
Turn left onto W Silver Lake Rd.
Turn left onto Silver Lake South Rd
Continue on for half a mile. Destination will be on your right.
link to directions:
https://gozags.com/sports/
Gayne Sears
Register here: https://www.spokanerowing.org/wp/learn-to-row/
Due to the high temperatures, we will be rowing in the mornings this week.
6/29/21 Tue and 7/01/21 Thu 6:00AM to 8:00AM.
Saturday is till 7:00AM to 9:30AM.
See you then!
We had a good turnout for the Boat Maintenance Day on Saturday, and we are Ready to Row!
Since most of us have not been in a shell for over a year, the coaches are going to help us get our confidence back by providing Learn to Row 2.0 for our sessions in June. We’ll be polishing the rust from our basic boat handling, rowing technique, entering and exiting the boats, steering, water safety, etc. It will be a great opportunity to ask all your questions, remember which is starboard and which is port, how to orient the oar locks, and get us off on the right path to a great summer of rowing!
Rowing sessions will be:
We will assess the interest for additional sessions for the remainder of the summer. We are working on session sign-up software, but for now just show up 5 minutes early so coaches can have time to set up boat line ups.
Additionally, we will be asking members that want to row a single at a certain practice to reserve the boat. This will be a first come first serve procedure, though the actual process to make a reservation will be rolled out in the coming weeks.
We will be practicing COVID safety. Those who are not fully vaccinated will need to self identify and practice mask wearing and social distancing. Reserving a single will be the rowing option available for un-vaccinated.
Tasks before hitting the water:
Location: Meet at the gate west of Park on 7200 E South Riverway https://www.
An additional rowing/learning opportunity shared by Marnie:
We are thrilled to announce the Avalon West Coast Summer Rowing Camp for 2021 !
What? (with a note of surprise)
3 day sweep and sculling camp in beautiful Coeur D’Alene, Idaho (Spokane, WA airport) over the last weekend of July. Arrive Thursday, July 29th to be on the water Friday morning July 30th through midday Sunday, Aug 1st. At least 5 on water sessions with video review.
Why? (if you need to know)
Because the West Coast Mafia (disruptive subgroup of Avalonians) demanded a camp closer to home and Sally’s motto is “All Hail the West Coast Mafia”
Who? (sneak preview: YOU)
Open to all vaccinated rowers.
Expert coaches will be Holly Metcalf, Abby Peck, and Sally O’Connor, accompanied by coxswains and wranglers to keep all boats pointed in the right direction.
When? (now we’re getting serious)
We covered that in “What” because people needed to know. If you missed it: Arrive Thursday, June 30th to be ready to row Friday am, July 31st. Finish midday on Sunday, August 1st.
Where? (where is that place and how the heck do you pronounce it?)
The camp will take place on calm and serene Lake Fernan close to the charming downtown of Coeur D’Alene, with reasonably priced hotel accommodations within a few miles. The best airport for camp is Spokane, WA, about an hour away. This small Idaho town is in a leisure-magnet area with access to hiking, biking and lakes. The downtown area has good food and eclectic shops.
I’m not going to touch the pronunciation question.
How? (Please please please let me know how to sign up for this!)
The cost is $750, not including accommodations.
We need at least 16 committed rowers to run the camp. If you are interested and/or would like more information, please email Rachel Kindt, rmkindt@yahoo.com with any questions and to get on the list by Jun 11th. One we have quorum we will request a $250 deposit, and more information will be forthcoming.
Please forward to any rowers you think would be interested!
In good rowing,
Rachel and Sally
CDA Rowing has posted an update concerning this year’s Learn to Row course.
They are combining the two separate two week sessions into one full, four week long, Learn to Row course. Members and guests are welcome to register for this course by clicking the link here. The course will cost $285 and will begin May 5th. Wednesday 5:30pm to 7:30pm. Then Monday’s, Wednesday’s 5:30pm to 7:30pm and Saturday’s 8am to 10am.
There will be twelve sessions in total, and each session will be two hours long.
The Coeur d’Alene Rowing Association
Gayne Sears / SRRA President 2021
As newly elected President of SRRA I hope to help the club rebuild a viable and enjoyable Masters rowing season in 2021 as conditions permit. Unfortunately we will not be offering Learn to Row sessions this year. We are hopeful and are keeping in contact with Gonzaga rowing to share our interests and willingness to adapt. Please know that members are welcome and encouraged to attend our SRRA board meetings, as your Board is open to new ideas and we encourage active participation.
My rowing biography starts at University of California Davis in the mid 1980’s where I walked onto a small but mighty women’s club team and rowed starboard on every outing from then on. I made some of my best friend during that year on the freshman crew and keep in touch with them to this day. I skipped rowing the following year (needed to study harder), but I participated as the land coach and pushed my teammates to run the stairs faster and lift the weights harder. I rowed seven seat in the varsity eight the following year, with my favorite win a Head of the Sacramento 5000 meter race where we pounded our competitor by several boat lengths!
Twenty years later I took a weekend sculling class, five years after that I moved to the PNW and joined SRRA, where I increased my sculling, sweep, and coxing skills. I’m also a founding member (and President of the Board) of the Pend Oreille Rowing and Paddling Association and am planning a rowing and paddling event on the Priest River for the summer of 2021.
I have rowed with international clubs in Scotland and Victoria BC and am enticed by rowing vacations across the world. I adore rowing, I adore the people who row and cox, and most of the time I adore the coaches :) JK. Rowing is my lifelong sport and I try to lure people into it wherever I go.
Your Other Board members for 2021 are:
Dennis- Vice President
Julie/Brandon Treasurer
Peggy – Secretary
Bob, Bruce, Marnie At Large
Dear SRRA Crew Members:
Welcome to the beginning of another rowing season. As we have all come to expect from the pandemic, this season will look like none we have ever experienced. The new Board of Directors has been meeting and planning all year and while most of our planning will likely not materialize as we envisioned, we are excited about the Club’s successes over the past year, and we look forward with great enthusiasm to what we will be able to do this year and the years to come. Spokane Rowing and our Club are very much alive and well.
Here are some updates and plans for 2020:
As you know, every year we constantly monitor the official River flow of the Spokane River to determine when we can access the water. We feature information from the USGS on our website, https://www.spokanerowing.org/
You may have heard that there is an opening for the head coaching position for Gonzaga University Women’s Rowing. Our own Mark Voorhees has applied for the important position and we think he would be an excellent choice. On behalf of the Board, I submitted a letter of recommendation for Mark, and our Past President, Marnie Schroer, also submitted her own personal recommendation. Good luck, Mark!
We are consulting with and monitoring a number of organizations, entities, and experts regarding the appropriate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including US Rowing, Spokane Regional Health District, the Office of the Governor, Gonzaga University, and other local and regional governmental officials. The goal here is to determine to what degree and in what form we may be able to engage our sport and to provide a safe and healthful environment for all of us.
The Board unanimously determined that our popular Learn to Row Summer Program will be cancelled for 2020. We were all challenged by having to make this call, but all had strong conviction that this was the right decision. There is simply too much uncertainty regarding access and safety to reasonably expect to be able to offer the program beginning early July. We will certainly engage with those expressing an interest and keep them connected for a big splash in 2021.
As you all know, a portion of the money we pay every year is our Club Membership dues of $100.00. The balance of what we pay is for our actual coached rowing and competition privileges. The membership dues are just that; we pay to belong to SRRA. The club’s operating expenses continue whether we are rowing or not, including US Rowing liability insurance, equipment insurance and licenses. Because we consider this a contribution and because we are a 501(c)(3) corporation, this is a non-profit or charitable contribution. Notwithstanding, this year is unique and likely our time on the river may be impaired, but each Board member will pay their membership fee for 2020. We encourage each of you to do the same. This can easily be done through our website https://www.spokanerowing.org/
The more we live through this pandemic, and the more we learn about how the coronavirus is transmitted, the more challenging a rowing experience becomes. It is a very athletic endeavor, with all of us exerting ourselves and breathing hard, as well as being in very close proximity to each other. To say nothing of the amount of equipment we jointly share and handle. We have not seen any recommendation which makes this an easily answered inquiry.
Nevertheless, we continue to look at all the possibilities of providing some kind of rowing experience this summer which would offer the depth of safety and health we expect as part of our “Rowing DNA.” Stay tuned!
Because we are also a social organization, the Board is looking for ways to continue to engage and share our lives in other ways. Marnie Schroer has offered to set up a Virtual Regatta if there is enough interest, we only need 15 competitors. If you would like more details or would like to throw caution to the wind and just sign up, email Marnie at mschroer44@gmail.com. How about a Zoom Happy Hour hosted by Carol Williams? Carol will we put some dates and times together and we will get this party started!
More information to come! In the meantime, please take care of yourself.
Peggy Coyle, President
SRRA@spokanerowing.org