You don?t need matching uniforms or amazing upper arm strength to stroke with the best this weekend.
National Learn to Row Day kicks off Saturday, and to celebrate, the Baltimore Rowing Club and Things To Do Baltimore are hosting a free Learn to Row Day.
Participants will learn on indoor rowing machines, then test their new skills with a BRC coach and coxswain by launching an eight-person team into the water of the Patapsco River Basin.
Deb Kleiner of Cleo Communications recently took up rowing last year with the BRC?s novice class. “I started rowing as a novice this year and I can attest to the fact that it is possible for someone over 40 to do,” she said. “There was everyone from college-age people to people that were retired. It?s a huge variety of people and great fun.” Kleiner also said that participants are very likely to see people in their 20?s, 50?s and “everything in between.”
“Many people perceive rowing as an ?elitist? sport, since the Ivys and collegiates do it, but it?s really not that way,” said Cindy Ching, president of BRC. “[Rowing is] athletically challenging, a good workout for cardio, is low-impact and a great sport to get into an any age.”
This is the third year that the BRC has opened its doors to the public for free, and participation is high.
“Last year the participation jumped from about 40 people to 100, and we actually sold out and overfilled our novice class,” Ching said. “It?s a great way to see Baltimore from a different point of view, instead of looking at the water from the land, you can look at the land from water.”
Learn to Row Day
Presented by BRC and Things To Do Baltimore
» Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
» Cost: Free but pre-registration by e-mail is required at [email protected]
Participants must be at least 14 years of age, no experience necessary
» More info: www.baltimorerowing.org
