Jane Scheffel

Members of the St. Louis Rowing Club girls varsity team row on ergometers. Students who try out for the team will learn how to properly take a stroke on the ergometers. “I recommend students try out for rowing because rowing is the ultimate team sport, and you get to grow and bond as a community,” Claire Williamson (11) said.

St. Louis Rowing Club will host free introductory practices Feb. 21-22 at Creve Coeur Lake for students who want to try out. Following the introductory sessions, the club will hold tryouts for two weeks that will teach students the basics of rowing and give them an opportunity to experience rowing firsthand.

“The first week, you learn how to row on the rowing machines and you learn what the different parts of the boat are,” Claire Williamson (11) said. “The second week, you go out on the water and you get to see if you really like the sport.”

Rowing consists of eight rowers and a coxswain, a person in the back of the boat steering, racing to cross the finish line first. Rowers rely and work together to become as fast as possible.  

“When we’re rowing in a boat, we all depend on one another a lot,” Williamson said. “We have a lot of trust in each other to push as hard as we can and make it a good race.” 

The novice team trains five days a week, pushing themselves to be the best they can be. Many rowers and coxswains participated in other sports before deciding to do rowing. 

“I just quit baseball, and the coaches came to the middle school and told me about the summer camp,” Shreyas Laddu (9) said. “So I just thought, why not.”

Around 15 students at Ladue currently participate, but the rowing club is not only for Ladue students. Many students from other schools in the St. Louis area are also part of the club.

“You meet a lot of different people when you’re on the team,” Williamson said. “I’ve met most of my best friends from the team, and we’ve stayed really close.”