Back in the dark ages, I rowed for part of my freshman year at Penn. The school had just won the national championship for heavyweight eights the prior year (the most prestigious race) and I walked on without knowing too much. Almost all of the other team members had been recruited from prestigious prep schools around the US, but I somehow was good enough to be invited to winter training in Florida. I generally do not look second guess past decisions, but my 18 year old self decided to leave the team just before the main spring rowing season to try rugby. I went to a few rugby practices, didn’t like it and decided to just run and play basketball rather than go back to rowing.

Now, 20+ years later, I am excited to have found a place in New York City where one can row on the water. Even better, the group sponsoring it has a great community program. So this Saturday I’ll be heading to the Peter Jay Sharp Boathouse on the Harlem River to take RowNewYork’s Learn to Row I program. It is required to move ahead in their sequence and I’ll be in Learn to Row II later in June.

What excites me at least as rowing myself is the youth programs RowNewYork sponsors targeting middle school and high school kids that ordinarily would not have access to a crew program. From the website: “RowNewYork’s core year-round program for youth combines rowing with comprehensive academic support, and prepares middle school and high school girls and boys for success both on and off the water.” More about the volunteer mission here. Whether you want to row yourself or just get involved with a great organization check out RowNewYork.