For competitive novice rowers, the crew season began February 28, 2012.   Technically, crew is all year round.  The fall consists of long distance racing, the winter is workouts, spring is sprint racing and during the summer there are many camps.  While crew does not have tryouts, you can participate for one free week and see if you like it and want to continue.  Spring crew is a club sport, so the coaches do not make any cuts because you pay to be on the team.  There are about 15 girls on the team currently; only two people did not come back after the first week.  Crew is a co-ed sport and Padua Academy is affiliated with the Newport Rowing Club.

Practices can vary from doing ab workouts and erging (using an indoor rowing machine) and jumpies.  Other days they go out on the water and do drills and time themselves.  They often do eight to ten minute pieces and 2Ks. Kaitlyn Barry, freshman at Padua Academy, says “The best part about crew is meeting new people, being with boys, and becoming stronger.” It is agreed that the worst part is erging, the indoor rower, and carrying the boat, which can weigh up to two hundred and forty pounds.  Kaitlyn’s favorite memory so far was “After practice one day, we made our coxin ( the person that gives us the commands) do a 2k which is rowing your hardest for two thousand meters on the indoor rower.”  During some Saturday mornings, the practices became girls bonding time.

When it comes to race time, it is just like any sport.  The girls want to win and really have to work as a team to get the desired result. There are four regattas this year, and there will be five if the team qualifies for Nationals.  So far the team has been to three regattas and is doing very well.  The girls novice 8+ won their first two regattas at the Baltimore Invitational and Mercer Lake Sprints.  They also placed third in the Cooper Cup.  Nicole Scalessa, freshman, said that “The best part of crew is racing, because at the start you have a huge adrenaline rush.”  The worst part for Nicole is the blisters.  The girls uniform is black spandex, either short or long depending on the weather, and a Newport Rowing Club pinnie.  The also can wear a white NRC hat.

Many girls love crew because they get a chance to meet lots of new people, including boys, and become very strong.  The coaches are well liked by all involved and are very supportive.  It is increasing in popularity and many colleges are giving more crew scholarships.