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The Chattanooga Junior Rowing Club is dedicated to continuing the splash of success it enjoyed during the USRowing Youth National Championship Regatta, as new and seasoned club members are already hitting the water to prep for the 2009-2010 season.
“This is a fun season,” said coach and program director Jack Fish, a resident of North Chattanooga.
Fish said that the coed club is currently accepting new rowers who are of high school age and added that some seventh- and eighth-graders may join depending on factors such as size and maturity. Prospective rowers should be able to lift and manage 30 pounds and also be strong swimmers.
North Chattanooga resident and Chattanooga Junior Rowing Club coach Jack Fish spends summer mornings training boaters at the Chattanooga Rowing Center.
“They’ve got to be mature enough to stay focused for two hours a day, and they’ve got to need to want to get in pretty good physical shape,” said Fish.
He added that experience is not necessary for new team members.
“Nobody ever came down here knowing how to row. Everybody learns,” said Fish, who touted the accessibility of the sport for people who don’t respond well to high impact exercise. “The real advantage that rowing has over other sports is you don’t have impact injuries and you get the best cardiovascular workout you’ll ever get.”
The rowers practice five days each week and spend the summer developing and improving their techniques on the water. Fish said the real work starts in the fall, however, as the kids are then expected to keep their maximum target heart rates between 50 and 80 percent for one hour and 15 minutes, breaking only for sips of water as needed.
The work, though quite strenuous, is very beneficial to the rowers on several levels, according to Fish.
“It’s like any athletic event. They’re going to improve their bodies; they’re going to have to learn time management because they’ve got schoolwork,” he said, adding that character-building and team-building skills are also honed through consistent practice and competition.
Fish said that the sport looks particularly shiny on college applications and gives girls a shot at scholarships to Division I schools. Boys, however, do not reap that particular benefit, as Fish said that rowing is not an NCAA sanctioned sport.
Fish said the club will accept 60 rowers maximum. Rowers may sign up in the summer or fall, but are encouraged to get started as soon as possible in order to get in top physical shape in time for fall races.
For more information contact Fish at jackfish@chattanoogajuniorrowing.org.
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