TRC Juniors Team Description

The Tulsa Rowing Club Juniors is a collection of more than forty student athletes from over ten high schools in the area.

The team is divided into two sections, Novice and Varsity.

Novice Team: The novice team is comprised of athletes in their first year of rowing. An athlete can row in novice events for the first twelve months of their rowing career. When a rower has one year of experience, then they become a varsity rower. Novice rowers participate in all of the events during the year except the Head of the Charles and USRowing Youth Nationals.

Varsity Rowers: The varsity team is comprised of athletes who have one year or more experience as a rower and participate in all of the events during a calendar year.

TRC Juniors Fall Season

The fall season begins in late August and concludes mid November. Fall races are longer in distance than spring races and therefore require an athlete to have greater endurance.

Goal: Develop good technique and lay the groundwork for the spring season.

Races in the fall season are known as "head" races. The distance of each race varies, however they are usually between 3km and 5km in length. Crews compete in a time trial format with boats being released one at a time in intervals approximately 10-15 seconds apart. The objective of this type of race is to travel the distance in the shortest amount of time possible. Crews must race the entire distance with good effort because it is not always apparent who has the fastest boat. In some instances the results are released several hours after a race has concluded.

The TRC Juniors enter 3-4 races each fall. Below is a description of each regatta.

Late September - Head of the Des Moines, Des Moines, IA

The Head of the Des Moines is a 5km race. This head race provides the crews their first opportunity to test boat speed. The event is typically attended by several junior and college crews and represents an opportunity for our athletes to gauge their early season speed against some other well established Midwest crews.

Early October - Head of the Oklahoma, OKC, OK

The Head of the Oklahoma is our second race of the fall season. The length of this race is 4km. This head race is run exceptionally well and features many collegiate crews as well as junior crews. In addition, due to the location of the USRowing High Performance center in OKC, this is an opportunity to view Olympic caliber crews.

The most exciting aspect of this event is the Night Sprints. College and Junior Varsity crews who place in the top six in their respective events are invited to take part in a 500m sprint. This sprint takes place under OG&E powered floodlights. It provides a fantastic spectacle as the fastest crews compete to win the 500m sprint. In previous years, our crews have placed very well in the night sprints and our girls' varsity eight placed first in 2007.

Mid/Late October - Head of the Charles, Boston, MA

The Head of the Charles is the largest rowing event in the Nation. The distance is 5km and the world fastest crews attend to compete against the fastest crews in the United States. The Head of the Charles boasts an entry of 1200 crews that race over a two-day period. Our juniors typically compete in the Girls Youth Four and the Boys Youth Four. Therefore, only the top varsity athletes have the opportunity to compete at this event. There are usually eighty boats in these divisions. Our crews perform well year after year and usually place in the top half of the boats entered. The goal of this event is to earn an automatic bid to next year's race. In order to do this, our crews must finish in the top half of the field. When this is not achieved, our entry for the next year is placed into a blind draw. As a result, it's this luck of the draw that enables us to continue to race at this prestigious regatta. The HOCR provides our best athletes the opportunity to compete against the best in the country, granting them a better sense of their current racing status in the nation.

Early November - The Head of the Hooch Chattanooga, TN

The Head of the Hooch is the second largest rowing event in the Nation. The distance is 5km, the equivalent as the Head of the Charles. This regatta provides the entire team an opportunity to witness "the big show" to see the festivities in a larger scale. Like the Head of the Charles this regatta features college and junior crews from all over the country. The organizers of this event estimated over 1000 crews participated at this regatta in 2010.

Early November - The Wichita Frostbite Regatta, Wichita, KS

This event is a family friendly regatta and features a challenging racecourse just under 3km long. There are plenty of events for juniors and it provides excellent locations for spectators along the riverbank. In 2010 the Frostbite and the Hooch were scheduled for the same weekend therefore the coach’s chose to attend the Head of the Hooch. If scheduling permits, we will attempt to attend both these regattas in the future.

TRC Juniors Winter Season

Goal: Develop strength and endurance in preparation for the spring season.

The winter season starts in mid November and concludes at the end of January. This training provides the athletes the opportunity to build strength and cardiovascular capacity. Winter training is held four days per week and the sessions include ergometer work, core conditioning, weight training, running and team building exercises. This is a vitally important part of preparation for the athletes who are looking to perform well at the regional championships in early May.

TRC Juniors Annual ROW-A-THON Fundraiser

Goal: To raise $15,000+ to support our annual operating budget and pay off loans for boat purchases.

Every year our athletes are asked to raise money for the program. In order to do this they solicit pledges from friends and family to take part in the Row-A-Thon. The Row-A- Thon is a 12-hour event that begins at 7am in the morning and ends at 7pm. Rowers are expected to row a distance of 30km or more during this 12 hour period. The athletes pace themselves throughout the day by rowing on machines and resting when needed from the effort.

This event is an efficient and productive way for the athletes to give back to their program. It is also provides them an opportunity for team bonding purposes. Club policy states that each athlete elicit a minimum of $250 as their contribution.

TRC Juniors Spring Racing Season

Goal: To travel 2000m as fast as possible at the Central District Regional Youth Rowing Championships.

The spring season varies from the fall season for two reasons.

1) The race distance is shorter (1000m to 2000m in length) 2) Crews compete side by side in separate lanes. The first boat past the post wins the gold medal.

Early February Dallas SWEAT (Southwest Ergometer Amateur Tournament)

This is our first event of the spring season and is an indoor competition where the athletes compete on Concept 2 rowing machines. Sixteen machines are networked together and the athletes compete against other athletes in the region. They row a distance of 2000m, which is the same race distance as our regional championship. This is a good opportunity for our athletes to gauge how they compete in a high pressure environment.

Mid February - OKC Ergometer Tournament

This is a special event because it allows us a chance to compete against our neighboring team in OKC. This is yet another great opportunity to compete at a 2000m distance.

Early March - Heart of Texas Regatta, Austin, TX

This regatta offers the team the opportunity to compete against several crews that will also be attending Central Districts. The distance is 1000m and provides the athletes the chance to develop a different race strategy. This is a quick race, crews therefore have the opportunity to work on their accurate and quick starts, find a good rhythm and then sprint to the finish. Each 1000m takes approximately three and a half minutes to complete. This is a 2-day event providing our crews the opportunity to compete in sweep races on Saturday as well as sculling races on Sunday. This regatta is run very well and provides spectator's great areas of viewing from the riverbank, this is an event not to be missed.

During school spring break - Spring Break Training, Oklahoma City, OK.

This week provides the athletes the opportunity to work on fitness and rowing skills during a focused five day training period. This is for athletes who want to maximize their performance at the upcoming Central District competition in May. With this training being offered in Oklahoma City it is a week of instruction that is second to none. Oklahoma City is the location of our regional championships so it provides an excellent opportunity to practice race plans and strategies before competing in our regional championship. Training on Zink Lake does not warrant the opportunity for our crew to practice a 2000m distance, so this is an added bonus to the athletes that attend.

Late March/Early April - OKC Scrimmage

In the past this event was originally scheduled to be held in Dallas, but has since been relocated to Oklahoma City. This event will feature Highland Park, Tulsa Rowing Club and the Chesapeake. The distance is 2000m and is also the same racecourse as Central Districts. The athletes will be racing a variety of crews so there should be plenty of racing for all athletes involved. This event provides them a great opportunity to practice and develop their 2000m race plan.

Early April - St. Louis Sprints

This regatta offers our crew the most competitive opportunity in the spring season. The team competes a distance of 1700m on Creve Courve Lake in St. Louis, Missouri. We typically compete against other well-established Midwest crews. These crews include Cincinnati Juniors, Mendota Juniors, Camp Randall, Atomic Rowing (Oakridge Juniors) and St. Louis Rowing Club Juniors. The racing is high caliber and this venue provides ample views of the racecourse. This regatta provides a good indication of our boat speed just a month prior to Central Districts.

Mid April - Route 66 Regatta, Tulsa, OK

This is our club's home event therefore it is a wonderful opportunity for our crew. Many crews attend this regatta to race a distance of 1000m. Parents are often encouraged to assist with various functions at this event, such as clothing sales, food and beverage sales and finish line judges. Crews that typically attend this regatta are Ursiline, Highland Park, Chesapeake Juniors, Jesuits, Colorado Juniors and Kansas City Rowing Club. This regatta is also a fundraiser for TRC and represents the last competition before Central Districts.

Late April - High School Invitational

The high school invitational is a fun scrimmage over 500m where all of our athletes have the opportunity to compete for their respective high schools. There is a team points trophy which in recent years has been won by Holland Hall twice and Jenks once.

Early/Mid May - Central District Youth Rowing Championships, OKC

This is the final event of the season and is the event the crews have been working towards. The distance for this regatta is 2000m and is held in Oklahoma City. The Central District is a region that was formed by USRowing five years ago in direct response to the amount of growth in youth rowing in the Midwest. Junior rowing teams from Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas and New Mexico are eligible to compete at this event. There are several races for novice crews as well as varsity crews. The top two crews in the varsity events will earn invitations to the USRowing National Championship Regatta that is held in Cincinnati in mid June. Tulsa Rowing Club Juniors have earned an invitation to attend this national championship regatta over the past five years, a wonderful accomplishment for our athletes.

Mid June - USRowing National Championship Regatta

All USRowing regions in the country offer a regional championship every year. The invitations to this national championship regatta are based on performance at the previously held qualifying events. This event represents the national championship for high schools or rowing clubs and features the fastest crews in the country. The distance is 2000m and it is a very exciting and highly competitive event. It provides a qualifying system that involves second chance races and A, B or C finals. The B and C finals decide places 7-18 in the country. During the past years our crews have continued to do well at this event. This demonstrates their testament of commitment, a winning spirit and a dedication that they adhere to, not only to themselves, but also to the sport of rowing.