Were you an athlete in high school? Do you thrive on hard work in a team-oriented environment? Does high-level competition bring the best out of you? Do you have a desire to be part of a successful division I collegiate athletics program? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then rowing at Georgetown may be for you. We look forward to introducing you to the challenging, rewarding, and incredible sport of rowing.

For over a hundred years, talented walk-on athletes have formed the foundation of our rowing program. Year after year we recruit new students with no rowing experience to learn the sport and train as a team. These first-year athletes compete nationally against other first-year collegiate rowers as members of the Georgetown Freshman/Novice Crew program. Some walk-on athletes who first started rowing at Georgetown have even gone on to compete at the Olympic level.

Four teams in one. Georgetown Crew fields men and women's heavyweight and lightweight squads, so opportunities exist for most incoming student athletes.

In rowing, the journey is truly the reward. Immeasurable amounts of hard-work and preparation as a team go into each minute of each race. The volume and intensity of our training produces athletes in top physical condition. You will be in the best shape of your life, guaranteed. Training is centered around rowing on the water, but we do spend a significant amount of time using rowing machines, lifting weights, and running.

Imagine a sixty-foot carbon fiber racing shell . . . eight athletes pulling together . . . 36 strokes per minute . . . heart-rates through the roof . . .six boats across. In its most basic sense, the rowing stroke involves putting your oar in the water, pulling hard, and repeating. When you factor in matching your teammates, working your body to its maximum capacity, all while racing in a lightweight shell in variable water conditions, the sport of rowing becomes much more challenging. Learning and perfecting the rowing stroke is a never-ending process. Through rowing, drilling, and more rowing, you and your teammates will progress rapidly from novices to bona-fide boat-movers.

Coxswains. An effective coxswain is invaluable. We recruit very lightweight student-athletes as coxswains to steer, motivate, direct practices and strategize during races. The coxswain works closely with the coach and crew to run effective practices. During races, a coxswain's steering and execution of the race plan can mean the difference between first and second.

Location, Location, Location. We currently row out of Thompson's Boat Center, a 15-minute walk from campus, situated on the Potomac River between the new Swedish Embassy and the Kennedy Center. In future years we hope to be rowing out of a modern, beautiful boathouse just below campus. There is currently a massive campaign underway by the university to make this facility a reality. Click here to visit buildtheboathouse.org for more information on the campaign.

Freshman/novice crews practice each afternoon, five to six days a week. Our athletes look forward to practice as a way to get faster as a team. Additionally, team members view going to the boathouse as a break and stress relief from the rigors of college academics. Having to plan their daily schedule around practice forces student-athletes to organize their studies and helps them perform better academically. Practices are typically two hours. When planning your first semester class schedule, try to leave 4:15 - 6:15 PM free. If you find you have some class conflicts during the fall semester, you won't be alone. Don't worry -- we'll find a way to work with your schedule.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . . Attention, Go!" Our athletes train to row the perfect race, to win the shirts off their opponents' backs, and to give everything for each other in pursuit of victory. Georgetown competes at the highest level of collegiate rowing. The women's crew competes in the Big East Conference and the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges. The men are part of the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. The traditional collegiate racing season is in the spring, although we do race in the fall. By the end of the fall semester, our first-year rowers will have raced several times. In the spring, dual races each week versus crews such as Cornell, Princeton, Rutgers, Yale, Navy, UNC, Columbia, Harvard-Radcliffe, Temple, Syracuse, Wisconsin and others culminate in end-of-the-year championships for all of our squads. Perhaps you will be next in the long line of Hoya rowers to win or medal in national championship regattas.

Throughout new student orientation, we'll be very visible on campus introducing ourselves to freshmen and transfer students. We look forward to meeting you and introducing you to this incredible sport.

In the meantime, please contact one of our coaches to express your interest.

Men's Crew	Women's Crew
Coach Mike Guerrieri	Coach Steve Full
mjg97@georgetown.edu	swf9@georgetown.edu