The 2012 Alexandria Summer Crew Program entered its fourth week of classes and training sessions this past Monday with nearly 130 rowers taking to the water at the Dee Campbell Boathouse in Old Town.
Classes and sessions begin each morning just after sunrise and are between 90 minutes to two hours in length. Rowers are learning basic technique and building on the skills they have acquired in past seasons.
According to Lexye Hearding, the director of the summer crew program, they are also having fun.
“That’s really the whole point of it,” she said. “We clearly want to make sure our rowers become familiar with the sport if they’ve never done it before and improve their skills if they have a season or two under their belt. But we also want to make sure our rowers are enjoying themselves. After all, it’s summer. We want them to learn. But we also want them to have a good time.”
Hearding noted that both youth rowers and adults are taking part in the summer crew program. She added that registration in the program is up almost 50 percent from last year — reflecting, she said, not just the growing popularity of the sport, but the fact that rowing on the Potomac is a great way to get some exercise and start the day.
The program concludes on Friday, Aug. 3, with the Blue Plains Sprints, an annual regatta that pits the summer rowers against each other in a series of races and marks the official end of the summer rowing season.
The program is sponsored by the Alexandria Crew Boosters. For more information on rowing in Alexandria, visit www.tcwcrew.org or www.rowalexandria.org