DC Strokes 2022 Pre-season Training

Shake off the winter cobwebs and get a jump start on the 2022 rowing season with DC Strokes Pre-Season Training. Join us Tuesday and Thursday evenings for six weeks of coached sessions that will improve your cardio, fitness, and mobility – regardless of whether you plan to row.

Sessions will include a dynamic warm-up and a variety of erg work lasting 50-60 minutes, followed by stretching and cool-down. You also will learn and put into practice basic coxing commands – all for less than $15 per week.

Participants should, at a minimum, have completed a Learn-to-Row program

To allow for adequate spacing and ventilation, sessions will be held outdoors or in one of the bays at the Anacostia Community Boathouse. All participants will be required to show proof of being fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

When:

Tuesdays and Thursdays, Feb. 8-March 17

7:15-8:30 p.m.

Where:

Anacostia Community Boathouse

1900 M St SE, Washington, DC

Fee:

$85

Register today:

https://icrew.club/register?club=DCSRC

Registration code:

DCSRCxMem

Note: We will be using iCrew for all team activities this year (attendance, equipment management, lineups, etc.), so you will need to create an account. Tutorials and more information will be forthcoming.

About the coach

Rachel Freedman is a US Rowing Level II certified coach who has worked with high school and masters rowers, and developed winter training programs for sweep teams and unaffiliated scullers. In 2014 she founded RowSource.com as a resource for masters rowers, coaches, and coxswains. In 2020 she established the Alliance of Women Rowing Coaches and co-founded Steady State Network, the producer of Steady State Podcast.

A Different Kind of Winter Training

DC Strokes is pleased to offer a new program: Pre-season Strength and Explosiveness Training.

This small group class will focus on building strength and explosive conditioning, two foundational components for a stellar rowing season. Rowers will participate in a 10-week program that links work in the gym with power in the boat. Each session will incorporate individualized training and feedback, in a lively and supportive small-group atmosphere. No previous strength training is necessary, and all exercises and activities can be adapted to each person’s fitness profile. Classes will be held at Jade (1310 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE), a private gym tailored to small-group classes and individual fitness sessions. They have a strict cleaning regimen and adhere to all city COVID protocols. http://jadefitnessdc.com Cardio workouts will be provided for participants to do on their own as requested. We have two options for classes, and will select one based on the preferences of those who sign up first:

• 6:00 - 7:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays

• 5:00 - 6:15 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Classes begin January 11th and will continue through the third week of March, with a total of 18 classes. Class size will be capped at eight participants. Cost is $600 per person. About the instructor: Sue Jacoby is a certified ACE fitness trainer who believes movement can bring great joy. She is a DC Strokes alumna who had the great pleasure of rowing in numerous regattas including the Head of the Charles and in the Gay Games in Denmark, Norway. After rowing she became an avid powerlifter, finding she had an affinity for“picking up and putting down really heavy things” (which led to a national deadlifting record). Today you can find her in the gym, on her Peleton, or happily walking her dog Liam (who will be joining her during classes).

Statement Regarding Keisha Young and Nellie's Sports Bar (14 June 2021)

DC Strokes Rowing Club condemns the actions taken by Nellie’s Sports Bar and at least one of its bouncers this past weekend that led to violence against a Black woman, Keisha Young.

While Nellie’s statement about the weekend’s events moves in the right direction, it is not enough. The events of this weekend, when coupled with a history of Nellie’s staff unfairly targeting Black and brown guests leads us to the decision that DC Strokes Rowing Club cannot support Nellie’s Sports Bar and our club will not hold events at the bar for the foreseeable future.

Credible claims of racism, discrimination, and bias directed against Black and brown people in our community while at Nellie’s have registered no long-lasting change in the bar’s culture. Nellie’s must do more than react to racism—like all of us, they must be proactive.

In the past, DC Strokes has looked the other way. As recently as 2019, our club partnered with Nellie’s as a sponsor, and we, in turn, have held events and fundraisers at the bar. In this way, we have complicity in the complaints that Black and brown people and their allies have lodged against Nellie’s. For this, we apologize. We will do better.

For Nellie’s, making amends might take the form of hiring more Black and brown employees at all levels—including management—and providing them with opportunities to speak up and create more inclusive policies. It might take the form of investing money in local organizations that support Black and brown women or Black and brown LGBTQ+ persons. It might take the form of diversity, equity, and inclusion seminars or implicit bias workshops for all employees—including its owner and those responsible for hiring and contracting new staff.

Whatever next steps look like for Nellie’s, we hope that they undertake those steps with intentionality. We hope that we can support this LGBTQ+ venue again one day. But until Nellie’s takes serious and real steps—with demonstrable results—we will support venues that provide safe and welcoming spaces for all their guests.