At the end of October, New Trier High School’s boys and girls rowing teams concluded their fall season, but the work is not over. 

The fall season is only one of two seasons for the rowing teams, with a spring season beginning in late February. The teams use the winter off-season to prepare and train, working to maintain their speed and endurance for what is to come. 

The two-month fall season wrapped up on Oct. 28 with the Blake Haxton Fall Invitational for both boys and girls rowing. During the season, rowers took part in regatas and scrimmages every week while also practicing after school every day. Both teams performed well in their individual regatas they participated in, with the girls junior varsity team ending up finishing first, third, fifth and seventh at the Milwaukee River Challenge. 

As an annual tradition, Girls Head Coach Sandy Culver sent one boat to the head of the Charles regatta in Boston, which is the largest three-day regatta in the world. 

“This year, we finished ninth out of 90 other boats in the Women’s Youth Eights. This was an excellent finish for us as one of the few high school teams competing against mostly club programs,” Culver said.

Regarding the boys team, they had a big graduating class this past year, so Head Coach Nate Kelp-Lenane had expectations to remain consistent to the success of years past. 

“My biggest goal was to match a lot of the speed we saw last season, with a pretty new group,” Kelp-Lenane said.  

Now that the fall season is finished, Kelp-Lenane has the time to reflect on the past two months. He believed that while the team made significant progress on the year, it was not quite as much as he hoped for. 

Now moving into the offseason, the day-to-day grind among the rowers does not stop as coaches provide opportunities for rowers to keep up their day to day training and practice. Rowers and coaches are doing all it takes to reach their goals for the spring of winning important regatas. While there is no actual rowing taking place in the winter, the rowing machines known as ergometers play a crucial role in sustaining the rowers physical condition until the spring season. 

“Rowers follow our training plan and do most of the work on their own, but most also join teammates for non-mandatory practice sessions through New Trier Extension, led by NT coaches,” Culver said. 

The coaches understand that not every student can participate in the optional practices due to other commitments.  

“Obviously some rowers participate in another sport in the winter. We just try to keep connected to make sure we’re staying in shape,” Kelp-Leanne said.

 The rowing coaches offer rowers optional practices and training sessions as they want them to be ready for the spring season. 

 “The bulk of the energy required to race 2000 meters is aerobic with the remaining percentage being highly anaerobic and takes a long period to build up and maintain,” Culver said.  

As rowers and coaches prepare for the impending spring season, spectators of the sport may notice the differences between the fall and spring seasons of rowing, as the races involve varying lengths.

“Similar to running, in rowing the longer distance racing is in the fall (e.g., cross-country) and the shorter races, or sprints, are held in the spring (e.g., track and field),” Culver said.  

The winter off-season will be critical for these rowers to be as strong and fast as possible leading up to the first spring regatta.

Culver has specific goals for the entire team regarding the upcoming spring season.

 “I would like to see all our crews…on the podium at Scholastic Nationals in Camden, New Jersey,” Culver said.