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- Masters men and women rowers rowing on the Potomac River in Washington, DC.
- Launching primarily sweep boats (4+s, 8+s) from Thompson Boat Center in Georgetown where the Rock Creek tributary enters the Potomac River
- Competing in rowing regattas locally, up and down the east coast, and in Canada
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Interested in
becoming a
member of
Rock Creek?
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ROW: We are a club of experienced and enthusiastic men and women masters rowers who train, compete, and strive to improve individually and as a team.
CONTRIBUTE: We offer our effort and enthusiasm on the water, and our skills and time toward the management and administration of the club off the water.
OUTREACH: We are stewards of the places we row, helping to care for the Potomac and its surroundings, and also ambassadors of rowing as we encourage others to learn to row and join our sport. Free Learn to Row Day is usually the 1st Saturday in June and is expected to be June 1, 2013. This year the free event is managed by Thompson Boat Center.
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Are you an experienced COXSWAIN or want to be trained as a coxswain? Coxswains use a cox box, steer rowing shells, follow instructions of the coach, correct rowers' technique and motivate rowers.
Email us! |
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 cox box
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New to rowing?
We recommend that novices first enroll in the instructional and intermediate sweep rowing programs that are available through Thompson Boat Center. Individuals who believe they are ready to progress to masters level rowing may wish to consider joining Rock Creek Rowing’s Winter Training program as their next step. This coached, early-morning program at Georgetown University’s Yates Field House runs from December through early March, and includes extensive training on ergs as well as strength, core, and flexibility work. Winter Training affords a good introduction to our team and the level of fitness that is expected at the masters level, and may then lead to an opportunity to try out with the team when we go back on the water in early spring.
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March 2: The online
2013 Membership Application form for rowing and racing is open and ready for current and prospective members to complete it. You'll also need to sign some
waivers on the Links page - members sign USRowing online and Ronin online. Applicants being evaluated for membership bring a signed pdf paper USRowing waiver.
Feb 19: We'll be back on the water sometime in March just as soon as the docks are in! 2013
rowing fees will remain the same as 2012. Meanwhile our winter training continues at Georgetown University with our dedicated coaches focusing on core, cardio, weights, circuits and those lovable ergs.
Nov 20:
Winter Training info:
- RCR Members - it's time to register for Winter Trainin! Complete the online winter registration form and you'll receive an email about payment. The program starts Monday, December 3.
- Non-Members interested in participating - email us then we will contact you. Our winter program has a limited number of spaces and priority is given to RCR members.
Nov 5: Congratulations to all Rock Creek rowers who competed in this weekend's season-ending Head of the Occoquan Regatta. Both the RCR women and the RCR men earned medals in the eights, with the women finishing second behind Capital in the 40+ and the men also taking second behind NVRC in the 50+. The RCR women also did well in the 50+ 4+, finishing fourth in a close seven-boat event in which only 34 seconds separated the second- through fifth-place crews. All in all HOTO was a very good way for us to wrap up our racing season; thanks to our coaches for their support and encouragement.
Oct 22:
Congrats to all RCR Rowers who competed in this past weekend's Head of the Charles Regatta. The RCR men turned in their best-ever time in the 50+ 8 -- an 18:06 that would have been comfortably top-half in many prior years and was good for 28th of 44 in this year's event. The RCR men also turned in a strong effort in the 50+ 4. The RCR women, despite being frustratingly shut out on official RCR entries in the lottery, were nonetheless well-represented by several individual team members who rowed hard and well in a variety of Avalon boats and Director's Challenge events. Among various sweep and sculling entries, Catherine's 40+ 8 Avalon entry finished top half and the Orrick women turned in an inspired mother-daughter effort in the Parent-Child 2x. Coach Gwen Sully was there for all of us from start to finish and has our thanks, as do all the RCR members whose planning efforts helped make this year's HOCR a success. A special thanks to Suzanne for getting us all into Weld -- the quintessential boathouse and a great spot for race-watching.
June 3: Stonewall Regatta medals! Our women’s team scored major hardware (and wine) with first place finishes in both a 4+ and 8, while the other RCR women’s 8 took second. The men added a first place finish of their own in a 4+, a thrid-place in another 4+, as well as a valiant effort by one of our 8’s which maintained contact with our red-hatted friends from up the river for the first 500 before settling for second. The men and women joined forces in the mixed 8, finishing a close second behind Baltimore. Other RCR entries rowed hard and well. Thanks to Gwen Sully for her coaching and support for all of us throughout the regatta and to Dick Kuntz for proving that “retirement” from coxing can be a flexible concept. Great start to our racing season after months of preparation on the ergs and on the water – now it’s on to the Schuylkill!
June 2: Over 50 newbies participated in
US Rowing's Learn to Row Day, with most getting a chance to row on the Potomac River with experienced rowers. Interested in learning to row? Take a class at
Thompson Boat Center or other boathouses in the DC Metro area. Or if you missed this year's free event then come next year on the first Saturday in June, 2013.
April 19: Wow, our club was featured in the
Washington Post's Metro section in a masters rowing story!
April 14: A dozen rowers and others collected 7 bikes and 25 bags of trash and recycling from the mouth of Rock Creek in conjunction with the Rock Creek Conservancy and the Alice Ferguson
Potomac River watershed clean-up.
March 8: Thursday's the day we're back on the water. After months of winter training, we are fit and so ready to be back rowing on the Potomac!
Feb 18: In a few weeks we'll be back on the water, so now it's Application and Registration season for those who'd like to row with us in 2012. The 2012 dues and fees are the same as 2011 - we have not raised them. We've even got a
new Online Membership Application and Registration form. For previous members, the online form only takes 5 minutes to complete, and for those applying for new membership it may take a bit longer to answer some questions about your previous rowing and racing experience. Coach evaluations for new members will take place in mid/late March.
Feb 12: RCR men and women enjoyed the brand new athletic facilities at the National Capital Erg Invitational and even brought home a gold and a bronze for their efforts.
Feb 4: RCR men and women brought home hardware from Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints: 2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze.
Everyone rowed hard and well and did RCR proud. Winter training works.
Well done, everyone!
Jan 22: Our annual FUNdraiser - Dinner and
Live Auction at Positano's in Bethesda was successful - and Fun! Many thanks to those who donated auction items and to those who purchased. Plus a big round of applause to Fundraising co-chairs Bill Fry and Bonnie Hill!
Jan 20: President Pete Thompson reviewed our 3rd successful year at the Annual Membership and Election meeting. The club is in a strong position and clearly is sustainable. Many thanks to those leaving the board (French Slaughter, Robin Hassani, Shirine Moazed, Suzanne Milton) for their dedication and welcome to the
new board members.
Dec 14: RCR supports the NPS feasibility study of a
Non-motorized Boathouse Zone along the Potomac River near Key Bridge. Any additional boathouses constructed there for universities or others would alleviate crowding at TBC.
Dec 10: Many thanks to Des and Bonnie for organizing a small RCR fundraiser with Arbonne products.
Dec 8: We've started our 3rd annual Winter Training program at Georgetown University with a full group of enthusiastic rowers and coaches.
Nov 15: Online winter registration opens today!
If you’ve received an email from the Registrar (Ann Tilghman) to send your check to the Assistant Treasurer (Robin Hassani) or if you are a Rock Creek Rowing member, then you’ll also need to complete the online Winter Training registration form. Send your check payable to Rock Creek Rowing to Assistant Treasurer Robin Hassani, 2200 12th Court North, Apt 11, Arlington VA 22201. $325 RCR members, $350 non-members.
For more information about Rock Creek’s Winter Training program and any existing openings, please contact us at info.rockcreekrowing@gmail.com .
Nov 14: Save the date! Dinner Party and Auction - Our winter
FUNdraiser dinner will be
Saturday, January 21, 2012. Have some fun and cheer, see your teammates in real clothes!
Nov 11: Plans are moving forward for
Winter Training which begins Monday, Dec 5. Winter applications for members and non-members will be available soon. Interested in working out with us this winter?
Email us to get on our mailing list.
Nov 8: From RCR President Pete Thompson - As we have our final rows of the season, I congratulate all Rock Creek rowers, coxswains, and coaches on a great year. We worked harder than ever before in winter training, experienced some terrific results on the water (including good performances in several mixed events where the men and women joined forces), and both the men and women returned to the Head of the Charles on a classic October weekend. Our coaches, Brent Keuch and Nancy Faigen, were superstars from winter training all the way through the fall, teaching and encouraging us to become better rowers and tougher competitors. Perhaps most importantly of all, the 2011 season was characterized, in my view, by a great sense of teamwork and camaraderie among the entire team. No matter the task, there were always people gladly willing to step up -- dealing with equipment issues, figuring out trailering and regatta logistics and last-minute backup boat arrangements, making sure our coaches had what they needed for safe and effective practices, communicating with the team and individuals as needed, paying the bills and managing the finances . . . the list goes on. In my humble opinion, Rock Creek Rowing has become a very special club where we not only work hard and compete at a high level but also like and respect one another as teammates and friends. And we never, ever, lose sight of the fact that this is all supposed to be – and is – FUN.
Nov 6: Rock Creek Rowing wrapped up its season with good racing on a beautiful fall day at the Head of the Occoquan. On the women's side, RCR placed a strong third out of six entries in the Masters 40+ fours, while the RCR entry in the Masters 50+ fours finished fourth out of six. In the Masters 50+ eights, the RCR women were sixth in a tightly bunched group in which only two minutes separated the first and last place boats. On the men's side, RCR's Masters 50+ four carried by far the oldest average age in the event (64) but held its own with the younger crews, finishing sixth out of seven entries but within shouting distance of a couple of boats who finished ahead. RCR's biggest adventure of HOTO 2011 came in the Men's Masters eights -- an episode that will forever be known as "The One Where Michael Broke The Oarlock Pin." Michael rowed with such youthful exuberance on the warmup that, as RCR neared the starting area, he sheared an oarlock pin. Coxswain Tracie Felker immediately commenced negotiations with a nearby referee and secured his permission for the boat to return to the dock to solve the problem and row in a later race. Indomitable coach Nancy Faigen miraculously managed to arrange for the use of an ACR eight that was due at the dock any minute. RCR jumped in and rowed briskly up to the start. With 15,000 meters of rowing now under its belts, RCR rowed another 5K meters in what all agreed was, particularly under all the challenging circumstances, probably the RCR men's most satisfying race of the year, crossing the finish line – roughly two-and-a-half hours after first leaving the dock – in a time of 18:55.36 that turned out to be good enough for fourth out of eight in the very competitive 40+ category. It may not have produced medals, but this race certainly produced memories.
Oct 22: In spectacular Boston weather, RCR men and women launched masters 50’s eights and raced in very competitive fields at the Head of the Charles where many teams had some ex-Olympic and ex-national team rowers in their boats. With over 200,000 spectators cheering us along the entire length of the course, both boats rowed what they considered to be pretty good races. Although neither RCR entry achieved the coveted top-half finish that guarantees a spot in next year's regatta, both crews rowed well and hard, finished strong, and came off the water with heads held high. A delicious team dinner in Boston's North End capped off a great day, and left us all looking forward to another trip to the Head of the Charles in 2012!
Archived News from previous years
Our relationship to Thompson Boat Center
Rock Creek Rowing, Inc (RCR) is a 501(c)(7) non-profit organization which has no official relationship with Thompson Boat Center. Annual membership in RCR includes the benefit of weekday training for weekend racing for those adult rowers who have previous racing experience. RCR's weekend racing support includes administrative, legal, financial and logistical factors for regatta competitions held offsite of Thompson Boat Center and National Park Service property. RCR also currently provides a social network for individuals who choose to engage in the sport of rowing in the Washington DC area and beyond. Those seeking recreational rowing should take instructional classes offered at Thompson Boat Center including Learn To Row and Intermediate rowing. We conduct no business at the Thompson Boat Center and collect no fees within Rock Creek National Park. RCR is an independent club and is not affiliated with the National Park Service or with the NPS concessioner Guest Services, Inc.
