Rowing Programs

Masters and Open Sweep Program: The Rowing Club has a men's and women's rowing program. These crews row in four- or eight-person sweep boats (one oar per rower). Each crew rows at least once a week and may travel to out-of-town regattas. Any money earned from dues go directly into maintaining or upgrading equipment to improve the quality of the rowing experience. The club is open to any community member who wants to row. Members new to rowing should enroll in the Novice Program to learn the basics of sweep rowing.

Sweep Equipment

Fours
	Schoenbrod 4 (IMMC)	Women	Schoenbrod, white with wood trim (rigged for women)
	Schoenbrod 4 (Ramsey Subaru)	Men and Mixed	Schoenbrod, white
	Kaschper 4 (Ric Jorgensen)	Experienced Men, Women and Mixed	Kaschper, silver with red and black stripes
	Kaschper 4 (Opportunity)	Experienced Men, Women and Mixed	Kaschper, silver with red stripes
	Kaschper 4 (Jamie Wade)	Experienced Women	Kaschper, white with red deck
Eights
	Dirigo	Lightweight Women and Lightweight Mixed	Dirigo SLX, yellow with black accents (rigged for women)
	Vespoli 8 (S8)	Women and Light Mixed	Vespoli, blue
	Schoenbrod 8 (S8)	Men and Heavy Mixed	Schoenbrod, sectional, white with wood trim
	Kaschper 8 (K8)	Men and Heavy Mixed	Kaschper, Silver with red trim (rigged for men)
	Pocock 8	Experienced midweight women	Pocock, white with wing riggers

P. Sue Beckwith Junior Program: Currently the club enrolls high school age students into the novice program and trains them together as a Junior crew under the guidance of a volunteer coach. University scholarship opportunities are opening up for young people--particularly women. We would like to train high school students to ready them for national competition.

Novice Program: Each spring, members voluntarily run a novice training program for anyone in the community interested in learning to row. The Learn to Row Program consists of a 16-week training course with the option of rowing as a novice in the Head of the Des Moines regatta. The club currently trains about 72 new rowers each year. Novices pay a nominal fee for their first season and benefit from club volunteer training and use of club equipment.

Sculling Program: Any club sweep rowers may pair up with a volunteer sculling mentor to learn how to scull (two oars per rower). Sculling offers the opportunity for flexible scheduling and individual training.

Sculling Equipment

Singles
	Julien	Women, Men and Mixed (advanced)	Julien, white (narrow shell)
	Olympus	Women, Men and Mixed (intermediate)	Olympus, white (mid-width shell, club single)
	John H. Moon	Women, Men and Mixed (recreational)	Maas, white (wide shell, great for novice scullers)
Doubles
	Avanti	Women and Mixed	Avanti, white with black trim
	Downey Printing (Owen)	Women, Men and Mixed	Owen, wooden with blue trim
	Carcharodon Carcharias	Women, Men and Mixed	Kaschper, white with wood trim (great white shark)
Quad
	Kaschper Quad (Meredith)	Experienced Women, Men and Mixed	Kaschper, silver with red and black stripes (rigged for women)

Traveling Program: Our most competitive rowers often travel to other cities and states to compete against other crews. This is a great way to represent Des Moines and the active life our city supports. We have a club trailer to load our boats and depend on volunteers to pull the trailer.

Coxing Program: Good coxswains are cheerleaders for their crews and ambassadors for the club. While most club coxes currently come from the rowers’ ranks, the club would like to develop talented people who can focus on coxing. We are currently using a self-recording volunteer system to encourage more rowers to cox.

Coaching Program: Currently club members pay for individual coaching as desired.

Officiating Program: Regattas around the country need nationally accredited officials to run the events safely and fairly. Currently two officials represent Des Moines, having officiated all over the Midwest as well as at NCAA Women’s Nationals, US Rowing Nationals, Northwest Regional Championships, and the Midwestern Championships. The club would like to develop more rowing officials to represent Des Moines at the national level.