USRowing Embraces Coastal Rowing, Looks to Help Grow the Sport

This post originally appeared Nov. 24, 2020 at USRowing.com

During the summer and early fall of 2020, USRowing's Board of Directors established an ad hoc committee to begin developing a framework to adopt and embrace coastal rowing in our role as the National Governing Body. 

We recognize that there are numerous people and groups who have worked countless hours to develop and promote the sport of open-water and coastal rowing, and we look forward to working with them to help grow the sport across the United States.

Over the course of the summer, the committee met with athletes, coaches, coastal rowing supporters and enthusiasts to start that process, and USRowing has formed a Coastal Rowing Working Group to build on those conversations and help develop our coastal rowing program both on the domestic and national team levels.

"We here at USRowing are thrilled to be joining up with the coastal rowing community to get people excited about the many forms rowing can take on," said USRowing CEO Amanda Kraus. "This is a great chance for growth within our organization and the greater rowing community. Not only is coastal rowing fun to watch, but you can take it all in from the comfort of your favorite chair right on the beach!"

The working group is made up of several experienced members of the coastal rowing community, as well as members of USRowing's national team and domestic staff. And, we will be reaching out to others in the community as we begin developing our programs. The working group includes:

• Michiel Bartman

• Ben Booth

• Bill Donoho

• John Rhee

• Hillary Saeger

• Tom Schneider

• Sharon Wienbar

• USRowing Staff – Will Daly, Matt Imes, Brett Johnson

"We're excited for opportunity with USRowing because it can bridge the gap between open-water rowing and flat-water rowing and show that people don't have to be team open water or team flat water, but instead can be members of one rowing community," Rhee said. "Coastal rowing is the mountain biking of rowing -- some people call it the adventurous version of rowing. Navigating the currents, wind, and waves make it particularly challenging and exciting."

Since coming together over the past month, the working group has established sub-groups to focus on two key areas: Athlete Identification, Development and National Team Pathways and Coastal Education, Club and Regional Event Development. These sub-groups will look at both short-term initiatives to implement in 2021, as well as longer-term goals through 2024 and beyond.

With the likely addition of coastal rowing events to the Olympic program in 2024 and the continued development of the World Rowing Beach Sprints Finals and World Rowing Coastal Championships, the Athlete Identification, Development and National Team Pathways group will initially focus on:

• National team trials procedures and event planning

• Near-term process of athlete identification and potential ID camps

• Long-term planning surrounding junior/U23/senior athlete identification and the national team pathway starting with selection of the Beach Sprints National Team to compete at the 2021 World Rowing Beach Sprints Finals.

The Coastal Education, Club and Regional Event Development group will look at the broader picture of coastal rowing development, including non-FISA-class, open-water boats. Its focus will include:

• Educational programming and content for clubs, coaches and referees

• Event development at the regional and national level

• Coastal messaging and interaction with the rowing community at large

"We're excited for the partnership with USRowing because it's important to get the message out that coastal rowing is here," Rhee said. "People who want to learn more should keep an eye out for coastal rowing tents and equipment displays at rowing events and check out beach sprints online. They're really exciting!"

USRowing will begin to collect and develop coastal rowing resources for the website, bring coastal rowing into our communications efforts and educational programming, and fully integrate FISA-class coastal rowing into our national team structure starting with the selection of the 2021 World Rowing Beach Sprints National Team.

To that end, USRowing will host the 2021 World Rowing Beach Sprints National Team Trials June 19 in Sarasota, Fla., for the nine events. Selection procedures are in the final stages of being developed and will be posted for public comment in the near future.

The Coastal Rowing Working Group welcomes feedback and can be reached at coastalrowing@usrowing.org. We look forward to hearing from you.