Crew is a spring sport. The season starts each mid-February and runs through late May or early June.
Practices are held daily Monday-Friday, 3:30-6:30 pm. On-the-water practices are held at Columbia Island Marina (CIM) near the Pentagon off of George Washington Memorial Parkway. Inclement weather and high-water practices are held at school.
Coaches will occasionally move practice to early in the morning before school in response to the weather forecast. Coaches will also occasionally schedule a Saturday morning practice.
Please make sure you and your rower are signed up for the crew notices in the free Slack app (Android/iOS); coaches use the app to let everyone know where each day’s practice will be.
Spring 2025 will be our first season rowing out of CIM, and transportation options to the marina are still being explored. We expect that many of our athletes will choose to take the 38B Metro bus from W-L to Rosslyn, and then run in pairs or groups to CIM on the bike path, depending on the weather. A volunteer dock monitor will transport the runners’ school bags to the marina. Carpools will also be an option for transportation to weekday practices (adult drivers only).
At 6:30 pm, an APS bus picks up the rowers at CIM and returns the rowers to W-L, typically arriving around 7:00 pm. Rowers may not drive themselves to weekday practices unless they receive prior approval from their coach.
For Saturday practices, athletes are responsible for their own transportation. Some older rowers drive, and there is plenty of free parking at CIM. Others can either bike, run, or get dropped off and picked up. Carpooling is encouraged.
Student Driver Guidelines
There are some situations in which transportation is not provided (spring break, off-season practice, fall crew with other programs, etc.). In these situations, it is important for parents to know that their child might ask another student for a ride. Parents of the potential passenger(s) and the parents of the driver(s) should be aware of and in compliance with the following guidelines:
- The driver must have a valid license and insurance.
- The driver must follow all Virginia driving laws, including passenger limits for drivers under the age of 18.