Since 1990, the St. Louis Rowing Club has had a nationally ranked high school team, with separate teams for boys and girls.

Last year senior Sarah Lasini, who is coxswain, the person who steers the boat and keeps the rowers focused, led her Novice, a team of four or more, to victory. Her team was undefeated all year and won first place at the Midwest Rowing Championship.

The traditional seasons are broken into rowing aspects. In the fall, they focus on the 5,000 meter racing.  The winter is used for weight training and getting in shape, while the spring is the main season where they focus on sprint races.

Begining girls rowing coach, Patricia Milla said, “The rowing experience is truly one-of-a-kind. It’s an opportunity for students to learn something completely new, be entirely immersed in the team atmosphere and get in tremendous shape.”

She added, ” Our club has been quite successful, bringing home a handful of medals from every regatta we go to and qualifying boats to compete at the national championship each year.”

The introductory meeting is Sept. 18 and 25 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Creve Coeur boat house.

For directions go to http://stlouisrowingclub.com/directions.html.

To join, no experience is needed and introductory practices are free. The fee for students who join tho is $256 for the rowing and $175 for the booster account. 

To contact a coach and download forms go to http://www.stlouisrowingclub.com/waivers.html.