SLRC NEWSLETTER
February 2026
Welcome to the February issue of the SLRC Newsletter.
We’re right smack in the middle of the winter doldroms, and heavy erg training, just yearning for that big thaw!!
In this issue we’ve got an equipment update for you, a training tip from Coach Tim and much more.
It’s also Erg-A-Thon month – more details below!
SLRC Hype Video – 2025
Board Announcements
Erg-A-Thon is Right Around the Corner!
Our biggest fundraiser is here! The SLRC Erg-A-Thon will be on Saturday, February 28th. Each Team of rowers will compete to raise the most money for boats, keeping our fleet fresh for optimal racing results and improve our rowing experience. Additionally these funds are used for financial assistance for Juniors so that any Junior can try out for the team regardless of their financial situation.
You should have received your personal Rally Up Link via email. You can decorate your page with photos!
There will be prizes for the team that collects the most donor dollars per rower, as well as prizes for the highest individual donors.
Nominating Committee Volunteers Needed!
We are currently seeking adult members who are interested in serving on the Nominating Committee. This is not a call for members who wish to serve on the Board itself—that process comes later through the committee. Please note that anyone serving on the Nominating Committee is not eligible to stand for a Board position. If you do not wish to serve on the Board but would like a voice in who does, this is an excellent opportunity to participate.
If you are interested in serving, please email communications@stlouisrowingclub.com no later than Monday, February 9.
Watch out for ICE on the water!
As we hopefully get back on the water over the next few weeks, here’s a reminder to be vigilant about ice, and call it out when you see it. Our safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Juniors News
Novice Program Spring Tryouts
If you know any students ages 13-17, let them know tryouts for our novice program are this month:
No experience needed, 2 week free trial, College recruiting opportunities
Intro Practices
- Saturday, Feb. 14th: 3:00 – 5:00 pm
- Sunday, Feb. 15th: 3:00 – 5:00 pm
- Saturday, Feb. 21st; 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Novice Swim Test
Novice rowers be on the lookout for swim test info in the coming weeks!
New Shell!
We’re expecting to receive our new 4+ in April. We’ll provide more information as we get closer, but we’re excited to add to the fleet.
EQUIPMENT UPDATES
Julia Burroughs
Oar Wraps
We will be wrapping all the plain white and red oars with our Arch blade design. This will start hopefully soon, and will probably finish early summer between the junior and adult racing seasons. We will need some volunteers to make this project happen efficiently! We have 64 oars to wrap!
Preventative/In-Depth Maintenance
One of my winter projects has been going through each boat with a fine toothed comb and checking rigging, seats, shoes, foot stretchers, and any other miscellaneous parts for anything that needs to be fixed or replaced. This means that the majority of our boats will be in great shape when we are able to get back on the water. This has been slightly hampered by the cold, as I’m not able to do a lot with my hands when it is 10 degrees in the boat bays, but I am able to take advantage of warmer days and hopefully will be done with most of the boats come spring racing for the juniors and weekday water practices for the adults.
Another winter project has been checking all the oars, making sure they are all set to the right lengths, replacing any handles or hardware that are in bad shape, and redoing the tape. If you’ve been on the water recently, you may have already noticed some new handles!
New Midweight Single
We purchased a new midweight Peinert single. It’s purple! Yes, I did choose the color 🙂
Embroidered Rigger Bags
I am in the process of embroidering boat names on the rigger bags for all our named boats. This will make it easier for us to find and keep track of riggers when we are traveling and rigging! Thank you to all the adult rowers who very generously donated to help replace my embroidery machine that got thrown off my desk during the tornado last May, this wouldn’t be possible without you!
Upcoming Events
Don’t forget to check the calendar for upcoming events. We’ll keep this up-to-date with all things SLRC, and remember, you can use the subscribe button on the calendar page to sync the SLRC calendar to your favorite app!
Coach's Corner
Each month we’ll use this space as a sounding board for our coaches. This month, coach Tim Franck highlights the importance of a proper warmup!
A Proper Warm-Up and Optimal Performance
Tim Franck
A proper warm-up is an essential contributor to the success of a hard rowing workout. It improves performance, reduces the risk of injury, and supports consistent progress throughout long-term training.
Rowing demands coordinated effort from nearly every major muscle group. The legs provide the primary power through the drive, the core maintains stability, the back and shoulders generate the pull, and the arms complete the stroke. Hard workouts—such as high-intensity intervals or racing pieces—require maximum strength, explosive speed, and the ability to do this continuously for an extended period. Beginning hard workouts with warm, loosened muscles greatly reduces the risk of strains, pulls, and helps the rower maintain proper technique under stress.
Studies on high-intensity sports indicate that structured warm-ups can greatly reduce the rate of injuries by 30–50% and increase performance, particularly in the opening minutes of intense workouts.
An effective warm-up for a hard rowing workout takes at least 10–15 minutes. I usually have the rowers do 10-15 minutes at steady state pressure with three “power 10s” towards the end. Some dynamic stretching might also be helpful. It’s easy to worry about doing too much during the warm-up and negatively impacting one’s performance during a workout or race, but studies also show that it’s quite difficult to warm-up too much, so that generally shouldn’t be a concern.
Not only will failing to warm up properly make a rower more susceptible to strains and other injuries, but the sudden transition to hard rowing will also often cause sloppy technique early in the workout, which can become habitual and harder to correct later.
Consider a typical hard erg session like 8×500m at 2k pace with 2-minute rest. Without preparation, the first pieces will feel labored: heart rate increasing too high too soon, legs feel heavy, splits off your target, and improper form. With a solid warm-up, the rower hits their target pace more efficiently, experiences lower perceived exertion, maintains better technique, and completes the full workout with better overall quality.
Over the long run, prioritizing the warm-up helps prevent common rowing overuse injuries, including rib stress fractures, chronic lower back pain, and other conditions that can interrupt training for extended periods. Rowers who consistently warm up properly tend to train more often, recover better, and see steady gains in speed, endurance, and power.
In rowing, sustained progress comes from regular, high-quality training rather than sporadic all-out efforts. A thorough warm-up is an essential component that protects health, elevates each workout, and lays the foundation for better results.
WE WANT YOUR VIDEOS AND PICS
We’re always looking for fresh content for the websites and socials, so if you’ve taken videos or pics at practices or regattas please share them with us. You can just click the email below and let ‘er rip. If you’ve got a video that’s too big to email, no problem, just let us know in an email that you’ve got an epic film to share with us and we’ll get you an upload link.
Thanks and can’t wait to see what you’ve got!!
Meet Our Members
Joel Schad
Adult Rower (since 2023)
What do you love about rowing?
I love that it’s an outdoor sport on the water, and I love that it is an individual sport and a team sport at the same time.
How did you get into rowing?
I was in an improv comedy class with Carissa F and she happened to mentioned she was in a rowing club at Creve Coeur Lake. I live close to the lake and decided to give it a try.
What has been your favorite rowing experience/memory?
I love rowing in morning fog. As far as specific memories, my very first regatta race down in Nashville, TN, which was a disaster, is a fun story.
What is your favorite regatta and why?
I like the Hooch, because I like the city of Chattanooga generally, so a regatta there is a natural yes from me.
What do you like to do when you’re not rowing?
I play musical instruments and read a lot. My academic and professional backgrounds are in media production and electrical engineering, so I do photography and restore old electronics when I can find the time.
Shreyas Laddu
Junior Coxwain (since 2025)
What do you love about rowing?
The friends I’ve made and the surprising joy of rowing. Because everyone plays such an important role in rowing, you grow close with other people and connections form quickly – essential for creating synergy within the boat.
How did you get into rowing?
I came to rowing after Tim and Julia came to Ladue Middle School, while I was looking for a sport. Rowing didn’t seem fun, but it certainly seemed interesting. After they presented the summer camp, I brought the paper home and presented the paper to my parents. Summer rolls around, and nobody I know is at the camp, but I quickly made friends, thanks to the aspect of rowing where everyone plays a role. This camp was what solidified my interest, and I decided to try out. Sadly though, my finger was broken during tryouts, forcing me to be a coxswain, but to me, this has given me much insight into being a rower, and I’m sure it will help me make the team as a rower during Spring tryouts.
What has been your favorite rowing experience/memory?
The regatta. It brought us all together, and since we were fairly new to each other, it made necessary connections that propelled our boats to placing in the top half of all races we competed in.
What is your favorite regatta and why?
The only regatta I have gone to was the Blake Haxton Regatta, 2025. During this time, we were all fresh teammates, shy and not very synergetic. Thanks to the bus ride, we all got to know each other very well, and I made some amazing friends during the regatta.
What do you like to do when you’re not rowing?
I like to add on to the 8 years I have been drumming for, I like to sleep, and hang out with friends.