LaSalle Rowing Club Kicks Off Open Water Season

With summer fast approaching, many of us start to think about how to shed those few extra pounds accumulated during our winter hibernation. Some will reach for their golf clubs, others their tennis racquets, and some will head to the soccer fields.

However, if you’re looking for something a bit different to help tone up while also building endurance, strength and confidence, you may want to visit the LaSalle Rowing Club.

Established in 1970 by David Sellars, the Windsor Rowing Club, as it was originally known, changed locations several times over the years but could always be found at points between Sandwich West and LaSalle.

In 1994, it was aptly renamed the LaSalle Rowing Club. LRC now enjoys a perfect spot for its club on the Detroit River where rowers are sheltered by Fighting Island and Grassy Island.

Today, LRC has roughly 80 members who come from all corners of Windsor and Essex County, Pelee Island and Chatham. The rowing season kicks off on April 1 when members transition from indoor workouts to open water rowing. The season continues until November 1 when the dock comes out.

At that time, the club moves indoors and athletes continue their training on ergometers, also known as rowing machines.

Ergometers became a permanent piece of equipment for this sporting community about 30 years ago when U.S. colleges introduced them to make team cuts before the start of the official rowing season. Since that time indoor rowing, or “erging” as it known, has grown into a worldwide competitive sport of its own.

You might ask how rowing differs from kayaking or canoeing. While all three are Olympic sports, rowing is vastly different in both the dimensions of the boat and the style and length of the oars.

The smallest rowing scull for the single rower is 27 feet long and only 11 inches wide, with oars that extend out 10 feet on both sides of boat. The 8-person scull is typically 60 feet long. By comparison canoes and kayaks are, at a maximum, 16 to 17 feet in length.

Competitive rowers participate in events as singles, doubles, quads and even 8-person teams with a ninth person, the coxswain, who steers the scull. Rowing is now a global sport boasting more than 150 rowing federations covering six continents.

Competition aside, members of the LaSalle Rowing Club enjoy social events throughout the year including golf tournaments, regattas and an end-of-year awards banquet. Many have formed lifelong friendships at the club through their shared love of the sport.

For the novice who may have questions about rowing, LRC hosts a “Come Try It Day” on May 29 between 9:00 am and noon. There are also “Learn to Row” classes offered in June each year. The club has boats so if you’re curious about this sport, you need only show up!

LRC is a fully inclusive club which provides adaptive rowing opportunities for members of the public who may have physical challenges. In The State of Sport in Ontario, a study conducted by Ontario Sport Network in 2021, 75% of Ontarians cited accessibility as a barrier to participation in sports and recreation, along with 34% who say they don’t participate due to lack of skill.

LRC addresses accessibility, diversity and inclusivity in a real and meaningful way by prioritizing their members’ experience – no matter what their physical ability level might be.

As one of three Ontario clubs focusing on para-rowing, LRC rowing programs were built with accessibility in mind, which is a main pillar of Ontario Sport Network’s This is Your Sport campaign. Read about LRC’s para-rowing program in Rowing Canada’s recent article Beyond the Boat: LaSalle’s Para Program.

For more information about the LaSalle Rowing Club, visit their website at: www.lasallerowing.ca

For more information about Ontario Sport Network and the This is Your Sport campaign, visit their website at: www.ontariosportnetwork.ca

LaSalle Rowing Club contact details are here: