Adult Discover Rowing Clinics

Our Adult Discover Rowing Clinics allow anyone that is interested to get an introduction to rowing and some hands-on experience with the sport. We want you to have a great experience with rowing and love to welcome visitors to our facilities. The Learn to Row Clinic is broken into two steps, each are about 2 hours.  For those that would like to continue their rowing experience can choose to continue with our Learn to Row program.

Day 1 - Rowing Orientation

Visit our boatyard or indoor rowing center for our dryland introduction to rowing basics including terminology, equipment and basic rowing stroke. This is a general overiew of everything you need to know to get on the water or get an oar in your hands! This usually takes about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Day 2 - Get Rowing!

Once the dryland introduction is complete, we invite our clinic attendees to come out and get rowing! During on-water months (April through September), we'll get in a boat and get out on the water! During winter clinics (January through March), we'll head out to Dammrich Rowing Center in Skokie to get an oar in your hands at an indoor rowing tank. This is your chance to get an oar in your hands and feel what rowing is like. This is typically a 1.5 to 2 hour experience.

Lifting Requirements & Accomodations

At Sweeps & Sculls, we want everyone to be able to row, or at least try rowing! It's part of our mission to be open to people of all abilities. However, we also have to ensure that we are doing that safely for everyone. 

Rowing requires lifting a boat above your head, carrying it to the water and lowering it in to the water, then lifting it out of the water and carrying it back to the rack when your row is complete. In order to complete this part of the clnic unassisted during the on-water clinics in April through September, you have to be able to lift 40-50 lbs. We completely understand that many adults have injuries, mobility issues, etc. and we don't wat that to be a barrier to you coming out to give the clinic a try, so we are very happy to provide accomodations (in the form of additional help to lift the boat) during your clinc. When you complete your registration form, please indicate if you need accomodations and we will communicate with you regarding your specific needs.

Continuing Your Rowing Journey

If you loved your clinic experience and woud like to contine to row, we would love to have you continue with our Master Rowing program! Our Masters row year round - on the water in Spring through Fall and indoors during the winter. 

Coached rows are offered on most Saturday's or Sunday's along with our Masters Open Row program. We do our best to help you get time on the water. During this time, you can continue to gain experience rowing by working through our skill level program at your own pace. Coaches help guide you along the way with the goal of seeing you become more confident in your rowing skills. Rowing can be a lifetime sport with opportunites to both practice and compete for as long as you want! Our goal is to help you develop an interest in rowing to encourage you to continue. If you think rowing is for you, joining Sweeps & Sculls could be a life changing experience.