Rowing is a great sport for enjoying the outdoors, staying fit, and competing in regattas. It’s also an excellent way to make friends and have fun! Here at GDRA, we are free to row any time of day. Even on the hottest summer days, people often get together to row early in the morning or late in the afternoon when it’s cooler. Our June Learn-to-Row class, which meets on weekend mornings, has been making good progress, and we’re looking forward to having new rowing buddies.

GDRA just purchased a new boat, which was delivered Monday, June 23. It is a lightweight Peinert single in a pretty sky-blue color, just right for our smaller rowers to enjoy. This photo shows the new boat above two of our older Peinerts. The new single is a modern style, bow-rigged with carbon fiber riggers. It is lighter and easier for small women to carry.

Traveling to regattas is also a great way to make and keep in touch with friends. GDRA rowers often travel to regattas with members of the Greater Columbus and Great Miami teams, sharing boat space on one trailer to make the logistics easier. We sometimes row with members of other clubs in composite boats—that’s more races and more fun for everybody!

So far this year, GDRA rowers have raced at the Sarasota Sprints, the Percy Priest Sprints in Nashville, the Dogwood Masters in Oak Ridge, and the Indianapolis Summer Sprints, with an upcoming race this weekend in Oklahoma City—the Stars & Stripes regatta. We’re always glad to welcome new people to travel with us.

Greater Dayton Rowing Association’s 2025 adult Learn to Row classes are now open for registration! We welcome everyone with an interest in the sport of rowing, whether for recreation, fitness, or competition. Our boathouse is located on Island MetroPark, near downtown Dayton. If you have no experience with rowing, or if you have rowed previously but want to brush up on your skills, you’ll enjoy our Learn to Row program!

We will teach you how to row!

– You start out in quads (4-person boats), and then progress to doubles and singles.
– The cost is $195 for eight lessons, held for two hours at 10 am on Saturdays and Sundays.
– After graduating from Learn to Row, your first-year membership is free!
– Sign up at Regatta Central.

June Session
Saturday, June 7 & Sunday, June 8 10AM – Noon
Saturday, June 14 & Sunday, June 15 10AM – Noon
Saturday, June 21 & Sunday, June 22 10AM – Noon
Saturday, June 28 & Sunday, June 29 10AM – Noon

July Session
Saturday, July 12 & Sunday, July 13 10AM – Noon
Saturday, July 19 & Sunday, July 20 10AM – Noon
Saturday, July 26 & Sunday, July 27 10AM – Noon
Saturday, August 2 & Sunday, August 3 10AM – Noon

As Arranged
If neither of these sessions is convenient for you, contact Brian White, GDRA’s Adult Learn to Row Director at 937-602-4081 or ltrdirector@daytonrowing.org and arrange a time that works with your schedule.

If you already know how to row, then join GDRA now!

– Row on your own schedule! Our club boats range from entry level boats to elite Hudson racing shells.
– Membership fees are reduced for Young Adults (age 18-27) and summer-only College Students.
– Active and Retired Military discounts on all classes and membership fees.
– Questions? Contact Brian White, GDRA’s Adult Learn to Row Director, at 937-602-4081 or send an email to ltrdirector@daytonrowing.org.

Visit our Learn to Row page for more information.

After several days of heavy rain, the Great Miami River came out of its banks, flooding Island MetroPark and closing Helena Street. Fortunately, the water crested just below the GDRA boathouse on Sunday, April 6th. In an abundance of caution, Doug Barker and Mike McCarty put on their wading boots and went into the boathouse to pick up anything that was on the floor, just in case—thanks, guys! Linda Clemens took this photo showing the floodwaters at their highest.

Jamie Duck took the opportunity to send an email reminding GDRA members that our team uniform store at JL Rowing is now open, and orders can be placed until April 12, 2025:

Link to GDRA Team Uniform Store

Jamie wrote:

The Uniform Flood is upon us—but the end is near.

By April 12th, the waters will recede, the portal will close, and only those who answered the call will be fully outfitted for battle on the water. Don’t be left high and dry!

Secure your uniform before it’s too late.

May your oars be swift and your outfits matching.

Happy Tuesday to all! Tuesday is erg (rowing machine) day at the Downtown Dayton YMCA, where the Greater Dayton Rowing Association holds indoor rowing sessions during the winter. When it’s cold outside, exercising indoors on an erg is a great way to build fitness. Everyone is welcome!

Ben Boehm, our rowing coach, recently sent out this message:

• If you’d like to get a jump start on learning to row or want to improve your fitness, you are welcome to join Greater Dayton Rowing for our indoor rowing sessions.

• We meet Tuesdays at 5:30pm at the Downtown YMCA in the yoga room. You are welcome to join us. If you are interested, but that time doesn’t work for you, let us know and we will try to find a time that works.

• The address of the Downtown YMCA is: 316 N Wilkinson St, Dayton, OH 45402

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season! Many of our rowers enjoyed this year’s Jingle Bell Row, dressing as reindeer coxed by Santa Claus on a cloudy day in late November, just before Thanksgiving week began. We are thankful for the fun experiences we share with our community!

GDRA volunteers were pleased to participate in the Outdoor Experience at Eastwood MetroPark in early October, introducing visitors to the sport of rowing. This has become a regular event for us, and we’re glad of the opportunity to let people in the Dayton area know what rowing is all about.

Rowers from GDRA traveled to compete in several fall season regattas this year, winning medals in some, and—most importantly—having a good time in all of them.

• Chicago River Marathon
• Head of the Ohio
• Secret City Head Race
• Head of the Charles
• Head of the Hooch
• Head of the South

Many thanks to Ben Boehm, our enthusiastic Racing Captain, who always brings good cheer and encouragement to our team! If you haven’t yet competed in a regatta but are thinking about it, Ben will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Also, for those on the GDRA email list, check your mail for Ben’s message about scheduling winter erg sessions. If you haven’t already responded, please let Ben know if you would be interested in participating.

A shout-out to the July-August Learn to Row class and their instructors! After demonstrating their proficiency in rowing singles and qualifying as full-fledged GDRA members when their scheduled sessions ended, the Learn to Row students happily came back for extra lessons rowing doubles the following weekend. That definitely showed their ambition and dedication!

GDRA’s competition team also showed plenty of ambition in traveling to the RowFest National Championships in Oklahoma City in July, testing their mettle against the best rowers in the nation. Our Racing Captain, Ben Boehm, wrote the following report:

Five members of Greater Dayton Rowing traveled to Oklahoma City July 14 to July 21 for the USRowing RowFest National Championships. One hundred six rowing clubs from across the country competed in the event. Rowers from Greater Dayton rowing won medals in 19 events, including winning 4 national championships. Ben Boehm arrived before the rest of the team to participate in the open racing on July 14 and finished 4th in the Open Lightweight Double. The team had outstanding results in the age group events July 18 -21. Ben won 9 medals (3 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze), Ryan Briggs won 7 medals (2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze), Deborah Taylor won 7 medals (3 silver, 4 bonze), and Meg Evans won a bronze medal. Brian White also represented Greater Dayton at the championships. Highlights of for Greater Dayton Rowing members included winning the Lightweight Quadruple Sculls (over 43 years old) (Briggs, Boehm), Lightweight Quadruple Sculls (over 50 years old) (Briggs), Lightweight Single Sculls (over 43 years old) (Boehm), and Heavyweight Double Sculls (over 50 years old) (Boehm).

GDRA also was represented at the Midwest Summer Sprints in Nashport, Ohio on July 27, where Richard Pierce competed in a single.

We had a great view of the City of Dayton fireworks show this year! Although thunderstorms rolled through in the afternoon, the sky cleared by evening, just in time for our annual Fourth of July picnic. Also, this year, we had smooth new gravel to set out our sports chairs for the event. A project to lay down fresh gravel between the boathouse and the dock, capably managed by GDRA President Doug Barker and Facilities Manager Wilfred van Bruekelen, with the very helpful assistance of Jim Wall, Mike McCarty, and Lou Franca, was completed quickly and affordably. Our rowers now have a smooth, comfortable walkway, sparkling in the summer sun, when carrying boats to and from the river.

Our trailer also has been upgraded with new cargo nets, which are much easier to clip into place than the old ones. The new nets work very well and make loading and unloading quicker when we travel to regattas.

GDRA had an excellent outing when we traveled to the Dogwood Masters regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Saturday, June 1st. This regatta is always well attended, with a schedule that allows scullers to row in multiple races with enough recovery time. Many events have competitive age group races with no handicaps. Ryan Briggs took gold in Men’s Masters 1x D, as did Brian White in Men’s Masters 1x F, and Deborah Taylor took silver in Women’s Masters 1x E. Our mixed double races went well also: in Mixed Masters 2x C-D, Deborah Taylor and Ryan Briggs took gold; in Mixed Masters 2x F, Meg Evans and Brian White took bronze; and in Mixed Masters 2x G-J, Ed Walz and Denise Heuser took gold while Paula Sideras and Michael McCarty took bronze. Moving on to the single-sex doubles, Michael McCarty and Ed Walz took bronze in Men’s Masters 2x D-K, Meg Evans and Deborah Taylor took silver in Women’s Masters 2x D-E, and Paula Sideras and Denise Heuser took gold in Women’s Masters 2x F-K. In the mixed quad races at the end of the day, Meg Evans/Brian White/Deborah Taylor/Ryan Briggs came in second in Mixed Masters 4x D-E, and Michael McCarty/Paula Sideras/Denise Heuser/Ed Walz also took silver in Mixed Masters 4x F-J.

Next up on our travel schedule was the Indy Summer Sprints at Eagle Creek in Indianapolis on Saturday, June 15th. GDRA members won medals in 4 events. Deborah Taylor won gold in the Mixed 2x with Ryan Briggs and also won the Women’s 2x with Kathy Kramer from Great Miami Rowing Center. Deborah Taylor, Ryan Briggs, and Ben Boehm, with Laurie Gunzelman from Greater Columbus Rowing Association, took silver in the Mixed 4x. Ben Boehm and Ryan Briggs won silver in the Men’s 2x. Ben Boehm, Richard Pierce, and Brian White competed in the Men’s 1x, Deborah Taylor competed in the Women’s 1x, and Brian White and Kyle Ellis competed in the Men’s 2x.

Scouting out Oklahoma City’s course in advance of July’s National Championship racing at Rowfest, Brian White and Meg Evans rowed in the Stars & Stripes regatta on Saturday, June 22nd, taking the bronze medal in the Mixed 2x. Brian White also competed in the Men’s 1x. Returning for the OKC Night Sprints, Brian White and Meg Evans did a 500-meter dash, in a boat decorated with glow sticks, and took silver.

GDRA also plans to compete in the Chicago Sprints, which will be held July 12th through July 14th.

Rowers here at GDRA enjoyed getting out on the river during a pleasantly cool Memorial Day weekend. Earlier this month, the aurora borealis or “northern lights” were visible much farther south than usual, brightening the night sky just before Ben Boehm’s adult rowing camp over the weekend of May 11th and 12th. The camp was well attended, with 20 participants rowing in all five of the club’s quads on Saturday, and smaller boats on Sunday. Many thanks to Coach Ben for volunteering his time and effort!

We had an amazing view of Dayton’s total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. Because the sky was clear, there was still plenty of sunshine even after the eclipse started. At first, it didn’t look much different from an ordinary hazy day. The birds and other wildlife behaved normally; they didn’t get confused and go flying home to roost, as they did in the 2017 partial eclipse when there was a thick cloud cover. When it reached the totality, the light suddenly drained away, leaving the river framed in sunset colors for several minutes.

Here is an eclipse photo taken from the bow seat of a double, over stroke seat’s head:

April was a good month for early spring competition. At the Percy Priest Sprints in Nashville on April 6th, in the first race of the day, two GDRA boats took first and second place in the Men’s Masters 2x. Other silver medal winners were Deborah Taylor in a single, Ryan Briggs in a single, a GDRA/GMRC composite crew in the Men’s Masters 4x, and another GDRA/GMRC composite crew in the Women’s Masters 2x. In the Mixed Masters 2x, Ryan Briggs and Deborah Taylor went fast and powerful, taking gold in a very competitive field; also racing in this event were Brian White and Meg Evans. The last event of the day was the Mixed Masters 4x, in which Ryan Briggs, Deborah Taylor, Brian White, and Meg Evans placed third. On the same weekend, Ben Boehm traveled to the San Diego Crew Classic to compete in the Men’s Masters C 8+ with a composite crew, finishing second after a strong sprint. Our rowers all got home in time to see the eclipse!

GDRA also was represented at the Sarasota Invitational on Sunday, February 25th. The weather was perfect, with very little wind and pleasant temperatures. Deborah Taylor had a stellar performance, competing in both the Mixed Masters 2x (winning silver) and the Mixed Masters Ltwt 2x (winning gold) and then following that up with another gold in the Women’s Masters 4x, a very competitive race in which Deb did a fantastic job in bow seat executing the sprint to the finish. Bronze medals went to Meg Evans in a single, Brian White and Meg Evans in the Mixed Masters Ltwt 2x, and later in the day, to our Mixed Masters 4x crew. It’s always fun traveling to Nathan Benderson Park to row in sunny Sarasota! The competition team would be glad to have more rowers join us next February, including those with little experience who are looking to get more comfortable with racing. This regatta offers an excellent opportunity to row on a high-quality course and enjoy an early spring-break getaway at the same time.

GDRA is holding an adult rowing camp May 11th and 12th, coached by Ben Boehm.

The camp will be free for GDRA members and only cost $25 for non-members. Register at https://forms.gle/GGCvdcEpeW5Rdbfj6 by May 4th to be a part of the camp.

The camp will run from 8:30am to 5pm on May 11th and 8:30am to 1:30pm on May 12th. The goal is to row 3 times on Saturday and 2 times on Sunday. Rowers will review video and discuss technique improvements between rows.

The focus of the camp will be on improving racing and competition speed. Recreational rowers are welcome (but be prepared for Coach Ben to encourage you to race). This camp assumes the rowers will have a baseline fitness and ability to row. It’s not a learn-to-row camp, and it won’t be intense enough to improve your fitness. The camp will focus on technique and efficiency. The rows will be more technically and mentally challenging than physically challenging, but we will do some pieces at pressure.

Download our Rowing Camp Flyer for more information.

If you are interested, Coach Ben will be happy to help you make positive changes and get faster!

Greater Dayton Rowing Association’s 2024 adult Learn to Row classes are now open for registration! We welcome everyone with an interest in the sport of rowing, whether for recreation, fitness, or competition. Our boathouse is located on Island MetroPark, near downtown Dayton. If you have no experience with rowing, or if you have rowed previously but want to brush up on your skills, you’ll enjoy our Learn to Row program!

We will teach you how to row!

– You start out in quads (4-person boats), and then progress to doubles and singles.
– The cost is $190 for eight lessons, held for two hours at 10 am on Saturdays and Sundays.
– After graduating from Learn to Row, your first-year membership is free!
– Sign up at Regatta Central.

June Session
Saturday, June 8 & Sunday, June 9 10AM – Noon
Saturday, June 15 & Sunday, June 16 10AM – Noon
Saturday, June 22 & Sunday, June 23 10AM – Noon
Saturday, June 29 & Sunday, June 30 10AM – Noon

July Session
Saturday, July 13 & Sunday, July 14 10AM – Noon
Saturday, July 20 & Sunday, July 21 10AM – Noon
Saturday, July 27 & Sunday, July 28 10AM – Noon
Saturday, August 3 & Sunday, August 4 10AM – Noon

As Arranged
If neither of these sessions is convenient for you, contact Brian White, GDRA’s Adult Learn to Row Director at 937-602-4081 or ltrdirector@daytonrowing.org and arrange a time that works with your schedule.

If you already know how to row, then join GDRA now!

– Row on your own schedule! Our club boats range from entry level boats to elite Hudson racing shells.
– Membership fees are reduced for Young Adults (age 18-27) and summer-only College Students.
– Active and Retired Military discounts on all classes and membership fees.
– Questions? Contact Brian White, GDRA’s Adult Learn to Row Director, at 937-602-4081 or send an email to ltrdirector@daytonrowing.org.

Visit our Learn to Row page for more information.