For Meadows at Windsor Hunt resident Nielsen Lewis, learning to row originally began as a means to understand and appreciate the sport his son had joined.
Lewis, pictured at right, enjoys it so much he rows six days a week, early in the morning before work, and participates in competitions with the Mercer Masters program under the Princeton National Rowing Association, or PNRA.##M:[more]##
Lewis’s son, Andrew, began rowing in 2004 as the only eighth grader with the Mercer Junior Rowing Program, also under the PNRA. Since then, he has gone on to row for varsity at St. Paul’s, a prep school in New Hampshire, and will be entering Princeton University in the fall, where he will also row. Lewis said he and his wife, Marcy, “used to watch his races, and I didn’t understand half of what was going on and how it worked.” So Lewis entered a learn-to-row introductory program with the PNRA and became an avid rower himself.
And officials with PNRA are hoping that people like Lewis will come out for the group’s eighth annual National Learn to Row Day event, held on Saturday, June 7, at the Caspersen Rowing Center in West Windsor. The PNRA is the umbrella organization for the U.S. national team, the Mercer Junior Rowing Club, and the Mercer Master’s Rowing Club. Members of the national team train at Mercer Lake, and the lake is home to the annual USRowing National Selection Regattas and Trials, the Mercer Lake Springs Regatta, and the Northeast Junior Regional Championships.
“It’s a fantastic health and fitness program,” says Lewis, a former track runner himself. “One of the things rowers will tell you is that other than cross country and skiing, it uses more muscle groups than any other sport or exercise.”
Lewis, 61, who grew up in New Hampshire and is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School. He moved to the area about 30 years ago, and has lived in the township for the past 15 years. He works with West Windsor-based law firm Hill Wallack by day and enjoys early morning rowing because “you get a chance to connect a little bit with the natural world around you,” he said. He also competes and already has two regattas under his belt. Lewis says the sport has brought a sense of camaraderie between he and his son.
Amy Wiesenfeld, the master’s head coach and the organizations’s outreach coordinator, says the master’s coaches will be teaching the two-hour learn-to-row session. The first two parts of the session are 30 minutes a piece and take place on the land. The instructors will be teaching the rowing stroke using a rowing machine known as the Concept2 Ergometer. Participants will also get a boathouse tour, will become familiarized with the equipment, and will learn the different parts of the boat, how to get in the boat, and how to carry it. The second session will include an hour on the water, where participants will take some strokes.
Wiesenfeld says the National Learn to Row Day event began because not many people know much about the sport, and some have no idea how to get involved. “It’s become so much more out there in the community, mostly because former college rowers want to continue,” Wiesenfeld says. “The biggest explosion of members are adults.” She says high school rowing programs are on the rise, and therefore, college programs are expanding as well. In fact, rowing is the second-fasting growing scholarships offered to female athletes. And plenty of interest has been generated among parents, like Lewis, who also want to row.
Wiesenfeld says offers various options for adults. Currently a month-long program encompassing three days a week helps solidify the basics, and a morning program is broken down into two groups — those who row for fitness, and those who want to work on their technique. “Then a group of competitive people will go out to competitions and race other people in their age groups with the Mercer Master Racers,” she said.
In addition to the adult programs, “we have a very successful junior program, and kids are getting recruited for college,” Wiesenfeld says. “Our top boats are going to Cincinnati for the nationals. We want to expand the program and give the same advantages these kids are getting.” And competitive and recreational rowers range in age from 14 to 93.
Those interested in participating in the National Learn to Row Day must register with Wiesenfeld by Friday, June 6. Sessions start at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11 a.m. To register, contact Wiesenfeld at 609-799-7100 x102 or E-mail amy@rowpnra.org. — Kara Latham
National Learn to Row Day, Princeton National Rowing Association, Mercer Lake, 1 South Post Road, West Windsor, 609-799-7100. www.rowpnra.org. Introduction to rowing through indoor and on-water instruction. Three 90-minute sessions. Register. Free. Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m.
National Learn to Row Day, Carnegie Lake Rowing Association, Lake Carnegie, Washington Road, Princeton. www.clra.com. Tour of the Princeton University Boathouse, question and answer session, and demonstrations of land and water rowing. Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m. to noon.
