Community Corner
OVER 1,500 ATHLETES TO COMPETE AT 29TH MIDATLANTIC ERG SPRINTS THIS SATURDAY IN ALEXANDRIA
ALEXANDRIA, VA – Over 1,500 athletes will gather at T.C. Williams High School this Saturday, February 1st for the 29th MidAtlantic Erg Sprints, the world’s second largest indoor rowing competition and the largest competition of its kind for junior rowers.
Held in the Gerry Bertier Gymnasium, this year's competition will feature over 130 events for adult, youth and adaptive rowers. Racing gets underway at 8:00 am with the Junior Lightweight 20-minute row for men and women. Highlights of the day include the Fitness Club Challenge just before 11:00 am, which will see some of the region’s top CrossFit athletes squaring off in a 2000-meter competition.
The action continues through the late morning and into the early afternoon, when the Mid-Atlantic’s top high school and collegiate rowers take to the ergometers for a series of 1500 and 2000 meter races to see who can pull the fastest on land. Later in the day, many of these same high school and collegiate athletes will climb back on the ergs for another race – a 500-meter competition that is not only a test of endurance, but a test of pure speed.
One of the most inspirational parts of the MidAtlantic Erg Sprints is the adaptive rowing competition. Scheduled to begin at 3:40 pm, these races feature Wounded Warriors and other individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities competing against each other on the ergs. For the first time ever and in partnership with Athletes Without Limits, this year’s Erg Sprints will also serve as the U.S. National Championship for intellectually disabled indoor rowers. Over 12 intellectually disabled athletes are scheduled to vie for this championship.
For the second year in a row, the MidAtlantic Erg Sprints will also feature a series of educational seminars for young athletes and their parents about rowing in college and and other important aspects of the sport. The seminars will be led by such elite rowers and coaches as: Sam Stitt, who rowed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and is now the Varsity Lightweight Rowing Coach at Georgetown; Emma Preuschl, who won a Silver Medal as a member of the 2008 U.S. Paralympic women’s rowing team in Beijing and competed in the 2012 London games; and Linda Miller, who rowed for T.C. Williams and George Washington University and went on to become a member of the 2000 U.S. Women’s Olympic rowing team in Sydney. The schedule for the seminars, which will be held in the auditorium lecture hall at T.C. Williams, includes:
- 10:00 am – Going for Gold: Rowing in College and Beyond
- 11:00 am – Rowing Fitness
- 12:00 noon – Going for Gold: Rowing in College and Beyond
- 1:00 pm – Rowing Nutrition
- 2:00 pm – Going for Gold: Rowing in College and Beyond
In addition to the seminars, the Erg Sprints will also feature a Question and Answer session with some of the nation’s premier adaptive rowers and coaches who are training for the 2016 U.S. Paralympic team. The Q&A will be moderated by Patrick Johnson, who served as the 2013 U.S. ParaRowing National Team Coach and is currently the National Rowing Program Director for Athletes Without Limits. The rowers and coaches taking part in the Q&A include: Tom Darling, Director of the U.S. Para-Rowing National Team; Kallie Quinn, Director of Paralympic Emerging Sport Talent ID for the U.S. Olympic Committee; Barry Holman, President of Athletes Without Limits; Paul Hurley, member of the 2013 U.S. National Team and a World Rowing Bronze Medalist; Daniel Ahr, member of the 2013 U.S. National Team and 2014 U.S. Rowing Men’s ParaAthlete Representative; Dana Fink, member of the 2013 and 2015 U.S. Paralympic National Team; Dr. Margaret Stran, Assistant Director of Adapted Athletes, University of Alabama; and, Josh Langston White, a Novice ParaRower who is competing for a spot on the U.S. National Team. The Paralympic Q&A will be held in room B101 at the high school. Racing on February 1st will conclude at approximately 4:00 pm.
The complete schedule of events can be found at http://www.ergsprints.com. The top finishers in the MidAtlantic Erg Sprints will qualify to compete in the World Indoor Rowing Championship – also known as the Crash-B Sprints – which will be held in Boston on February 16th.
The MidAtlantic Erg Sprints were first held in Alexandria in January 1986. The event is sponsored by the Alexandria Crew Boosters.
