April 16, 2021
Back on the water!
We’re back on the water and back in team boats! Our athletes virtually attend additional workouts, tutoring sessions, college prep, and special events.
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College Acceptances
Our seniors are receiving college acceptances and our juniors are creating college lists.
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Adaptive Rowing
Our adaptive athletes continue working hard during virtual practices.
The Harlem River Challenge
The Harlem River Challenge is happening on May 21st-23rd! Our sponsors will donate 2 cents for every meter you run, row, or erg and 1 cent for every meter you bike. Register for free here.
March 10, 2021
Countless strokes
As it is, rowing is notorious for the long hours spent training for short races. This winter, the mental and physical challenge is even greater for all the obvious reasons we don’t need to list here. Even so, our athletes stick with each other and continue to row, stroke by stroke.
Erging, training, learning
In addition to regularly scheduled erging sessions, our youth athletes are meeting to set team goals, learn about the mechanics of the stroke, improve their weightlifting technique, and bond with their teammates. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, siblings and pets join us for the workouts!
Our teams invited their parents to special parents’ practices where they learned to row with their kids– giving parents a better understanding of what it takes to be a rower.
Strengthening minds and bodies
Our adaptive athletes have been training hard to strengthen their minds and bodies through full-body workouts, erging sessions, hemisphere work (brain exercises), and even a bit of dancing. Coaches coach in both English and Spanish and modify all exercises to adapt to different levels of ability.
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CRASH- B’s: World Indoor Rowing Championships
Four Row New Yorkers raced at CRASH-B’s! We’re so proud of Katherine, Lorin, Myer, and Ricardo for their strong performances against athletes from all over the world. All four athletes broke their personal records!
Self-care packages
Our dedicated youth coaches distributed self-care packages with items like foam rollers, workout journals, and wall calendars. We’re looking forward to using those items to keep working towards our training goals.
Bigs and Littles
Keeping up with a longstanding tradition, we recently matched two bigs (varsity members) with a little (novice athlete). The groups will support each other as they navigate transitions through high school and college in the upcoming years. Bigs and littles also participate in activities like teammate trivia, scavenger hunts, and erg relays.
Making Change at Row New York
The Youth Leadership Team and the Youth Communications Committee have been meeting with staff regularly to provide feedback and ideas for programming, fundraising, and communications.
Classes, colleges, and careers
Our athletes spend several hours learning remotely every day, and afterward, they join their tutors and coaches for more activities. Screen fatigue is real but our staff combats it by continuously creating fun and valuable opportunities for our athletes. Below are just some of the events and activities we’ve hosted over the last few weeks.
Celebrating Black History Month
We observed Black History Month during several events and discussions. For a night at the museum, our athletes dressed up, tuned in to this playlist, and virtually visited exhibits at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. We also hosted movie nights and learned about Black history during academic sessions.
This month, we’re observing Women’s History Month through a variety of activities.
Rowing in college
Alumnae Sebastiana Lopez visited a practice to talk to her former teammates about getting recruited to Robert Morris University, rowing in college, and her first year as a student. She kicked the event off with a “College Fit” contest where athletes showed the team what they’d wear to their first day of college.
Monthly Career Corner
Last month, our youth athletes attended their first monthly Career Corner workshop, a speaker series where athletes will learn from professionals working in various fields. This month’s session was led by Josimar King, entrepreneur and Lead IT Manager at Affirm, a San Francisco-based start-up.
Associate Board Mentorship Program
Associate Board members paired with our upperclassmen to develop mentoring relationships that will help our youth navigate their schoolwork and careers. This year, the program expanded to include Row New York alumni.
Turazo Virtual Career Fair
Over the next few weeks, Row New York alumni are invited to sign up to participate in a virtual career fair as either learners or professionals. Alumni will be able to schedule one-on-one meetings with people from various industries for career development and networking.
Resources for first-generation low-income students and professionals
The alumni committee, along with Rise First, hosted a conversation about what it’s like to be a first-generation, low-income student or young professional. The folks from Rise First spoke about their own experiences with our athletes and alumni, and shared resources.
Professional Development with UPenn
Row New York alumni were invited to chat with alumni of the University of Pennsylvania about their careers in fields like finance, law, and consulting. The panel shared their experiences and best practices for resume writing, job search, and interviews.
Yale College Visit
For our seventh college tour of the school year, we met former Yale rower Lawrence Lopez-Menzies. Lopez-Menzies spoke to our athletes about his experiences as a rower at Yale and his hopes to start a program like Row New York.
Investments: Learning by doing
Last year, curious students suggested we start a stock-picking club. After lots of learning, discussion, and practice rounds on MarketWatch, the club chose some stocks for Row New York’s real portfolio, through a grant from BluePrint. Their picks have seen returns of over $2,000 in the last few weeks! February was tough for the markets, but our athletes’ well-rounded picks in banking helped boost returns.
April 3, 2020
Hello world,
as you have surely heard by now, New York City is facing a serious outbreak of COVID-19. Our local government has recommended social distancing in an effort to slow the spread of disease. Since March 12th, in-person programming, in-office work, and events at Row New York have been canceled.
We have not stopped.
Row New York is doing all we can to support our athletes and staff during these tough times. Our rowers are still studying and training. Our staff is still coaching, tutoring and fundraising. We are still doing our best to provide any resources our athletes need to keep working towards achieving their personal, academic, and athletic goals.
We’re keeping up our training. Because that’s what rowers do.
Prioritizing mental health and wellness
These are uncertain times, which can be stressful and anxiety-inducing for all. To ensure that our young people feel supported during this time, we are continuing to provide one-on-one counseling services and referrals to our students and families. Students who would like to check in with Michelle, our Director of Social Work, should contact her at mfalcon@rownewyork.org. To learn more about Michelle and her work with our students, check out her blog here.
Shipping Ergs and laptops
Staff distributed ergs and laptops to our student-athletes to ensure they have the tools they need. The drop-offs were contactless to maximize our students’ and staff members’ safety.
Providing virtual workouts for student-athletes
Our coaches are hosting virtual practices, in addition to providing at-home workout routines for students to practice on their own time. Our coaches will continue to regularly check in with students individually and in small groups.
Coaches are hosting all sorts of fun activities such as a Q&A session with Olympic rowers Meghan O’leary and Ellen Tomek, technique review sessions, stretching workshops, motivation workshops, yoga classes, and weekly challenges.
Coaches are sharing free resources from around the web such as these USRowing webinars, yoga instructions, and rowing technique videos.
Making sure class is still in session
Row New York’s Academics team is hosting virtual tutoring sessions and group workshops this week. They host academic “office hours” for students to virtually drop in for extra help.
The Academics team is also keeping the students in touch by playing video games with them such as trivia and a virtual stock trading game.
Continued support for college-bound students and alumni
Our college success team is in touch with our seniors and alumni and will soon begin hosting virtual workshops covering everything from financial aid to networking and professional skills. In addition, we will continue to offer intensive support to our high school juniors as they go through the college application process.
Recently, alumni met virtually with current students for a chat named “Finding Rhythm” about balancing school and rowing. This series takes place on the last Wednesday of every month. Upcoming topics include Being a Young Person in 2020, Body Positivity & Healthy Relationships, Independence (Mental, Emotional, Financial), College and Pre-College Summer Programs (Internships and Career).
Virtual upcoming events include a yoga and mindfulness session, a college essay writing workshop, an alumni happy hour and a Youth Leadership Team meeting.
Maintaining community with our adaptive athletes and Veterans
The community staff is checking in with our participants and teachers from the School Day Adaptive program. They are also holding Google Hangouts meetings with participants to maintain a community and stay in touch with each other.
The coaches are meeting with each other and with coaches from other teams to learn how to best support our Adaptive athletes and Veterans.
If you are able, we hope you’ll consider donating to Row New York. Every amount helps us continue to provide services for hundreds of youth, Veterans, and people with disabilities. Donate through Venmo @rownewyork or online at rownewyork.org/donate.
If you would like to host a virtual academic or athletic session with our athletes, please email info@rownewyork.org.
