Our Team

About Fairfax Crew

Our co-ed team consists of novice athletes, or those in their first year of participation (regardless of grade level), and varsity athletes, or those with one or more seasons of experience. Athletes can choose to be rowers or coxswains (although sometimes an athlete can fill both roles, it is not common). While the overall team is co-ed, the boats are either all male or all female rowers, although a woman can be the coxswain in a men’s boat, and vice versa.

Mission Statement

The Mission of Fairfax Crew is to provide educational, athletic, and character-building activities for the benefit of students of Fairfax High School who join the school’s crew team, and to instill in them a love of the sport of rowing. Our primary goal at Fairfax Crew is to provide students with an environment where they can thrive to better themselves in fitness, social, and personal capacities over the course of their high school career. In pursuing this goal, the students learn how to celebrate the joy of victory with both pride and humility, and how to endure to the pain of defeat with grace. They learn that success is only earned, never given, and how to focus their efforts to achieve that success and break personal barriers. They learn to surrender their egos in pursuit of a common goal, and that in doing so they can form the deepest of bonds with their teammates. There are no favorites, no cliques, no "ringers", and no one left behind in crew. We are one team with one dream, to fly across the finish line.

Program Objectives

The Fairfax Crew Program is designed to teach prospective rowers the fundamentals of rowing and train rowers to successfully row in a team boat. As application of power and technical skills progress, rowers will “row up” to upper boats. Coaches will utilize rowing videos, ergometer rowing, demonstration and video review to build rowers skills and fitness level.

Program Expectations

Rowing is a sport that requires:

a certain level of physical fitness,
the ability to comprehend and perform technical rowing stroke,
the ability to move together and work together in a team boat

In your first year you will be able to:

understand the mechanics and fundamentals of rowing,
successfully row in a team boat
have the opportunity to race in local races and national races

Season

September/October Green Days

New student interest meeting and a chance to row on an erg and learn- to-row on the water.

November through February

Winter Conditioning is ideal for continuing aerobic conditioning, strength training and technical work. Work will be done on the erg, running and body circuits with video review for technique corrections.

February through May

On water practice
Sprint race season (regattas)