ABOUT US
On September 26, 1987, Harry Printz noticed a crew race happening downtown and began a conversation with Don Schock of the Three Rivers Rowing Association (TRRA), who expressed interest in having a Carnegie Mellon student row for them.
Soon after, Printz founded the eight-person Tartan Crew that would grow into the club today. The club competed in its first race during the spring of 1988.
Since then, the club has grown considerably. Today, the team has over 50 members across the Varsity and Novice Squads. We row on all three of Pittsburgh's rivers, but spend most of our time on the Allegheny. Our boathouse, a part of the Three Rivers Rowing Center, is located on Washington's Landing -- an island accessed from the 31st St. Bridge near downtown Pittsburgh and the Strip District, just a few miles from campus.
LOgistics
The CMU Rowing Club hosts practices 6 days a week during the fall and spring academic semesters. Practices are divided into Varsity and Novice categories, and occur either on land or on the water.
Land practices are held in the newly constructed rowing gym on the second floor of the Cohon University Center, while water practices occur at the Three Rivers Rowing Center.
Novice practices occur during the afternoon hours, while the Varsity team practices in the 2 hours before daybreak.
Transportation for individual athletes to and from the boathouse for on-water practices-- as well as competitions-- are arranged for by the team.
INCLUSION
At Carnegie Mellon University Rowing Club, we are committed to fostering an environment where everyone feels welcomed and supported. We recognize that barriers of entry to the sport of rowing tend to block under-resourced communities from opportunities in the sport of rowing, in part by access to equipment and perceived values of elitism and privilege. We see this in the general homogeneity of the athletes and coaches at the division and elite levels, as well as in the discomfort expressed by BIPOC, adaptive persons, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and persons from differing socioeconomic backgrounds.
Rowing is an inherently team-driven sport. When you’re in a boat with eight other people, you need to give your teammates your 100% best effort because that is what you expect them to do for you. You can’t give up because you’re not just rowing for yourself, you’re rowing for your teammates. It’s not just about you.
At CMURC, we want to distance ourselves from the idea that you have to be or look a certain way to be a rower. We want everyone to feel excited to come to practice and proud to be a part of our team on the race course. We recognize the exclusion ingrained and associated with rowing and want to challenge this state of being by allowing everyone to feel comfortable walking into our boathouse.
OUR COMMITMENT
Monitoring Our Growth
As a way to monitor our growth, we send out anonymous internal surveys and feedback forms twice a semester. These surveys evaluate the team’s areas of weakness and suggest means of improvement towards fostering a safe and inclusive environment. We hope as the team evolves towards a more inclusive environment, members of the CMU community will find less barriers to entry of rowing within our club.
Building an Inclusive Environment
We hold conversations with DEI officials and experts in the USRowing Community to help ensure that our team remains a safe space for people of all races, ages, genders, and religious beliefs.
