Great Miami Rowing offers competitive and exploratory boating in Hamilton
Looking out from the Black Street or High Street bridges, it isn’t uncommon to see long, thin boats cutting through the Great Miami River waters. Many of these racers are training through the Great Miami Rowing Center, which offers a wide variety of boating opportunities in Hamilton.
“I learn something every time I go on the water,” says Kristina Latta-Landefeld, Executive Director and Head Coach of the Great Miami Rowing Center. “You never really perfect it, whether you start as a freshman in high school, or start in your 70s.”
The Great Miami Rowing Center started in 2007 as part of development initiatives in Hamilton to make the Great Miami River more of a centerpiece and a draw. This began with a competitive youth rowing team, but has expanded to JRow, a middle school program, an adult rowing team, as well as community outreach efforts with Start Rowing days.
Malachi Anderson is a rising sophomore at Hamilton High School who began in the JRow program and has completed two seasons on the youth competitive team at this point. He sees himself continuing in the sport as he progresses through his high school years.
“It’s so unique, not like any other sport,” says Anderson. “You really bond with your team over the fact that not a lot of people know about this sport; everyone in your boat goes through something really amazing and hard together.”
Competitive rowing takes place in boats of various sizes, with a common racing shell, or boat, holding eight competitors. All eight rowers must be incredibly in sync in order to accomplish their goal of crossing the finish line first.
“I’ve learned that everyone in the boat matters,” says Anderson. “You can’t win a race with 7 people versus 8; you can’t just let anyone slide, and you have to get everyone involved.”
Coronavirus has affected this sport like so many others, leaving many athletes around Hamilton to work out at home to attempt to retain their form. Rowers, however, already were familiar with the struggle of training for a long time for a competition.
“Rowing isn’t like baseball, where you have games over and over,” says Latta-Landefeld. “You train 80 or 90% of the time for just a few competitions. Now, it’s more like 99% of the time.”
The Center is on the hunt for a new home, since the future of the Spooky Nook development means that their current location will no longer be available. Their leadership have also continued to focus on making sure they are financially sustainable, since racing shells can cost $40,000 each and need to be cared for so that they last a long time.
Latta-Landefeld has been rowing for more than 21 years at this point, and she notices that, even in her non-rowing-related work, many of the rowing team dynamics still bear out.
“I see rowing as an analogy for life often,” says Latta-Landefeld. “Every single ‘seat’ has a role to play. If every person isn’t all-in to their role, they won’t have the same success. It’s all about figuring out what roles work in your situation, and what you can bring to your role.”
While there is definitely room to get involved on the rowing teams, Latta-Landefeld also sees amazing improvement from the first-timers who just come for a single Start Rowing event, so you don’t have to be experienced to try out the Great Miami Rowing Center.
“People think they are going to tip, and at first are feeling out of control,” she says. “But once you start to loosen, to relax, you realize you have the control to keep that boat upright, and that’s really empowering.”
Want to learn more? Visit GreatMiamiRowing.com to get updates on when the rowing teams will be back on the water.