Med School crew/rowing teams?

[paramed2premed]

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I've been looking around on the web, and I can't find any evidence of a competing med-school based club.

Anybody?

 

[peehdee]

i think that's just for undergraduates. some schools have unversity based clubs sports but that's about it. i don't think med students have time for that much competition

I've been looking around on the web, and I can't find any evidence of a competing med-school based club.

Anybody?

 

[paramed2premed]

Well, I hate to brag, but...

This fall Albany entered two head races. At the last one we had an open women's 8+, a novice men's 4+, and a masters men's double scull! In the spring we go to a sprint race.

It just seemed to me that we can't be the only med students doing this, given all the hyper-achieving gunners out there!

 

[leorl]

This won't be of much help.... but one of the reasons why med school rowing wouldn't be big is simply that major university rowing clubs are NCAA, and are therefore only eligible for undergraduate students. That's not to say post-grad (med students) can't compete and row for a university club, but certain/many major competitions are limited. You can bypass this by not joining a university club, but a regular club. This of course isn't ideal for a med student, being still students to some degree. And especially during clinicals when you're on call. Training at 5:30 am doesn't work so well when you have to be in the hospital for the next 12 hours, or when you have to be At the hospital at 5 am, etc. Weekend on calls too.

Another reason is time. To be a serious rower, you need to commit a lot of time to training. Med students in the US just don't have it. Unless you want to just be a recreational rower and not show up to any practices and just row. But that doesn't really help or improve anyone.

I don't study in the US. Honestly, I wanted to continue/improve my rowing by training at a very high standard and the only way I could see that happening was going outside the country (frankly, I didn't want to go to US medical school anyway). I'm very happy with my decision, and the rowing club I'm with is one of the most successful in Ireland. We train 10 times per week (roughly about 20 hours) in head season, and it increases in sprint season. Yes, it is hard to juggle with medical work... But the success you get is worth it. We've been finalists at Henley and won at major international regattas (Ghent), and it's really cool being friends with Olympians and international elite level rowers here too. If you want, check out the site: http://www.tcd.ie/Clubs/LadiesBoat

 

[leorl]

Also, med schools are attached to larger universities. So there wouldn't be a med-school specific club, but instead you'd join the university club. Not to mention med students are dirt poor and would never have the money/energy to buy boats and equipment, rent storage space, and maintainence!

 

[xaelia]

Just to note that in the U.S., men's rowing is not an NCAA sport, as we persist in gambling on the outcomes. 😉

Albany sounds to be the exception to what I'm about to say, but I'll still suggest that attending medical school in a location with a great deal of ex-rowers (Boston, NYC, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Seattle) and established club teams does provide the opportunity to at least do a minimal level of recreational rowing, if so desired. I wish I still had more opportunity to row, but I definitely don't have the discretionary funds to join a club for several hundred dollars when the most I could see myself doing is taking a single or double out once a week.

 

[paramed2premed]

... We've been finalists at Henley and won at major international regattas (Ghent), and it's really cool being friends with Olympians and international elite level rowers here too. If you want, check out the site: http://www.tcd.ie/Clubs/LadiesBoat

Wow. Yeah, our scrappy club is nothing like that. Awesome!

 

[uwcoxswain]

Here in Chicago we don't have any "med-school clubs" but there is both the Chicago River RC and the Lincoln Park RC. There are a few people in my school that row there on occasion. I coxed in college and every so often I will go down and get in a boat. It certainly is easier for a cox to jump in a boat after being on land for 6 months and quickly get back in the swing of things. I got to go out to Boston last fall during 1st year to cox some US guys in the HOC but it lined up horribly with my exams this year. 2nd year blows!

We should have a big med school race.

 

[erin682]

Oh I wish my school had a crew club. We have a huge river and a canal that would be great for it. I rowed my freshmen year of undergrad and we sucked but it was great fun. I loved being out on the river.

 

[paramed2premed]

We should have a big med school race.

Let's do it!

I was so bummed; I went to the Head of the Housatonic last month, next to New Haven CT. There was a "Yale SOM" boat in the race, but it turned out to be the School Of Management, not Medicine! I thought for sure that they would have a boat...

 

[leorl]

Maybe one day 🙂. Once we become rich doctors....yeah right 🙂.