Central Catholic Crew Looks to Impress at National Championships in June

Crew at Central Catholic is a strange, painful, rigorous, yet ultimately rewarding experience. In order to encapsulate the experience, you need to grasp all of the different aspects that come together to form the cohesive team culture.

First, we start with the head coach, Jay Hammond. Jay is unlike other coaches. His means of coaching, though sometimes harsh and unconventional, are in large part responsible for the team’s success.

While Jay may seem like a no-nonsense kind of guy at first, the more you get to know him, the more you see his subtle humor and care for the team.

Behind the harsh exterior of Jay shouting at rowers to “row harder” and saying things like “you aren’t trying,” he deeply cares about the team and only wants it, and its rowers, to succeed. While each boat has a different coach, Jay’s booming personality means that he often takes center stage.

In the late summer and early fall, the team is split into two groups: freshman and varsity. The freshman practice on their own while the sophomores, juniors, and seniors practice together.

Summer is the most relaxed time of year for rowers. Although there is no structured season, members of the team are still able to row because of pairs camp, an optional form of practice where 2 students row together instead of in an 8-person boat. Pairs camp is a good way to maintain technique during the offseason.

The fall is the first actual season of the crew. Practices in the fall consist of getting back into boats after the long break. A few months after practices begin, races start. These races are important but are more relaxed than the others due to the fact that the fall season is not related to any of the championships in the spring.

As winter comes, practices get much harder. All of the heavy conditioning is done in the winter so we are prepared for the spring.  Since Pittsburgh’s weather makes it so we cannot go out on the water, all of our work is done on ergs. During Saturday mornings in the winter months, the team runs up and down the Cathedral of Learning for 2 hours.

In addition to your physical conditioning, erg tests are one of the metrics that determine what boat you are in; the 1V (or 1-varsity) is the fastest and the 4v (or 4-varsity) is the slowest. Erg tests are measured in meters, and, simply put, they are brutal. During an erg test, you expend all energy and, if you do it right, are left gasping for air. The most common erg test is 2,000 meters.

When spring begins, the real season starts. Spring season takes the same shape as the fall season, except everything is harder. Nearly every week we drive hours to race schools from all across the country.

The final milestone of any successful season is the Midwest Championships. These qualify the boats for Nationals in Florida. This year, the 1-V, 2-V, and 1-F will be heading down to Florida in their pursuit of hardware! The Viking wishes the crew team great luck as they compete for the coveted National Championship title!