Westford Community Crew is one of the few unknown recreation organizations in Westford, introducing students of all ages to a sport that many have never had access to in their lives.          As they prepare for the upcoming fall season of rowing, head coach Dave Cormier, a 27 year old coach with a wealth of experience in Umass Lowell rowing, is poised to make improvements and additions to his team.

During the fall, the team was able to attend many big events such as the Head of the Charles, but did not perform as well in the country’s largest regatta as they had hoped. Races that they did perform well included the New Hampshire Championships, placing high in their events with their eight person boats.

Cormier stressed the idea of fitness in order to see better results as a group.

“When we’re looking at the team as a whole, our fitness levels are where we’re continuing to struggle. […] We’ve got a lot of kids who do a lot of different activities,” Cormier said.

Since rowing and crew is not a sport that many traditionally start at a young age, the team finds that its members, who do not have to have any prior experience in rowing, lack the time needed to adequately prepare for each season and race.

“The amount of time you put into your training is what you’re going to get out of it. […] We really have to hit it hard, especially in the offseason, and train all year round if we want to be competitive,” Cormier said.

In order to achieve this goal, Cormier notes that aerobic work is key to stay fit, mostly with the goal of finishing races in lengths of 2000 meters. Most of the training is done on machines known as the erg, as well as rowing on the water when ice does not cover them. Furthermore, time is spent running and weight lifting in order to build strength to move the boat.

“We do training camps through the winter and the summer. […] It’s really an all year round sport so it’s four to five days [a week],” Cormier said, noting that others who want to row in college do even more training in order to improve.

Last season, the team sent five athletes to row in college at schools such as Syracuse, Umass Lowell, and Manhattan. Others went onto row for club teams instead of rowing at a school itself.

When speaking to those who consider joining, Cormier notes that there is currently no limit on membership, and he encourages people to try out this unique sport, but warns of its difficulty.

“It is not a sport that is for everybody because it is a lot of hard work. These guys are here two and half hours a day five days a week and they go and race pretty much every weekend [..] It’s a sport for people who wanna come in here and wanna work and they wanna be a part of a team and they want to be successful,” Cormier said.

However, Cormier says most who try become aware quickly of whether the sport is for them or not. With that in mind, he does not want to scare anyone away before they give the sport a try for themselves.

“We never have to make any cuts because people typically will end up deciding on their own it’s not for them because it’s a ton of intense practices. […] The type of athlete who is going to thrive on this team is someone who is excited about it,” Cormier said.

The only prerequisite Cormier suggests is having prior experience in sports or just exercise in general in order to be more successful.

“If you don’t have a background in sports, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to be successful, but you’re definitely going to have a couple hurdles to jump through,” Cormier said, “Just come down and try it. There’s no commitment. We have tons of bring-a-friend days. […]         Even if you don’t know anyone on the team, send us an email and we’ll toss you right in the boat.”

On a final note, Cormier is feeling optimistic about his changing team’s future.

“We’re in a really exciting time. We’re going through kind of a rebranding phase right now [changed to Westford community rowing],” Cormier said.