Rowing Clubs in the USA: 59 Clubs by Region

This page is for anyone looking for a place to row in the United States, whether you are moving there, visiting or starting from scratch. The scene is big and old: Detroit Boat Club Crew dates itself to 1839, and USRowing’s club finder returned 1,242 results when we read it. For university crews, see US college rowing programmes.

How US rowing is organised

USRowing, based in West Windsor, New Jersey, runs the national teams, national and regional championships, individual membership and the Safe Sport programme. Its site cites 1,400 member organisations. Clubs run themselves and join as members, and they range from private clubs to public-access nonprofits and youth programmes. Some cities add a local layer: the Schuylkill Navy, founded in 1858, governs rowing at Philadelphia’s Boathouse Row.

Main regattas and the season

Autumn is head-race season and spring is sprint racing, with national championships in summer. Northern clubs generally move indoors for winter.

• Head of the Charles (Boston and Cambridge, MA): first held in 1965, it now has more than 12,000 athletes in 74 events. The 2026 edition ran on 16 to 18 October.
• Head of the Schuylkill (Philadelphia): a 2.3-mile course, held on 24 and 25 October in 2026.
• Stotesbury Cup (Philadelphia): a scholastic regatta established in 1927. The 100th running is on 14 and 15 May 2027.
• Dad Vail Regatta (Cooper River, Pennsauken, NJ): a collegiate regatta, listed for 7 and 8 May 2027.
• USRowing national championships: the Small Boat event is on 14 November 2026 in West Windsor; Youth Nationals are on 10 to 13 June 2027 in Sarasota, FL; Masters Nationals are on 15 to 18 July 2027 in Indianapolis.

New England

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Community Rowing, Inc.	1985	Brighton, Boston, MA; Charles River	Learn-to-row, juniors, competitive	communityrowing.org
Riverside Boat Club	1869	Cambridge, MA; Charles River	Masters, juniors, competitive	riversideboatclub.com
Cambridge Boat Club	1909	Cambridge, MA; Charles River	Recreational (candidates proposed by members)	club records guide
Union Boat Club	1851	Boston, MA; Charles River	Recreational (private club)	unionboatclub.org
Gentle Giant Rowing Club	2002	Somerville, MA; Mystic River	Learn-to-row, juniors	gentlegiantrowing.org
Wayland-Weston Rowing Association	n/a	Wayland, MA	Juniors, recreational	wwcrew.org
Merrimac River Rowing Association	n/a	Lowell, MA; Merrimack River	Learn-to-row, recreational, competitive	merrimacrowing.org
Connecticut Boat Club	2010	Norwalk, CT; Norwalk River	Juniors (girls, grades 7 to 12)	ctboatclub.org
Bare Hill Rowing Association	n/a	Harvard, MA; Bare Hill Pond	Learn-to-row, competitive, recreational	barehillrowing.com

New York

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
New York Athletic Club	1868	Pelham, NY; Travers Island	Competitive (collegiate experience required)	nyac.org
Hudson River Rowing Association	1998	Poughkeepsie, NY; Hudson River	Juniors, masters, learn-to-row	hudsonriverrowing.org
Row New York	n/a	Manhattan; Harlem River	Juniors, adaptive, recreational	rownewyork.org

New Jersey

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Nereid Boat Club	1994 (re-established)	Rutherford, NJ; Passaic River	Juniors, learn-to-row, recreational	club profile
Passaic River Rowing Association	n/a	Lyndhurst, NJ; Passaic River	Juniors, recreational	prra.org
Row New Jersey	n/a	Lake Hopatcong, NJ	Juniors, masters	2019 profile
Viking Rowing Club	1957	Ventnor City, NJ	Recreational (open to all ages and levels)	vikingrowingclub.org

Pennsylvania

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Vesper Boat Club	1865	Philadelphia, PA; Schuylkill River	Competitive, masters	vesperboatclub.org
Undine Barge Club	1856	Philadelphia, PA; Schuylkill River	Recreational	undine.com
Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club	1938	Philadelphia, PA; Schuylkill River	Learn-to-row, masters (adult women)	philadelphiagirlsrowingclub.org

Mid-Atlantic

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Potomac Boat Club	1869	Washington, DC; Potomac River	Juniors, masters, competitive	Potomac Boat Club
Capital Rowing Club	n/a	Washington, DC; Anacostia River	Recreational, competitive	capitalrowing.org
Baltimore Rowing Club	n/a	Baltimore, MD	Learn-to-row, juniors, recreational	baltimorerowing.org
Annapolis Rowing Club	n/a	Edgewater, MD; South River	Learn-to-row, adaptive	annapolisrowingclub.com
Occoquan Boat Club	1979	Sandy Run Regional Park, VA; Occoquan Reservoir	Recreational, competitive	rowobc.org
Rivanna Rowing Club	n/a	Charlottesville, VA; Rivanna Reservoir	Juniors, recreational	rivannarowing.org
Virginia Boat Club	1876	Richmond and Midlothian, VA	Learn-to-row, masters	virginiaboatclub.org

Southeast and Gulf

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Atlanta Rowing Club	1974	Roswell, GA; Chattahoochee River	Learn-to-row, recreational, competitive	atlantarow.org
Lake Lanier Rowing Club	n/a	Gainesville, GA; Lake Lanier	Competitive	lakelanierrowing.org
Augusta Rowing Club	n/a	Augusta, GA; Savannah River	Juniors, learn-to-row, competitive	augustarowingclub.org
Miami Rowing and Watersports Center	n/a	Miami, FL; Biscayne Bay	Juniors, learn-to-row, masters	miamirowing.org
New Orleans Rowing Club	n/a	New Orleans, LA	Juniors, learn-to-row, competitive	neworleansrowingclub.org

Texas

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Austin Rowing Club	n/a	Austin; Lady Bird Lake	Recreational (open to all abilities)	austinrowing.org
Dallas Rowing Club	1983	Dallas; Bachman Lake	Juniors, learn-to-row, recreational	dallasrowingclub.org
Fort Worth Rowing Club	n/a	Fort Worth; Trinity River and Marine Creek Lake	Learn-to-row, masters	fortworthrowing.org
Rowing Club of The Woodlands	n/a	The Woodlands; Lake Woodlands	Learn-to-row, juniors, masters	n/a

Great Lakes and Midwest

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Detroit Boat Club Crew	1839	Detroit, MI; Belle Isle	Juniors, university, competitive	detroitboatclubcrew.org
Wyandotte Boat Club	1875	Wyandotte, MI	Juniors, masters, recreational	wyandotteboatclub.com
Minnesota Boat Club	1870	St Paul, MN; Raspberry Island	Juniors, learn-to-row	minnesotaboatclub.org
Duluth Rowing Club	n/a	Duluth, MN; Lake Superior	Juniors, competitive, recreational	duluthrowing.org
Lincoln Park Boat Club	1910	Chicago, IL; Lincoln Park Lagoon	Juniors, learn-to-row, masters	lpboatclub.org
Chicago Rowing Foundation	n/a	Chicago, IL; Chicago River	Juniors, learn-to-row, masters	rowchicago.com
Ann Arbor Rowing Club	n/a	Ann Arbor, MI; Argo Pond on the Huron River	Recreational, adaptive (adults)	a2crew.com
Grand Rapids Rowing Club	n/a	Grand Rapids, MI; Grand River	Juniors, learn-to-row, masters	grandrapidsrowing.com
Minneapolis Rowing Club	n/a	Minneapolis, MN; Mississippi River	Juniors, learn-to-row, competitive	minneapolisrowing.org
Mendota Rowing Club	1975	Madison, WI; Lake Mendota	Learn-to-row, masters, recreational	mendotarowingclub.com

California

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Long Beach Rowing Association	n/a	Long Beach; Marine Stadium	Learn-to-row, competitive	longbeachrowing.org
Los Angeles Rowing Club	1985	Marina del Rey	Learn-to-row, recreational, competitive	larowing.com
RowLA	n/a	Marina del Rey	Juniors (young women)	rowla.org
California Yacht Club	1922	Marina del Rey	Juniors	calyachtclub.com
Newport Sea Base Rowing	n/a	Newport Beach; Newport Harbor	Juniors, learn-to-row, masters	newportseabaserowing.org
San Diego Rowing Club	n/a	San Diego	Juniors, masters, learn-to-row	sandiegorowing.org
Marin Rowing Association	n/a	Greenbrae; Corte Madera Creek	Recreational	marinrowing.org
East Bay Rowing Club	n/a	Oakland; Oakland Estuary	Recreational	eastbayrowingclub.org
Los Gatos Rowing Club	1979	Los Gatos; Lexington Reservoir	Juniors, masters, competitive	lgrc.org
River City Rowing Club	n/a	West Sacramento	Juniors, learn-to-row, masters	rivercityrowing.org

Pacific Northwest

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Lake Washington Rowing Club	n/a	Seattle, WA	Learn-to-row, masters, competitive	lakewashingtonrowing.com
Pocock Rowing Center	1994	Seattle, WA	Juniors, competitive, recreational	pocockrowingcenter.org
Green Lake Crew	1948	Seattle, WA; Green Lake	Juniors, recreational	greenlakecrew.org
Sammamish Rowing Association	n/a	Redmond, WA; Marymoor Park	Juniors, recreational	sammamishrowing.org

How to pick a club

• Check who the club is built for. Connecticut Boat Club is girls-only, RowLA serves young women, and Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club says it is the only Boathouse Row club teaching adult women of all ages to row.
• Read the entry bar. New York Athletic Club asks for a year of collegiate racing and sets 2k erg standards. Cambridge Boat Club candidates are proposed by members. Community Rowing calls itself the only public-access rowing organisation on the Charles.
• Ask about money early. Costs vary widely, so ask for the full list of class, membership and racing fees. Some clubs help: Row New York says students from households earning under $100,000 row free, and Marin offers scholarships.
• Allow for the climate. Year-round water time is more realistic in Florida or Southern California than in Minnesota, where you should ask about winter indoor training.
• Visiting or moving from abroad? Email ahead with your experience level. Clubs usually want to see that you can row safely before lending you a boat. If you’re weighing up a move further afield, rowing clubs in Australia lays out the state-by-state picture.

Prepare on a machine with rowing for beginners, and read the reasons to join a club. Heading north of the border? See rowing clubs in Canada, or browse all club guides.

Spotted a mistake, or is your club missing? Tell us.