Bare Hill Rowing hosts annual indoor competition

Bromfield/Acton-Boxborough rower Meghan Glade makes a strong push in the middle of the U19 Women’s Lightweight race. (Courtesy photo)

In much of the country, is forced to stop as water turns to ice. So what do rowers do in the winter?

They train. From November to March, sometimes even April, rowers use indoor machines, called ergs, in combination with strength and endurance cross-training to improve their fitness for the coming spring racing season.

To keep the winter from becoming monotonous, indoor competitions are hosted across the country using ergs. On Sunday, Feb. 8, Bare Hill hosted its third annual Ergzilla indoor competition. After the event’s birth three years ago, the number of competitors and level of racing at Ergzilla has grown exponentially.

Despite a Saturday night snowfall, 111 athletes from across the region braved the weather to test their winter training on the erg machine. Eight Massachusetts programs participated: Boston Latin, Brookline, Bromfield/Acton-Boxborough, Arlington-Belmont, Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Duxbury, Essex, and Middlesex.

Mimicking a 2,000m spring race

The racing took place in the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School cafeteria. It mirrored world erging competitions such as the CRASH-B Erg Sprints, the largest indoor competition in the world, which will take place this year on March 1. Just as at CRASH-Bs, ergs were set up and connected to a computer system that displayed virtual racing as it occurred. The race was 2,000 meters, the typical length of a competitive spring race, which is a difficult, high-intensity piece, with a duration of anywhere from six-and-a-half to nine minutes.The races were sorted by gender, age (U15, U17, and U19), and weight class: lightweight (155 lbs. for men and 135 lbs. for women) and open weight. There was also a coxswain race, which was a 1,000-meter sprint.

Bromfield/Acton-Boxborough rowers turned in a fantastic performance, with three winners in various events: Jack Walsh in the U15 lightweight men, Molly Hart in the U19 open-weight women, and Justin Hayes in the U17 open-weight men.

Arlington-Belmont came with its A-game, winning the most overall races.

February break marks the end of the winter training season. Several Bromfield/Acton-Boxborough rowers will travel to Florida during break to get some on-water training before the spring season officially begins.

Emily Erdos is a senior at the Bromfield School and a member of the Bromfield/Acton-Boxborough team.