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McLean’s boys crew club opened tryouts Tuesday, Feb. 24, after athletes spent months conditioning through the winter. Over three days, coaches will select 21 varsity rowers for the First Varsity and Second Varsity boats, while nearly every freshman is expected to earn a place.
The evaluations measure both strength and endurance. Athletes began with a 2,000-meter ergometer row followed by a one-mile run. The second day featured a 6,000-meter endurance row and a watts test measuring peak power. Tryouts conclude with three high-intensity, two-minute sprints.
Senior Carson Fast, who occupied the 1V stroke seat last year, said the process helps coaches assess each athlete and the team’s overall development rather than simply eliminate rowers.
Once the roster is set, attention will turn quickly to the Virginia State Championship. McLean’s results there will determine the program’s postseason opportunities.
“Nothing else is possible without a good States time,” senior James Millward said. “If the 1V doesn’t qualify, the freshmen don’t go. Everything starts there.”
If McLean reaches its state benchmarks, the team could advance to major competitions such as the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, regarded as the world’s largest high school regatta, and U.S. Nationals, which brings together elite domestic competition.
McLean reached the Stotesbury semifinals last year before being eliminated. Millward said the competition is exceptionally strong but noted that the program has traditionally performed well there.
The club also hopes to build on its international success. McLean placed third at last year’s Canadian International High School Regatta, finishing behind Canada’s Brentwood College and Canisius High School of the United States.
This season, however, McLean enters with a smaller varsity roster. That has increased the importance of developing junior rowers who can occupy crucial seats in the leading boats.
Fast described the group as tight-knit and said he believes it can remain competitive despite its reduced size.
The team’s first practice Friday will take place off the water because of winter conditions and a recent sewage surge into the Potomac River. Millward expects the delay to last at least a week.
Even without immediate water time, he sees promise in the club’s younger athletes.
“There’s a lot of fast sophomores, a lot of fast freshmen,” Millward said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what everybody can do. We’re gonna have a great season.”