Capital Rowing Club

10/15/2026

It's time for Head Of The Charles Regatta, held annually in Boston, MA, since 1965. Today, more than 12,000 athletes from around the world compete in 74 different race events. This year’s regatta is October 16-18.

There are 54 Capital athletes competing for the club this weekend, including lots of first timers, 2 CARP athletes, 5 Juniors, and THREE gold medal defenders. amongst CRC athletes!

CRC members: check your email and the CRC Weekly for a link to our Cheering Schedule document. And visit HOCR.org to follow the action on the livestream.

Good luck everyone. Have fun!

10/13/2026

This past weekend, Capital weathered the rain during the Occoquan Chase, hosted by George Mason Crew. With 26 entries across 18 events, we're proud to have earned 17 top three finishes!

Men's Master 1x (40-49):
Jonothan Hampton - 3rd 🥉

Men's Master 1x (60-69):
Mark Heslep - 2nd 🥈

Women's Masters 1x:
Morgan Craver - 2nd 🥈

Women's Masters 1x (60–69):
Rebecca Hollins - 1st 🥇

Women's Masters 1x (60–69):
Susan Driano - 2nd 🥈

Men's Masters 2x:
Bob Reichart/Jaimie Rubin - 1st 🥇

Women's Open 8+: 3rd 🥉

Women's Masters 8+: 1st 🥇

Men's Masters 4+: 1st 🥇

Women's Masters 4+: 3rd 🥉

Men's Masters 8+: 1st 🥇

HS Men's Junior 1x:
M. Christian - 3rd 🥉

HS Men's Junior 2x: 1st 🥇 & 2nd 🥈

HS Women's Junior 2x: 1st 🥇 & 2nd🥈

HS Men's Junior 4x+/4X: 1st 🥇

Congratulations to ALL Capital athletes who raced on the Occoquan Reservoir at Sandy Run Regional Park! Onward to Head Of The Charles and Head of the Shuylkill!

📸 The CRC women's masters 8+ stroked by Erica Prakop; photo by coxswain Brian Cuse.

10/06/2026

HAPPY NATIONAL COACHES DAY! Thank you to all of our coaches, who tell us what we don't want to hear, who help us see what we don't want to see, so that we can be who we always knew we could be.

CRC is incredibly grateful for all 30 of our coaches who run these programs:
• Capital Juniors
• Capital Adaptive
• intermediate & advanced sculling
• competitive sculling
• LTR, novice & INR sweep
• morning & evening intermediate / advanced sweep
• morning competitive sweep
• Sunday intermediate / advanced sweep
• Sun's Up advanced sweep

Want to learn more about Capital? Check out capitalrowing.org

09/29/2026

This past weekend, Capital made our way across town for the Charlie Butt Scullers Head of the Potomac hosted by Potomac Boat Club. With 28 entries across 17 events, we're proud to have placed top three in 13 of those events!

Men's Jr. 1x: Lucas Bockner - 3rd 🥉
Men's Veteran 1x: Bob Reichart - 2nd 🥈
Men's Veteran 1x: C. Michael Arnold - 3rd 🥉
Women's Veteran 1x: Susan Driano - 2nd 🥈
Women's Veteran 1x: Rebecca Hollins - 3rd 🥉
Men's Club 4+: 3rd 🥉
Men's Master 8+: 3rd 🥉
Women's Club 8+: 3rd 🥉
Men's Master 2x: Arnold/Rubini - 2nd 🥈
Women's Master 2x: Crowley/Heidmous - 3rd 🥉
Women's Master 8+: 1st 🥇 and 3rd 🥉
Men's Club 8+: 3rd 🥉

Congratulations to ALL Capital athletes that raced on the Potomac. Onward to Occoquan Chase!

📸 A CRC composite mixed 8+ rows by the KennedyCenter. Photo by Sun's Up Sweep member Sherri Sheu.

09/29/2026

Our Capital Juniors Learn to Row program was recently featured in East of the River magazine. Fifteen year old participant Elijah Granby-Collins said "...it was fun to work together with everyone on the boat.” He says he’s already impatient to move onto the next level. “I would continue to try out to learn to row on different types of boats and participate in the race events.”

Is it really true, as some local politicians and citizens have claimed, that not enough is being done to keep the District’s youth occupied during the warmer months? East of the River set out to meet and speak with a few local teens to find out what they got up to this summer. It turns […]

09/15/2026

Did you know that boats get polished and buffed to protect the hulls from sun and pollutant damage? BIG thanks to the 50+ CRC members who came out across two recent weekend work days to polish and buff 17 sculling, five CARP, and five sweep shells. This is nearly half of the CRC fleet! You all got much needed work done on these shells! - Sujitra Pookpanratana, VP Operations

*NOTE: no boats were "waxed" as USRowing "discourages or restricts applying any substance like wax or polymers to a racing shell's hull that alters the water-hull interface or boundary layer..."

09/12/2026

"I was in Las Vegas for work. I left on September 7 and didn’t return until the first week in October. I remember waking up and turning on the television and seeing the first tower on fire. A few days after I got a call from Coach Guennadi to make sure I was ok since I was gone. That kindness has always stuck with me."

- Christina Erling, member since 2001

09/11/2026

"I remember September 11 was a gorgeous morning. I saw everything happening in real time on CNN while working out. After the second plane hit the WTC, I realized something was wrong and ran to my office, where I heard the third plane had hit the Pentagon.

At that point, cell phones did not work, you could only text, and all streets around GW campus were jammed with traffic like in nuclear war movie.

Next morning we had practice, although Anacostia was closed beyond 11st Bridge. Then, we moved for a couple of weeks to Bladensburg location and rowed from there. It all felt unreal in real time and we were shocked."

- Guennadi Bratichko, Head Sweep Coach since 1994

09/11/2026

"On September 11, I happened to be up at Craftsbury with scullers from Capital, Potomac, and NYC attending a week long camp. So while I wasn’t a direct witness to the impact the events of that day had on DC, I can certainly attest to the impact it had on those of us visiting a very remote place, far from loved ones experiencing a horrific event.

Though shocked and unsure of what to do, the Craftsbury staff and coaches provided kindness and care, offering to support whatever our needs might be, in light of all the unknowns. They cancelled coached sessions for the day and encouraged us to scull on our own, in the hopes that it might help us process what we saw. I sculled up Lake Hosmer for awhile, sat quietly listening to birds, watching a few clouds in the sky, and thinking how wrong it felt to experience such peace and beauty in light of what had just happened."

- Karen Werth, member since 1996