Dallas, Texas – Dallas United Crew raced and won big at S.W.E.A.T (Southwest Amateur Ergometer Tournament), hosted by Jesuit College Preparatory School. In these races, the ergometer, a rowing machine, measures each performance to project the entrant’s standing as a boat moving across a combined, virtual course. Past performance lands the fastest of each heat on the front row, blinding them to their positions while signaling that they are the ones to beat. Teammates act as coxswains – sometimes pilot, sometimes drill sergeant, and sometimes cheerleader – to get their oarsman first to the finish. As the lead boats cross the 1500-meter mark of the 2000-meter race, a tsunami of cheers washes over the competitors as the crowd demands a winning sprint.

The high school events presented the most crowded fields with over forty athletes competing in each of the men’s and women’s open-weight races. DUC’s varsity men claimed gold in the fastest events with Danield Sneed winning the Men’s Open-weight Single and DUC’s varsity men dominating with eleven of the top fifteen places. The Lightweight Men’s Single also saw gold for DUC as Jack Craycroft led the field. In the women’s open-weight race, Sierra Ross, and teammate Kate Russ earned 2 of the top 5 finishes, and Ella Spillman took silver among the Freshman Lightweight Women. DUC’s future looks bright as Spillman’s open-weight teammates and the girls of DUC’s middle school program swept the medals in both of their categories. Not to be outdone by their oarsmen, the DUC coxswains took to the ergometers, earning three medals, including gold for Mimi Tafel.

With 85 entries, DUC had more competitors than any other juniors program and earned fourteen individual medals. In a sport whose hallmark is unity, the competition is a rare opportunity to shine individually. Collegiate coaches scan the published results searching for fast recruits.

Program-wide, DUC won seventeen medals as DUC’s Veterans/Adapative rowers John Fay and Sam Seidemann took gold and silver, respectively, in their event. Former DUC Board Member, Chuck Mueller, who founded DUC’s Veterans/Adaptive program took silver in the Men’s Masters Single for ages 70-79.

S.W.E.A.T is DUC Junior’s first competition of spring’s championship season; warmer weather will see North Texas’s largest rowing club race in 2000-meter sprints at regattas in Oklahoma City, Austin, and Seattle in preparation for the nationally qualifying races at US Rowing’s Central Regionals in May. 

S.W.E.A.T draws rowers from ten juniors clubs in US Rowing’s Central Region. Teens who would like to row are invited to register for DUC’s middle school program starting March 1st or one of several rowing camps this summer. Visit www.DallasUnitedCrew.org for details on each program.

Oklahoma City, OK - After a long, hot summer of training Dallas United Crew’s (DUC) Varsity crews are ready to race. The Head of the Oklahoma, now in its eighteenth year, is the traditional start of regional racing and draws teams from as far as Houston, California and Wisconsin. Unique to this venue, the top six crews in marquee events qualify to race at OG&E’s Night Sprints, an electrified, high-velocity, five-hundred-meter dash.

The daytime, four-thousand-meter course winds through eleven bridges, including that of a working railway and Interstate 35. Coxswains must navigate the shortest possible course, passing slower boats without yielding time; imprecise steering or poor planning can cost the race.

In the Varsity Boys races, the Fours race foreshadowed the marquee event, the Eights. DUC’s Fours took silver and bronze mere seconds behind regional rival, Jesuit Prep’s first Four. DUC’s Eight is a young, but accomplished crew, having earned bronze in the under-seventeen category at Head of the Charles last year. The first of three DUC Eights, they beat Jesuit by five seconds to qualify for Night Sprints.

In the Varsity Girls head races, DUC’s crews had their hands full. The five-time USRowing Central Regional Champions took bronze in the Fours and the Eights, yielding gold in both events to an emerging powerhouse, Austin Rowing Club (ARC). 

As the lights came up on Night Sprints, the mood became festive as thoughts of stamina and perseverance were washed away by the anticipation of all-out speed. Rowers donned face paint and wrapped their biceps in glow-rings in celebration. New this year, crossing the finish line triggered a fan of fireworks to hail the victor. 

DUC’s Varsity Girls delivered the upset of the night, overtaking ARC’s top Eight in the last one hundred meters to win by a mere four-tenths of a second. Pyrotechnics rewarded their determination. In the Boys Eight, DUC fended off two determined Jesuit crews to take gold by a full deck. Again, fireworks boomed for the crews in blue.

Next up for DUC’s Varsity crews is Head of the Charles River (HOCR) in Cambridge, MA. HOCR is the world’s largest regatta, notorious for the difficulty of its course. Competition is by invitation only. 

Dallas United Crew is North Texas's largest and most successful youth rowing team with thirty six regional titles and seventy one collegiate recruits. Comprised of over one hundred rowers DUC draws from more than twenty-five area high schools. For more information, visit www.DallasUnitedCrew.org

Oklahoma City, OK - Dallas United Crew (DUC) added seven regional titles, including those of Rowing’s fastest events – the Girls and Boys Eights – to its legacy. Held May 7th and 8th, the USRowing Central Youth Championship is one of seven regional qualifiers for USRowing’s National Youth Championship to be held in Sarasota, FL June 11th through 14th.

As nearly eight hundred athletes representing twenty-four clubs from Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas gathered in the OKC Boathouse District, the expected racing format was time trials (tandem starts for the best time) on Saturday in which the top six crews would qualify to compete in head-to-head finals over the two-thousand-meter course. The weather did not cooperate. Winds picked up Saturday afternoon, gaining strength overnight with gusts between 25 and 35 mph on Sunday. Such conditions are unsafe, especially for crews in windward lanes. By mid-morning, officials canceled the finals, and Saturday’s time trials now decide the winners. DUC’s coaches prepared their crews and race strategies with Sunday’s forecast and its likely impact in mind. 

Four-time defending champions in the Eights the DUC Varsity Girls knew they faced a challenge at regionals. Having won prior match-ups, Austin’s Texas Rowing Center (TRC), was seeded first in the Girls Varsity Eights, ahead of DUC. Despite a slower lane assignment, the DUC girls surpassed expectations, laying down a one-second faster time than TRC and claiming their fifth consecutive title. DUC’s Varsity Four, powered by three of four oarswomen from DUC’s 2021 Youth Nationals top-ten crew, bested the field by a whopping twenty seconds – the equivalent of seven boat-lengths.

This year saw the DUC Varsity Boys return to the top of the podium in the Eights. They turned the tide with a blazing 5:49 down the course, besting the field by a definitive six seconds. DUC’s Under Seventeen (U17) Boys, having placed in the top ten at Youth Nationals in 2021, crushed the field, finishing ten seconds ahead of the second place crew.

DUC, the largest rowing team in North Texas with athletes hailing from 26 schools, showed the depth of its crews, taking gold in three additional events: The Boys Under Sixteen (U16) Eight, the Girls Under Fifteen (U15) Coxed-quad and the Boys U17 Eight for a momentous fifty-one individual gold medals. DUC earned silver medals in the Boys Second Varsity Eight, Girls U17 Eight, Boys U15 Coxed-quadruple and Girls U17 Four, adding twenty-eight individual medals to the haul. Add twenty-four Bronze medals for the Boys Novice Eight, Girls Second Varsity Four, and Girls Novice Eight, and DUC’s individual medal count astounds at one hundred three.

“We are very proud of the eleven crews that qualified for the National Championships next month” reflects DUC Program Director and Head Coach, Steve Perry. “This weekend produced the best DUC results in our twenty-year history. I am so proud of our rowers, and I want to thank their parents and our partners at the City of Dallas for their dedication to these amazing kids and  the sport of Rowing.

Would you like to try rowing? Dallas United Crew offers Beginner Summer Camps. This fun, four-day camp teaches boys and girls in grades 6-12 the fundamentals of rowing. And, those who love it can keep rowing with DUC's Intermediate Rowing Camp so that they are ready for High School or Advanced Middle School Rowing in the Fall.

On March 26^th and 27^th, HP Crew, rowing with Dallas United Crew, traveled to sunny San Diego, California  to race top West Coast crews. After a two-year hiatus, the San Diego Crew Classic returned to Mission Bay as ninety-nine juniors, collegiate and masters clubs raced at this, the traditional start of USRowing’s sprint season. From floating starting docks near Sea World, crews sprinted 2,000 meters north, to Crown Point Park where crowds cheered from sandy beaches strewn with festival tents and palm trees.

DUC showed the strength and depth of its program with more than sixty-three athletes competing and top ten finishes in three powerhouse events, including the Women’s Varsity Eight, the Men’s Under 17 Eight, and the Men’s Junior Varsity Eight. 

Seniors Ellie Rodriguez and Aby Fowler, recruited to the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University, respectively, led DUC’s Varsity Women. In Heat 1 of the Gilman-Mulliken Cup, DUC’s crew edged out regional rival Texas Rowing Center to take fourth place, just three tenths of a second off Long Beach Junior Crew in third. In the second Final, the DUC women poured on the power to take third, with an overall ranking of ninth. 

Competing for the Shimano Rowing Dynamics Cup, DUC’s U17 Men took first in the second final with a blistering ten-second lead over their closest competitor, finishing seventh overall. 

In the heats for the Men’s Junior Varsity (JV) event, the Jean Jessop Hervey Cup, DUC’s crew walked from behind to challenge Sammamish Rowing for third within 250 meters of the finish. Then, a misplaced blade in choppy water decimated the rhythm of the crew, landing DUC in fifth place. Showing their resilience and cohesion, the DUC JV men raced a razor-straight line through crosswinds and tidal flows to take third place in the second final and tenth overall.

DUC’s Varsity Men, racing in the San Diego Rowing Cup event, took fourth in their heat to earn a place in the second final. While Orlando Area Rowing Society (OARS) emerged as the clear leader, the competition was neck and neck among the other crews. Ultimately, DUC’s men missed placing in the top four in the heat, and top ten overall, by 1 second as they were edged out by Capital Crew.

"I was very proud of the teamwork and genuine camaraderie our crews are showing. Each boat fought very hard in their racing and demonstrated some very impressive poise," reflects Girls Head Coach, Amanda Perry.

With over one hundred athletes from more than 40 secondary schools, Dallas United Crew is the vanguard of competitive youth rowing in Dallas. DUC serves youth rowers ages 11 to 18. DUC invites those who would like to try rowing to DUC’s Summer Camps, which are open for registration. In these four-day camps, teens will have a chance to get hands-on with a boat, learn about equipment, the basics of the stroke, and why “there is nothing like the start of an eight.” Learn more at DallasUnitedCrew.org.

This past weekend, Dallas United Crew (DUC) concluded a successful American Youth Cup Series 1 (AYC1) Regatta at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, FL. The venue will once again host USRowing’s Youth National Championship, and the AYC1 offers crews familiarity with the course and a chance to face top-ranked teams.

AYC1 was DUC’s first regatta of 2022. Thirty-three clubs participated with over four hundred fifty entries. Top-ten crews from the  2021 USRowing Youth National Championships, including Greenwich Crew and St. Joseph Preparatory School of Philadelphia, PA (gold medalists in the Girls and Boys Varsity Eights, respectively), Sarasota Crew and Chicago Rowing Foundation set the standard for speed. Of the sixteen boats DUC entered, five crews finished amongst the top six boats in their event, and ten of DUC’s entries placed in the top ten.

"We now have a much better sense of where we are, and where we want to be,” reflects Girls Head Coach Amanda Perry. “Watching our crews, I could see nerves and jitters prior to the first race work out as the racing progressed, and their confidence grew. The Girls Varsity 8 was able to find a gel moment, and they learned the value of keeping their focus inside the shell with rhythm, rate, and ratio. The Girls Second Varsity 8, made of both under-seventeen (U17) and under-nineteen (U19) rowers from opposite practice times, was able to come together nicely and bring a lot of positive energy to the race, which definitely elevated the entire squad.”

Head Coach Steve Perry added "Overall, I was pleased with all of our DUC athletes. Everyone raced multiple times and demonstrated better results with each successive outing. I wanted to especially note our Boys and Girls U17 Eights who finished third and fourth, respectively, giving us our best results on the weekend."

DUC's next event will be the Heart of Texas Regatta in Austin, TX, on Sunday, February 27th. Selected under-fifteen (U15) and under-sixteen (U16) athletes will race in the Boys and Girls Novice Eights. The U17 and U19 crews will focus on the OKC Riversport Invitational on March 19th and San Diego Crew Classic March 25th through 27th .

Founded on the East and West Coasts, rowing is growing at 27% nationally and DUC is rowing’s vanguard in Dallas. For those wishing to try the sport, DUC’s popular Middle School Team is now registering for the spring season. High-schoolers and middle-schoolers are also invited to register for DUC’s just-opened and highly anticipated Learn-to-Row Youth Summer Camps. Space is limited, so register early.

With over 160 athletes from over 50 schools, Dallas United Crew is North Texas’s largest youth rowing program. The keys to their success are expert coaching, a strong team culture, and proven training. The results -– 22 USRowing Regional Titles and 61 collegiate varsity recruits -– are indisputable.