While an athletic background is certainly helpful, no previous rowing experience is necessary to try out.. In fact, our most successful athletes excelled in other sports like swimming, soccer, water polo, volleyball, lacrosse, and cross country in high school. Additionally, there are members of the team who were not involved in athletics before college.

While it can be an advantage to be tall in rowing, good competitive athletes come in all shapes and sizes. We certainly recruit for taller athletes but a love of competition is required to row at UCSB and smaller athletes should not be discouraged from trying out.

It is not necessary to do any special training or rowing before trying out for the team. All the novice athletes will be starting out together so just arrive in good health and ready to learn.

Please read the information on this web page regarding eligibility, admissions assistance, and athletic scholarships, (the latter two are not available for rowing at UCSB). Financial support to offset Winter and Spring dues is available through UCSB Rowing’s Webster Mentorship Program (see below for more details).

Plan to attend one of our interest meetings held during the first two weeks of school. Look for advertisements around campus and on the on the front page of the website. If you have any further questions contact one of the coaches.

UCSB Rowing is open to all academically-eligible, full time undergraduate students at UCSB. First year graduate students may be able to compete under the American Collegiate Rowing Association rules. Non-students are not eligible to compete. The best time to join the team is early in the fall quarter of your freshman year, however academically eligible sophomores and upperclassmen may also join in the fall.

Associated Students Lock-In Fee: UCSB Rowing receives some financial support from the UCSB Recreation Department from UCSB Associated Student Lock-In Fees.

Member Participation Fees: Additionally, quarterly participation fees are paid by each team member. As UCSB Rowing is not an intercollegiate sport, no athletic scholarships are available. Financial aid information is available on the UCSB Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship web page at http://www.finaid.ucsb.edu/.

The UCSB Rowing Webster Mentorship Program: Thanks to the generosity of former rower Alec ‘76 and Claudia Webster’75, and the Helen and Will Webster Foundation, team members have a source of funding to help offset the expense of their quarterly dues by mentoring school age children in the Santa Barbara Community. Rowers volunteer in a variety of different settings, including elementary school classrooms, one-on-one tutoring sessions, high school mentor groups, and youth sports programs.

Varsity applications for the Webster Mentorship Program are accepted in September and novice applications in January. For more information about the program contact the Head Coach

Intent to row in college does not merit special consideration from the Admissions Office.

Please note that rowing coaches are unable to:

• Send your application for admission to UCSB. Applications are online.

• Assess your likelihood for admission to UCSB.

• Offer or guarantee your admission to UCSB.

Training for UCSB Rowers is split between an on-campus erg (rowing machine) room in Rob Gym and water practices on Lake Cachuma in the Santa Ynez Valley. (transportation is provided to lLke Cachuma)

The boathouse is home to our racing fleet including twelve Vespoli and Resolute eights, eight Vespoli fours and an armada of small boats and sculls.

The rowing team is made of two squads each for men and women: Novice and Varsity.

Novice athletes are first year rowers while varsity rowers have rowed at least one year in college.

Most practices for novice rowers will be in the mornings and on campus.