Guest Rowers & Visiting Crews

 

Guest Rower Policy

Austin Rowing Club welcomes guest rowers to join us on beautiful Lady Bird Lake! Rowing in Austin is a fun way to stay fit while traveling or add a new memory to your vacation. Guest rowers are defined as follows:

  • Member in good standing of a rowing club located outside of a 50-mile radius of the Austin area
  • Rower must have active USR membership
  • Rower must be Safe Sport Compliant
  • Guest needs to sign ARC waiver

Guests who wish to sweep row with a crew may do so as long as seats are available. There is a nonrefundable fee of $25, and we cannot confirm or guarantee that there will be an available crew.  Scullers must row during sculling clinics or specific coached session times.  There is a fee of $75 for up to 3 rows, and there is no discount for only rowing once or twice. Guest scullers are not permitted to row a single or bow a double or quad outside of a coached session.

Guests should email rowing@austinrowing.org  to schedule their visit.

If a rower does not fit the Guest Rower definition, they can schedule a private sculling lesson by emailing rowing@austinrowing.org.

For rowers who want to erg only, they can pay for a one-month fitness membership for $65 (plus a refundable $25 fob deposit). To sign up, email rowing@austinrowing.org.

 

Visiting Crews

Austin Rowing Club has hosted junior, collegiate, and masters visiting crews for over twenty years.  If your team is looking for a high quality rowing venue with year-round water access, look no further than Austin Rowing Club. ARC can provide your crew with a fun, safe rowing experience in preparation for a successful spring season. With miles of peaceful, motor-boat free waterways, several hotels and restaurants within walking distance of the club, and a warm-weather climate, it’s no wonder Rowing News Magazine voted Austin one of the top-10 places to row in America.

Facilities

Austin Rowing Club operates from Waller Creek Boathouse.  For crews bringing their own shells, we offer two different boat staging areas, shown on the boathouse facilities map. Downstairs at the boathouse our five boat bays host Austin Rowing Club’s fleet of well maintained club boats, numerous private boats, and our sport partners offering canoe, kayak, stand-up-paddle rentals.  Upstairs we offer a cafe, locker rooms, showers and an erg room with 20 Concept2 ergs. TV and DVD player are available for video review and there is ample space for team stretching and meetings. 

Climate and Water Conditions

Austin’s Lady Bird Lake offers a round trip of about 18 kilometers of protected water between Longhorn Dam and Redbud Island. Look online for maps of the waterway, including traffic pattern information.  Our mild winter and spring climate affords rowers year-round rowing opportunities.

Visiting Crew Seasonal Availability

Austin Rowing Club can host visiting crews from December through April. Due to high demand for ARC facilities and equipment, we can only schedule two simultaneous visiting crews at any one time. Most crews schedule their visits 6-months to 1-year in advance.  Our location, water, equipment, and facilities are the best in Texas and the southern US, and they are in high demand.  Email us at info@austinrowing.org to reserve a spot

When using Austin Rowing Club facilities, launches, or shells, visiting crew practice times are limited to following hours:

Weekdays:  8:00 am to 4:30 pm

Weekends: 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm

These hours allow ARC to continue its own programming while still affording visiting crews regular practice opportunities.  Outside of these hours there is no guarantee of facility, launch or shell availability, but exceptions are possible.  We encourage crews to schedule land workouts during the unavailable weekend hours.

Please note: coaching launch rental may only be done in conjunction with crews who either stage their own equipment at our facility, or rent rowing equipment from ARC. We no longer rent coaching launches to crews who stage equipment at locations other than Austin Rowing Club.

Visiting Crew Procedures

Email us early to reserve a spot. After contacting us, fill out our form and send it in. Reservations are not complete until a 50% deposit of your invoice is received.  Deposits are applied towards your total invoice amount and are only refundable if we receive written notification of your cancelation no later than 60 days prior to your arrival.  A 25% refund of your total invoice amount will be given if we receive written notification of your cancellation no later than 30 days prior to your arrival.