Get Into Rowing Day One: What Actually Happens at an Aussie Club

Kit for the morning (and what to leave at home)

The single rule: tight clothes. Anything loose catches. The ergo has a moving handle and a sliding seat. The boat has a metal rigger sticking out 30cm either side of where you sit. Both will grab a baggy t-shirt and either rip it or pull you sideways at the worst moment.

• Bike shorts, running tights or close-fit leggings.
• A fitted singlet or tee. Base layer if you are rowing in Hobart, Canberra or mid-winter Melbourne.
• Light zip-up for the walk down and the cool-down afterwards.
• Runners for getting from the carpark to the pontoon. The boat already has shoes bolted into the footplate.
• Reusable water bottle. The boatshed does not have a kiosk.
• Small towel. You will get splashed and on a saltwater club you will get sticky.
• Hat and sunnies if you are rowing in any state north of Melbourne in season.
• Reef-safe sunscreen. Aussie UV does not care that it is six in the morning.

Leave behind: anything with a hood (catches on the rigger), loose jewellery, a watch you mind soaking, and a phone in a pocket. Most clubs have a shelf or a locker in the shed. If you are rowing on saltwater (Sydney Harbour, the Swan, the Brisbane River, Pittwater, the Gold Coast Broadwater) pack a second top because the spray and the wash off the launch make you wetter than freshwater rowing.

The shape of session one

A first session breaks into three parts: ergo work in the shed, pontoon basics at the water, a short paddle in a stable boat if conditions allow. Some clubs hold the on-water bit back for session two. Either way the sequence is the same: easiest movement first, water last.

1. Ergo work in the shed

The first half hour or so happens on a Concept2 - the ergometer, called the "ergo" anywhere a rowing club has a sign on the door in Australia. The coach demonstrates the stroke, walks you through it slowly, then strings the parts together. Four phases: catch (knees bent, arms straight, ready to start), drive (legs push first, then back swings open, then arms pull through), finish (handle drawn into the lower ribs), recovery (arms away first, body follows, knees come up last). It feels stiff because it is. The point of starting indoors is to drill the sequence before water adds the complication of balancing on a moving platform.

2. Pontoon basics at the water

Down at the pontoon the coach walks you through lifting a boat off the rack, carrying it to the water and placing it in - or does most of it for you on day one. You will be shown how to step into a boat without putting your foot through the hull (only the small footplate area takes weight), how to do the shoes up, how to sit, how to push off. Reads slowly written down. Takes about three minutes once you are doing it.

3. A short paddle in a stable boat

If you get on the water on day one, it will be in a wide stable boat - usually a tub pair (two-person sculling boat with deliberately wide hulls) or a quad scull with a coxswain steering. Nothing like the racing shells you see at the Head of the Yarra. These are training hulls designed not to flip. The cox calls commands like "easy oar" (stop rowing) and "hold her up" (drag the blade flat to brake), you paddle a few hundred metres, turn around, paddle back. First outings usually clock less than a kilometre at minimum pressure.

Fears every Aussie beginner walks in with

These four worries come up in every conversation I have ever had with somebody about to start. The reality of each:

Fear: I will end up in the water.

Reality: on day one almost nobody does because the boats are stability-rigged for beginners. Across the four to six week block, around one in three rowers takes one swim. It happens in calm water near the pontoon, in warm-enough conditions, with the coach 10 metres away in a tinny. You climb out, get a towel, finish the session or call it. Clubs on cold water (Yarra in July, Derwent year-round, alpine lakes) work to Royal Life Saving Australia cold-water guidance and simply do not run beginners when the water is unsafe.

Fear: the experienced rowers will judge me.

Reality: the experienced squad members are running their own session, in their own boat, and the only attention you get is somebody smiling at you in the shed because you survived the first row. The other beginners are too busy trying not to crab their own oars to notice anyone else.

Fear: I am not fit enough.

Reality: Get Into Rowing sessions are deliberately not fitness sessions. The work is slow and technical. Most beginners are surprised by how little aerobic load there is in the first few outings. Real fitness comes later, after technique can carry intensity. Masters rowers who have not exercised in a decade complete Get Into Rowing blocks every spring (October-November) and autumn (March-April).

Fear: I will not follow the jargon.

Reality: every coach decodes the jargon as it comes up, and there is not much of it. By week two you will know catch, drive, finish, recovery, feathering and easy oar. That covers most of it. Anything else, you just ask.

How a Get Into Rowing block runs across four to six weeks

The Rowing Australia Get Into Rowing template is the common shape, with state-body variations from Rowing Victoria, Rowing NSW, Rowing Queensland, Rowing WA, Rowing SA and Rowing Tasmania each tweaking the structure for local conditions. Most clubs run something close to this rhythm, sometimes compressed into four weeks, sometimes stretched to eight.

• Week 1: Ergo session learning the stroke. Pontoon-side boat handling. Possibly a very short paddle in a stable boat if water and weather cooperate. Lots of talking through technique. You leave with one new skill (sliding back and forth on the seat without falling off the side).
• Week 2: Less time on the ergo, more time on the water. You row for real in a wide stable boat with a couple of other beginners and a coach following in a tinny. Start, stop, steer (or follow a cox who steers for you).
• Week 3: Longer outings, less hand-holding. The session is now mostly water. You may move from a tub pair into a slightly narrower double or quad scull. Spinning the boat round, pausing at the catch, rowing in time with the others - all starting to click.
• Week 4: Either the last session (in a four-week block) or the point where the sessions start to get more interesting - longer paddles, light pressure work, an introduction to the buildings and rhythms of the club. By now you know whether you want to continue.
• Weeks 5-6: On longer blocks this is where you might do a first lap of a proper stretch of water (the full Henley Reach in Melbourne, a Mosman to Cremorne loop on Sydney Harbour, an upstream-and-back on the Brisbane River), try a different boat class, or meet the regular squad. By the end you can take a stable boat out with another beginner, complete a simple session, and return safely without direct supervision in good conditions.

At the end of the block most clubs roll you into a novice membership for the rest of the season, often at a reduced rate, which slots you into a regular training pattern alongside other recent graduates. The Australian club season runs roughly October through to April in the southern states, with regattas peaking in March (state championships) and around Easter (Australian Rowing Championships).

What the squad pathway looks like afterwards

When the block wraps you move into the club novice squad. This is a separate group of recent graduates training together two or three sessions a week with continued coaching, building the basics into something durable. Most clubs run a novice squad for six to twelve months before folding you into the main intermediate or senior squad.

Pathway from there in Aussie rowing runs novice (six to twelve months) into intermediate (one to two seasons) into senior squad or masters squad. "Senior" in Australian rowing refers to the open-age competitive bracket. Masters starts at 27 and runs in five-year age bands all the way to 80-plus. Some of the strongest crews you see at the Head of the Yarra are sitting in the J or K masters categories - rowers in their 60s and 70s racing seriously and well.

Indefinite novice membership is also a valid path. Not everybody wants to race. Plenty of club members row purely for the fitness and the time out on the water, never enter a regatta, have a great time. Rowing marketing tends to be competition-focused, but the reality at a typical Aussie club is broader than that.

Gear the club already owns

The common worry is the kit cost. For Get Into Rowing and most of your first season, the club provides everything that matters. You do not need to buy:

• A boat. Club boats are shared - you sign one out for each session.
• Oars. There are racks of them in the shed.
• Rowing shoes. They live bolted into the boat - they stay with the hull.
• A cox box (the small amplifier for the cox). The cox squad shares one.
• A heart rate monitor or GPS watch. Useful eventually, never needed for Get Into Rowing.
• A zootsuit or unisuit (the one-piece lycra you see at regattas). Workout clothes are fine.
• A PFD. The club issues one if local conditions or your class require it.

The only spend that is actually worth it in year one is a pair of close-fit bike shorts or leggings you do not mind getting wet, a couple of base layers for cold morning sessions (in Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart they bite), and eventually a club zootsuit if you want one. Most clubs sell branded kit at cost.

What it costs in AUD

Get Into Rowing fees vary by club and state but typically land in the AUD 150 to 350 range for the full four to six week block. That usually wraps equipment, coaching and a temporary membership for the duration. Sydney Harbour and Yarra-side clubs sit at the higher end. Regional clubs (Geelong, Ballarat, Newcastle, the Hunter, Murray Bridge) often run closer to cost.

After the block, full adult club membership sits AUD 400 to 1,200 a year, paid annually or in instalments. The spread is wide because Aussie clubs differ enormously in facility, location and what is bundled. A regional club with a basic shed and a small fleet might charge $400. A prime-position Sydney Harbour or Yarra club with a clubhouse and a fleet of new Sykes hulls might charge $1,200 plus. Junior, student and masters rates vary - some clubs run significant discounts for over-60s.

On top of membership, expect a small boat rack fee or shed levy ($50-150 a year) and regatta entry fees ($30-150 per event if you choose to race). Total year-one outlay for somebody who does Get Into Rowing then joins the club typically lands AUD 600 to 1,500 all in.

Finding a programme near you

Three places to look for an Aussie Get Into Rowing block. Start with the Row HQ rowing clubs directory for clubs in your area, then cross-check the state association directory and the club's own website to confirm current dates.

• Row HQ rowing clubs directory - state and city listings with notes on which clubs run juniors, masters, Get Into Rowing and adaptive programmes.
• State association club finders - Rowing Victoria, Rowing NSW, Rowing Queensland, Rowing WA, Rowing SA, Rowing Tasmania, Rowing ACT and Rowing NT all maintain searchable lists. State-body directories tend to be more current than the national one because state bodies handle the affiliation paperwork.
• The club website and socials - Get Into Rowing programmes typically run spring (October-November) and autumn (March-April) aligned with the Aussie season. The "Get Involved" or "New Members" page on the club site lists the current intake dates and the sign-up link.

Most clubs will let you stop in for a look before signing up. Email or DM them to say you are thinking about Get Into Rowing and ask whether you can pop down on a Saturday morning to walk through the shed. The answer is almost always yes. For the strategic picture of joining a club for the first time, see the how to start rowing guide.

Common questions