Are you a competitive individual who has ever dreamed of being a varsity athlete? Or used to be an athlete in high school and want to continue your involvement in sports? Or if you’re just someone who wants to challenge themselves this year, physically and mentally, with a great group of teammates while getting in the best shape of your life, then come try out for the McMaster Rowing team!


Every year at the start of September, the rowing team hosts try-outs for potential novice rowers. The novice program allows for students with no rowing experience to try out for the team, where they will then be developed technically and physically to the varsity/junior varsity level for the next year. And of course you’ll be rowing against all the novice crews from other universities, as well as getting the chance to race for a bit of glory at OUAs at the end of the season. Much of our team started as novice rowers, and some of our returning varsity athletes, who started in the same position you’re in now, are even hoping to make the national teams this coming year.


The first day of try-outs will be on the Friday of Welcome Week (Sept 5th) in the gyms at DBAC, followed by the second round of try-outs at the Leander Boat Club on the Sat/Sun. To sign up for the try-outs, find us at Clubsfest during Welcome Week, which is also where you can get all the details and more information about the exact times and locations. Alternatively, you can email [email protected] a to sign up if you can’t make it to Clubsfest.


Rowing will give you the chance to make a great, close group of friends who become your second family here at Mac, and it’s also a great way of keeping on track to having a solid routine that involves balancing your fitness and training with a successful academic career. As someone who didn’t try out for the team until their second year, joining the team will truly and profoundly transform your university experience. So sign up and give it a shot, you have nothing to lose, and guaranteed you won’t regret it!


I look forward to seeing you at the try-outs!


Erik Bertram,
Rowing Recruitment Officer and former novice


(Also, anyone with competitive rowing experience who’s considered rowing in university, contact us at the email above, and we will likely invite you to the Varsity try-outs/training camp that occurs at the end of this summer.)

If we join the rowing team, will a membership to the pulse be included in the costs (so the team could train) or will I have to get a membership to the pulse separately?

You'd still have to buy your own membership. However, all of the on-water training is done at the Leander Boat Club, which has a large number of ergs (rowing machines) and a full weight room, where we do all of our winter dry-land training, and you'd have access to this equipment throughout the year. A lot of the team do still buy a Pulse membership though just for the convenience of getting in workouts when you might be pressed for time to make it to the club, which itself is usually enough of a reason to get a membership.

Are there any specifications we have to meet? I just hope my frenshman-15 doesn't get in the way.

There aren't any set standards that you have to hit before being considered, it very much depends on the performance of the group that tries out this year, and how your results compare to everyone else. Some years we have a very large and competitive turnout, and other years it's the opposite, but either way we always have people of every fitness level coming to try-out. Even if you don't think you're at the fitness level you'd like to be at, you should still come out, it's a good time regardless, and then you can figure out what you need to work on to crush the try-outs next year if you don't make it. And who knows, you may very well surprise yourself, but you'll never know if you don't try!

Does the novice team require any coxies? If so, what is the tryout procedure for that? I'm quite small, so my friends at high school asked me to join rowing but I couldn't convince my parents

Yes we're definitely looking for coxies as well! The procedure's a little different than trying out as a rower, cause you won't really get a chance to try it and see how you do until we actually go out on the water. Let us know at Clubsfest that you'd like to be one, and we'll give you all the info you need to try it.

Why does Mac Rowing seem to be recruiting so hard every fall? It's like they're starved for real athletes so they have to go for the kid who never made any high school teams lol.

Originally Posted by Puddle77

Why does Mac Rowing seem to be recruiting so hard every fall? It's like they're starved for real athletes so they have to go for the kid who never made any high school teams lol.

I'm seriously convinced they are a cult.

We get almost all of our future varsity rowers through our novice program, that’s how most rowing teams in university work, because since many high schools don’t have rowing teams, it limits the number of athletes we get coming into first year with rowing experience. Most of the novice recruits aren’t entering university with the plan of being a varsity athlete, so it does take quite a bit of convincing to get them to suddenly consider the thought of training six times a week, early in the morning and making the sacrifices that are expected of varsity athletes. And they don’t have to be in top physical shape to start, as those who have a competitive spirit and the drive to push themselves will very quickly excel physically over the ones who are initially in better shape but don’t have that same commitment. So ya, we recruit pretty aggressively, because we don’t want to miss the great potential in someone just because rowing never crossed their mind as something they thought they could do.