Arts & Entertainment
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
by Steve Lyons
The Long Beach Junior Crew, or LBJC, is a rowing club and non-profit organization for high school students in the Long Beach area that has a reputation for producing college athletes and national champions. They are in the middle of their 23rd rowing season and recently qualified to be interscholastic with the Long Beach Unified School District to be a sponsored sports program.
The LBJC has novice and varsity teams for both boys and girls ages 14 to 18. Their season starts in early September and runs through May, and is often extended for kids who qualify for national and world tournaments, which happens quite often at LBJC. Rebecca Felix, 18, knows the season doesn’t typically end in May.
Felix is a member of the LBJC women’s varsity team and plans on rowing at Stanford University next year, whose women’s team finished number one in the nation last year. She won a gold medal as a member of the United States Women’s team at the World Junior Championships in August 2009. Felix had to compete with 19 other girls trying to make the cut into the top eight to represent the U.S. She didn’t know if she was going to make the team until days before the competition.
“It was pretty incredible,” said Felix. “I was one of the last people to make the eight. I had to fight my way in.”
Felix is just one example of the positive impact LBJC can have on its athletes. Students have a chance to compete nationally as the club has won national championships in different events over the last few years. The success in the water typically translates to success in the classroom.
LBJC President Keith Johnson said that each year nine to ten girls get college scholarships, mostly academic. Johnson also said that the majority of kids are enrolled in AP classes in school. The college rate for LBJC alumni in both boys and girls is very high.
Rowing is a sport that teaches kids how to work hard, be disciplined and work as a team. Races are typically 2000 meters long and all the rowers must work in unison to keep their balance and a high speed. Rowers compete in teams of two, four or eight.
The LBJC practices Monday through Saturday rain or shine and work out year round. Teams alternate between practicing outside in the perfectly conditioned Long Beach Marina Stadium or inside at the Pete Archer Rowing Center, or the boathouse as the locals call it, which features 30 rowing machines. The club also offers three camps throughout the year for children ages 12 to 18. The camps give younger kids a chance to get a feel for rowing and see if they want to pursue it. Johnson wants younger kids to wait before they fully commit to rowing.
“We encourage 12 and 13 year olds to cross train in other sports for various reasons such as physical development,” said Johnson.
After working with the LBUSD to become interscholastic for the last few years, the LBJC was successful in getting rowing recognized as a sponsored sport, with surfing being the only other sport previously recognized. High school students involved with the LBJC will now receive physical education credits.
The LBJC held the Beach Sprints at the boathouse on January 24th, which is a major event in the rowing community where kids row on the Concept 2 machines with the hopes of getting to 2000 meters in the fastest time possible. Roughly 150 people from all over southern California were packed inside the boathouse cheering boys and girls on as they rowed their hardest. The event is important to the kids because their times stick with them all year, and a good time can earn them a trip to Boston for the World Indoor Rowing Championship.
For more information on the LBJC visit their Web site www.longbeachjuniorcrew.org.
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