FoGR
Friends of Guilford Rowing
Friends of Guilford Rowing (FOGR) is the fundraising arm of the registered 501(c)(3). Join Us! FOGR has meetings the second Monday of each month at the Guilford Community Center at 7:00 pm. Please join our group and help us make a great experience for all the members of the team.
Executive Committee
Jo Ann Russell
Laurie Hawkes
Deborah Spalding
Mary Amter
Peter Spinella
Brooke Sheldon
In 2005, William Thompson founded the Guilford High School Crew team with just 22 rowers and served as its Head Coach until 2015. Since its inception, the participation level on the Guilford Crew Team has been consistently growing with approximately 80 to 90 rowers per year.
About the sport
Crew is truly a team sport where students have to work together to achieve a common goal. There are no individual stars in crew, it is a team event. One of the greatest aspects of this sport is that it is a group effort and every person has to contribute equally.
A normal on the water training session consists of stretching/boat meeting; technique drills; high intensity and low-intensity rowing; and a stretching cool down/boat meeting. The coaches spend quite a lot of time teaching rowers the proper techniques of rowing. Including the stroke; catch; drive; finish; and recovery. Every movement a rower makes in the boat can change the boat, so each rower works hard to perfect their technique.
The rowers work extremely hard off the water to stay in top condition for competition. Rowers work on their cardiovascular endurance, core strength, and upper and lower body muscular strength and endurance throughout the fall and winter to prepare for the competitive spring season. Rowing requires the entire body to perform at its highest level. So rowers must continually work to improve all parts of their body. Many rowers work out on rowing machines called “ergs” to improve their technique and strength. In addition, they also do weight lifting to improve their muscular strength and endurance.