After a long and challenging winter season full of rigorous workouts, the JR crew teams take training to Jacksonville, Florida! Join us on this recap of the one-week trip over February break intended to celebrate the hard work and bring more intense workouts on the Florida waters.

Our journey begins Saturday at 8:00 pm. More than 100 rowers gather in front of Jackson-Reed, eager to feel the Florida sun on their skin, especially after the 12-hour bus ride. After conversing for hours, mini pit stops for gas and bathroom trips, and eventually nodding off and falling asleep, we arrived at The Bolles School (our host school). All squads unloaded equipment from the trailer and rigged the boats. 

A quick rundown on our week: varsity and novice squads have three practices a day, two in the morning and one in the afternoon. Bolles has fantastic resources on land like RP3s (moving ergs), bergs (bike ergs), and normal ergs with an amazing view- which all JR athletes took advantage of! Two buses will take us to and from the hotel, Bolles, and other fun locations.

Bolles is a beautiful private school on the coast of the St. Johns river. Bolles has been our gracious host school for three years, 2020-2023. The school has a long list of very successful alumni, with the majority being Olympic medal swimmers or NFL players. 

Monday: The ring of rower alarms echoes around each hotel room, kicking a start to the day. 6:30 a.m.- Everyone is in rowing attire with sunscreen in one hand and sunglasses in the other, loading the bus. After a 10-minute bus ride to Bolles, the athletes did their usual warm-ups and prepared for the row. As the sun rose and the weather was a perfect chilly Florida temperature, the varsity girls found themselves rowing next to dolphins! Weeks before this trip, everyone fantasized about laying out on the dock with music playing. That fantasy became a reality. After practice everyone ended up on the dock munching on Belvita bars and clementines, taking in as much sun as possible. After a quick break, the rowers and coxswains were ready for their second practice of the day. The wind had begun to pick up, but that did not stop anyone. As the wind picked up, the boats that launched shortly returned to land with rowers soaked from the small waves. After the second practice, everyone headed back to the hotel for some downtime. This was when the coaches decided it would be best to limit the number of boats on the water due to the weather. 

Tuesday: Three boats launched, those that stayed on land to complete a gruesome 20k workout on the ergs. An hour after the varsity girls launched, the novice boys who also headed out were quickly redirected back after realizing the wind was too intense and seeing one of the novice girls’ boats slowly filling up with water. The girls in that boat jumped out to prevent it from sinking. They were too far out from Bolles, so they had to pull onto a random dock to avoid losing the boat. Back at Bolles, everyone got hands on the boats that were able to dock, using Nalgene water bottles, crocs, water pumps, or anything to try and scoop water out of the boat. After everyone was safely on land and warmed up, it was time for a break from all the hard work. Zoo time! The team visited the Jacksonville Zoo, and everyone got a tour and the opportunity to roam around! After some time at the zoo, everyone headed back to the boathouse. For their final practice of the day, the varsity girls did a fun circuit and team bonding activities with the Bolles crew team. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was time to head back to the hotel to rest.

Wednesday: It was the moment everyone had been waiting for… Beach Day! After lunch, all squads returned to the hotel to prepare for the beach. Fast-forward to our arrival at Neptune beach; the sun was hidden, and fog hovered over the water. While some dove into the water, others grabbed something to eat- waiting for the sun to arrive. The boys’ squad headed out early for their final practice of the day back at the boathouse. After a mixture of tanning and jumping in the water, the girls headed back to the hotel, with the boys eventually following. The athletes and coaches once again ended the day with a delicious meal and hit the beds.

Thursday: The half-sun burnt team loaded the buses, still keen to hit the morning waters. With the Florida heat beating down on everyone, the rowers and coxswains concluded the morning by jumping into the cool water! After about half an hour of water wrestling, coxswain tossing (yes, they are all safe), and swimming contests, it was finally time to switch gears. Top golf time! This was when hidden talents were revealed, inner dads released, and everyone was able to wind down with food and beverages. Two hours passed, and the athletes returned to the boathouse for the day’s final practice. After some quick sprints on land and water, the athletes’ energy levels were drained, and everyone was ready to return to the hotel.

Friday: These are the last couple of practices for the week. This was when all squads had a joint practice with Bolles rowing team. After long tiring practices on the water, everyone headed to the Bolles dining hall to have a memorable last dinner in each other’s company. After returning to the hotel, everyone was greeted by the enthusiastic chaperones who had put together an ice cream bar as a mini celebration of the last night in Florida. The night ended with everyone packing their bags, ready to leave the next day.

Saturday: Final day in Florida. The walk to the boathouse was mixed with different feelings; happiness for those homesick and exhausted, but also immense sadness that our week was ending. Then it was time for the scrimmage against the Bolles team that everyone had been preparing for. The boats raced, and after a couple of sprints, our rowing time on the Florida waters came to an end. It was finally time to de-rig the boats and load them on the trailer, so the rowers could head back to DC. The last two hours at the Bolles school were spent talking about the week and trying to get the most out of the Florida sun before we left for snowy DC weather. The 12-hour bus ride that began at noon and was expected to end around midnight quickly turned into a 16-hour event because of static traffic and stops on the way. The time on the bus was spent sleeping, watching the new season of Outer Banks, and exchanging Florida photos. After long, slow hours on the bus, we finally arrived in DC at four a.m. Parents and the winter weather greeted us as athletes unloaded the bus with achy backs from the ride. The Florida trip was exhausting, but the perfect team bonding/strengthening that was needed to prepare for the intense spring season ahead!