On one Saturday afternoon, while many Winchester Thurston students were doing their homework, people on the rowing team were at the Pittsburgh Indoor Sprints regatta racing against rowers from all over the region. The teams that raced in the Pittsburgh Indoor Sprints include Steel City Rowing Club, Allderdice, Three Rivers, North Catholic, Mount Lebanon, Central Catholic, Pine Richland, and North Allegheny.
The Pittsburgh Indoor Sprints happens every year and is the first race for many in the new year. Rowers race on the Concept 2 rowing machines which are referred to as “Ergs.” During the winter season, when the river freezes, rowers train on the rowing machines to build fitness and strength, and eventually, they test their abilities by rowing 2000 meters as fast as possible.
Typically, rowing races are held outdoors and are held on a 2000-meter (1.2 miles) straight course for spring racing and on courses over 5000 meters (3.1 miles) for fall racing. For indoor races, the rowing machines are all lined up and wired to racing software where the speeds of the rowers are displayed in real time.
The event took place in the downtown convention center on February 1st, 2025, and has been happening annually for over 30 years. This year, USRowing (the governing body of rowing in the United States) made the Pittsburgh Indoor Sprints a qualifying site for the national leaderboard. Cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Tacoma, all were sites for the national leaderboard, which means that all of the times from all of the venues get compiled on the leaderboard and a national champion is crowned.
This year, Winchester Thurston athletes had a good showing at the Pittsburgh indoor sprints with many Upper School and Middle School athletes participating.
Overall, the event was a great chance for athletes to compete at a high level of rowing and show the results of their winter training. Next, the Winchester Thurston rowing team is gearing up for the North Allegheny “Erg in the Burgh,” which takes place on February 22nd. This will be the second and final indoor rowing competition before the on-water racing season starts.
