2014 is the first year of the Iowa Indoor Rowing Competition!

However, rowing has been around in Iowa City and Iowa in general for a while.  While this seems weird to people from the coasts, Midwesterners know that many cities in Iowa were founded on rivers, so rowing here is not such a strange concept.  There are rowing groups in Iowa in Des Moines, Waterloo, the Quad Cities, Ames, and of course, Iowa City.

In Iowa City, many amazing female athletes compete with the Women's Rowing program at The University of Iowa (http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/w-rowing/iowa-w-rowing-body.html).  UI also a competitive Men's Rowing Club (https://recserv.uiowa.edu/Apps/Programs/SportsClubs.aspx).

Iowa City got its first rowing club for community adults and juniors in 1996 when the Old Capitol Rowing Club was founded.  Around 2010, the Old Capitol Club morphed into Hawkeye Community Rowing (https://recserv.uiowa.edu/Apps/Programs/Rowing.aspx), the sponsor of this erg race.  At that time, a closer partnership was formed with a long-time supporter--The University of Iowa's Recreational Services Program, which is part of the UI's Division of Student Life.  The City of Iowa City thankfully has also partnered with us on some exciting new ventures!