Practice Information

Aug 21, 2025

Practice Times

Arrival time is 4:00 pm. Practice begins at 4:15 pm.
Practice typically ends at 6:30 pm. After Daylight Saving Time, practice will end later. We must clear the park by dark. The coaches will have the rowers off the water by sunset. After storing the boat for the night, they will receive feedback and instructions from their Coach.
If it is raining, there will be practice. Practice is seldom canceled for rain. There is a lightning detection system installed at Sandy Run on the top of Boathouse 3.

What to Bring

A full plastic water bottle to stay hydrated. Glass bottles are prohibited. Metal water bottles are acceptable with a rubber boot or water bottle sock, but they are not preferred. This is to prevent damage to the shells. Your rower will not have access to water unless they bring it themselves until the water fountains are turned on. They will not be turned on until the danger of freezing has passed.
Your rower may want to take a bag with warm, dry gear to put on after practice. There are changing huts near the boathouse.
Some rowers pack a snack to eat while waiting for pickup. After the first week, your rower will have a better idea of what works for them in their bag.

What to Wear

Comfortable, flexible clothing that is worn close to the body. Most rowers will wear spandex shorts and a top, or a “uni” that is a combination of the two. Close-fitting clothing is necessary to prevent your rower’s clothing from getting caught in the slides, which are the sliding rails that the rower’s seat rolls back and forth on.
Sunscreen, sunglasses, and sunhats are all highly encouraged.

Safety & Traffic

The speed limit on VanThompson Road is 25 MPH. Inside the park, the speed limit is 15 MPH.

This is strictly enforced.

!!!!!! Please respect the park, rowers, and the neighbors by slowing down!!!!!!

There will be hundreds of students at Sandy Run for crew practice. Buses and cars will be arriving and departing. It is a very busy place. The park staff are very diligent about safety. Police are often in the area and will issue tickets.

There is a traffic pattern for dropping off rowers. As you enter the gates of the park, look to the left and enter parking lot C. Pull as far forward as possible to allow a full line of cars into the lot. Drop your rowers and follow the circle back out the gate that places you back onto Van Thompson Road outside of the gate.

sandyruntrafficpattern Once you drop off your rower, they will head down to the boathouse area to meet up with the team and receive instructions on what needs to be done to start practice that day.

When you arrive at Sandy Run for pickup, there will be a long line of cars, sometimes stretching from the drop-off point to the entry sign. If possible, pull into Lot D (large gravel lot to the right after gates). If your rower has a cell phone, they may call you to determine your location. It helps if all rowers in a carpool stick together when leaving the boathouse to ensure efficient loading and departure. This is important as we must clear the park by dark.

Getting boats in and out of the water takes practice. Remember, these boats are 60 feet long, heavy, and EXPENSIVE. Novices have so much to learn to handle the boats properly, even before they are on the water. Some days, the wait for pickup is longer than on other days. Please be patient. The coaches are very experienced and plan for certain end times, but the reality is that safety issues arise and must be dealt with, and this may result in delays

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