The crew team looks to continue success despite losing many rowers to graduation.

The first regatta is the Head of Anacostia race, which will take place Sept. 29 on the Anacostia River.

“We practice on the water three times a week for two to three hours, and we have land practice once a week,” junior captain Julia Taladay said. “The land practices consist of mostly fitness training and using the rowing machines, called ergs.”

Although much of last year’s team was made up of seniors, many of the rowers have done extra practicing in the off-season in order to ensure another great season.

“Many of our rowers did programs with universities and Boathouse rowing programs,” junior Dominic Singer said. “We even had two rowers go to U.S. Nationals.”

Because crew is a team effort, team chemistry is key to a successful crew squad.

According to Taladay, the multiple practices are “good team bonding time,” and despite the loss of 13 seniors, “there is still a lot of enthusiasm for the program.”

The upcoming fall season is Headrace season, which means that the team races in a 5 kilometer. These regattas are rowed by fours and eights sweeps; each rower has one oar and there are four oars on each side.

According to Singer, the 5k regattas are around 20 minutes long and are more focused on endurance as opposed to strength.

“Hopefully we’ll do really well,” Taladay said. “The girls qualified for youth nationals last year, and if we work hard enough, I think we can meet that goal for this year too.”