Welcome to Portage Lakes Rowing
The Portage Lakes Rowing Association (PLRA) is the only organized sweep rowing club in the Akron / Canton vicinity. Founded in 2005, PLRA has consistently grown over our five seasons of rowing, and we had 67 members as of our Fall program in 2009. The club has a fleet of five 8's and four 4's used for sweep rowing, and one sculling double. We have several members who have singles for personal sculling and we've been looking to expand our sculling offerings.
We offer an amateur athletic program for competitive rowers, and our season starts in mid-April and runs through mid-November. Practices are held three days a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays during the season. Members meeting certain experience requirements can train seven days a week on the water.
We also aim to attract new people to the sport by hosting Learn to Row classes in both May and August to encourage, develop, instruct and train new rowers in the sport. These educational programs teach the technique and skills of rowing to people of all levels.
During the winter off-season we have indoor training on Tuesday, Thursdays and Sunday, and offer a rowing yoga class on Saturdays. Members can also erg on alternate days when group sessions are not scheduled.
Experienced rowers are welcome to join our club at any time. If you are a rower visiting Akron and want to row with us, just fill out the form on the Contact Us page.
PLRA is an exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code effective August 14, 2009. Contributions to PLRA are deductible under section 170 of the Code. Our letter of determination from the IRS is available on the documents page on this site.
2010 Learn to Row Enrollment is Now Open
Enrollment is open for our Learn to Row Classes on July 31-August 1 and August 2-3. Space in those classes is limited to 36 participants. Our classes in May filled up nearly one month in advance, so if you are interested, please send in you application as soon as possible. We keep the classes small to allow for good focus on each individual rower and to keep the program manageable for our coaches and volunteers. After these classes the next opportunity to join will be in May 2011.
Anyone with rowing experience is welcome to join at any time. Give us a call at (330) 333-2ROW.
After the LTR class, participants may join the Novice Sweep Program with regularly scheduled practices on Tuesday evening and Sunday morning. Novices can attend one or both practices each week. This is a 12-week program with the LTR class being the first week.
Please visit our Learn to Row page for more details and to get an application. If you are interested in being kept informed of future opportunities, please complete the form on our Contact Us page so we can keep you informed about happenings in the club.