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Clothing for Rowing

hdradultclothing
Orders for clothing are accepted only twice a year, during the first week of fall and spring practices. Several items that we carry have to be custom ordered and may take 6-8 weeks for delivery. All items must be paid for at the time the order is placed.

To Order:

  1. Print out the Masters Clothing Order Form
  2. Fill out form and place it and a check in the Director’s lock box located in the boathouse, or you can mail them directly to the office at:
    Sammamish Rowing Association — Clothing
    P.O. Box 3309
    Redmond, WA 98073

Check out our new items!
We’ve added brightly colored shirts short-sleeved shirts, which work especially great while sculling so you can be seen by others. We’ve also brought back our popular fleece vest with the SRA logo.Sometimes we have extra stock on hand in between orders. If you’re interested in seeing what we have, contact Marilyn.

Rowing Clothing Basics

The rest of this page provides an overview of the clothing needed for rowing. It’s important that you dress appropriately for safety, performance, and health, especially during the colder and wetter weather in the Fall, Winter and Spring.

Synthetic Fabrics

Synthetic fabrics such as Polypro, CoolMax and similar fabrics are best because they keep you relatively warm even when wet, and they dry quickly. You will get wet from perspiration, rain, and splash. The key is that they have synthetic clothing that will keep you warm even when wet.

Best Clothing

The best clothing for rowing is soft, stretchy, breathable, and fairly form fitting. Loose shorts can get caught in the slides under the moving seats, so avoid basketball style shorts or warm-ups. Loose tops can get caught in the oar handles, so avoid bulky jackets or sweatshirts.  In general, you should dress as though you are going running in the elements, or Nordic skiing.

Layering

Layering is important for keeping warm, and maintaining the right temperature. Your needs will change during a practice depending on exertion and changing conditions. Having the appropriate layers enables you to regulate your insulation and protection. Sometimes a rower may mix 2 out of 3 layers, depending on conditions.

  • 1. Base layer: Form fitting and intended to wick moisture away from the skin. The SRA JL Workout Shirts are great base layer tops. They are thin, and similar to base layer garments worn when skiing. Multiple base layers can be worn for added warmth. On colder days, rowers may want to wear tights for leg warmth.
  • 2. Insulation layer: A synthetic fleece garment worn on colder days where extra insulation is needed. Thicker than the base layer, but not bulky. Polartec or Polarfleece clothing products fall within this category. Some insulation layer fabrics also have wind protection built in.
  • 3. Wind block: Having a wind block that breathes helps retain warmth while not getting too hot. Base and insulation layers are generally not designed to block the wind. The SRA Splash Jacket is designed for this purpose while also being form fitting so that it does not interfere with the oars, and has ventilation panels on the sides for breathing. Although not waterproof, the Splash Jacket also helps repel water. Other wind blocking clothing can be worn, but ensure that it breathes and is form fitting.

Hats

You can lose a lot of body heat through your head. On cold days, it’s important that you wear an insulative hat to keep warm.

Hands

Hands can get cold while rowing. However, you will not see rowers using traditional cold-weather gloves. The reason for this is that rowing requires a tactile feel of the handle. You can bring gloves onto the water to wear when they are not actually rowing, or you can put your hands under their armpits to keep them warm.

If you get especially cold hands, you can purchase Pogies from one of the rowing sites. They fit over both the oar handle and your hands. Consequently there are separate designs for sculling and sweep. One caution on Pogies is that they can keep your hands too warm and retain moisture, causing an ideal environment for blisters.

Dry Clothes on Land

On especially wet days, you should have dry clothes to change into when they get back on land.

Socks

Socks should be synthetic or wool to help ensure that feet stay warm while wet. You should have second pair on land.

Waterproof Clothing

Waterproof clothing is not required for rowing. If you do purchase waterproof clothing, ensure that it is highly breathable. Really waterproof clothing tends not to breathe as well, increasing body heat and sweating, and then holding the perspiration within the clothing instead of letting it evaporate. This can result in you getting too hot, taking off the waterproof clothing, and then getting really chilled.

No Cotton

You should avoid cotton. Cotton does not keep you warm when it gets wet; instead, it makes you colder. Cotton should not be used as the base layer, because it does not wick moisture away from the skin.

No Down

Down should never be worn on the water.  When down gets wet, it will clump, get very heavy, and has no insulative properties.

Label your clothing

Recommend writing your name on the tag of all of your clothing.  This will make it clear who it belongs to, and reduce the chance that you will lose your clothing at the boathouse or regattas.

Clothing Retailers

There are a variety of rowing clothing manufacturers and retailers on the Internet, including:

You can also get clothing from other active athletic stores such as:

  • REI: www.rei.com Redmond
  • FootZone: www.footzone.com Running attire. Bellevue, Issaquah, Redmond
  • Big 5
  • Gart Sports
  • Fred Meyer
  • Brooks outlet in Canyon Park

To keep down costs, good usable clothing can be found at second hand stores and outlet malls.  Outlet malls can be found in North Bend, Centralia and Burlington.