CAMDEN, Maine — Hundreds of student-athletes headed to Camden on Saturday to row in the Maine State Championship, as the sport continues to grow in popularity among Maine high schoolers.
Four teams competed in this year's championship, including a team from Massachusetts who joined in on the regatta for the first time.
Hosted on Megunticook Lake, rowers were met with a windy start to the morning that calmed down throughout the day. Rowers raced in several different boats and styles, including sculling and sweeping rowing.
Not only a great workout, but many say the draw to the sport comes from the community that goes hand-in-hand. Many crews rely on perfect communication and synchronicity to keep a boat paddling fast and smooth.
"You have to be in sync, you all have to move at once and so I think it's really the camaraderie in it that gets people to love it so much," Flora Gurdon said, who is a high school senior this year rowing for Megunticook Rowing.
Small but mighty, many clubs have grown in size over the years as they look to teach high school students the sport and benefits that go along with it.
"My whole goal is to have a kid standing by a river when they're 35 or 40 and see a boat and say, 'I have to find a way to do that again,'" Waynflete Rowing Coach CC Stockly said.