Hi all

I've just been looking through some of the old posts on rowing in Zurich, and was wondering if someone could tell me which clubs typically tend to put out the most competitive mens crews? I'm thinking maybe sending a top VIII or IV over to Henley in the summer or similar types of event? I know that Belvoir RC sent a crew over the Women's Head of the River in London last week, and they won the overseas trophy, but I'm under the impression that is predominantly a women's club? Please correct me if I'm wrong...

I saw some potentially negative comments about clubs like Grasshopper (elitist etc...) - are they more of a professional training center or just a bit old school like Leander in the UK?

Anyway, any info would be welcome - even if it's pointing me to a thread I missed on my search.

Ta!

Look here
You can also try this. Not the most competitive (though maybe you can convince them tho leave the bbq and do a bit of rowing ). definetly the best athmosphere and the best parties in Zurich. Top location.

Thank you... This is a helpful start

Anyone have any info re clubs that send crews overseas? I had a look at the Seeclub site, but (a) my German is not very good at all and (b) it seems that their Leitungsport (professionals??) are mostly juniors...? Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Does anyone know if non students can row for/with the ETH crews?

Do you know of anyone who is part of this club? I would like join a rowing club again but unfortunately I do not speak a Scandonavian language, as they state is the only requirement for membership. I was just wondering that since they seem to be such a laid back club, they might be flexible with this requirement....

Alternatively, does anyone know of any english-speaking rowing clubs in Zurich??

Hey,

I've been rowing at GC this season, and I've enjoyed it a lot - doesn't seem particularly elitist to me. Men only, if that's a factor... We'll be off to the HORR next weekend, with both a junior and senior boat. I spoke to the coach about Henley, and I think it clashes with the Swiss national championships, so that would rule that out (and the same would go for most other Swiss clubs i suppose). We were also planning on going to the Heineken Roeievierkampf (that might not be how you spell it...) in Amsterdam, but that fell through...
From what i hear Belvoir are pretty good; they also finished quite high in the men's head last year.

Hope that helps.

Thanks jack-o-bean - small clarification - is GC Grasshopper? How good do you think one's German needs to be before joining? It was mentioned on another thread that it is necessary to get 2 members to sponsor you as a new joiner... is that relatively straightforward? Do you think it would be possible to join in the latter part of the season (i.e. now), or would I need to wait until the start of next season? I guess regatta season is starting soon, but not right yet, so maybe crews aren't set yet... How big is the squad at GC? And for the final, and pretty geeky question, what kind of 2k would put you in the top VIII?

Good luck at the HoRR! Hope the weather treats you well...

Yep, GC is Grasshoppers. There are some guys who row there occasionally who can't speak much German at all. Plus lots of them speak and are happy to speak good English.

Joining isn't too hard, just get in contact with the head coach and after a while they'll get you to fill out the forms. Our first race was sunday, Zürich-Thalwil which was pretty mad but good fun. Plans are afoot for the rest of the season, though nothing is defined yet.

As for the standard, there are some ex-international lwts knocking about, plus the odd hwt, but also juniors, more 'club-level' rowers (like me). As for 2k times for the 1st VIII...not sure. They were Swiss champions last year, and they want to defend it, and i think that means some guys will be coming back for that. PM me if you want more info, that way we can spare everyone else the erg time chat...

I have heard the club in Baden is quite competitive and it is closeish to Zurich. Regularly crack the top 70 at the HORR and I think they do well at the Swiss championships. I have no first hand experience in this tho as I gave it all up on moving here

As a quick update, GC beat all the other Zurich clubs plus Baden at the HORR

Lol, I take it you were in that crew then. I was about to refer the OP to the HORR results when I saw some activity on this thread again. 33rd wasn't it? Or am I thinking of someone else?

No, not that high...75th this year (all the usual excuses about how little water time we had, how skinny we all are and how tideway scullers wouldn't get out of our way apply).

Hi guys, not sure how I missed this thread!

I'm rowing with SN de Genève, and did the Thalwil and HoRR races with them over the last month. Would be great to catch up with any fellow anglophones if you are racing at the rest of the summer regattas...

Baden were not bad last year - we had a few races against them. Seeclub beat us at Thalwil but they didn't race HoRR. They beat us in the 4- last summer at Swiss Champs, but I think that was basically the Swiss lightweight squad boat, so not sure if those guys will be making an 8+ this year.

Cheers,
GS