Riverside’s Open Men’s Sweep Team (aka “The Meatwagon”) is a group of upstanding young men between the ages of 22 and 35 who believe that just because your college racing career is over, doesn’t mean you have to stop training and competing at a high level. 

We want to revitalize the club rowing scene and prove that it’s possible to be competitive while working a full-time job or completing graduate school. Our primary focus is on competition in sweep boats but, that being said, if it floats or has a flywheel attached to it, our guys will try to race it. Many of our athletes also scull and some have had good results in sculling events while also racing in our sweep boats. We are a fun group that likes to work hard, play hard, and make boats go fast. If you like those things too, we may be the program for you.

Year-round membership

Men’s Open Sweeps accepts rowers who wish to train and compete competitively for full-time membership. Our roster size is limited, so try-outs/acceptance will be considered based on the capacity of the team at the time of application.

Ideally, we are looking for rowers with 4 years of competitive rowing experience. Due to the limited coaching and equipment resources, as well as the experiences of the team, we can’t accept anyone who has not raced competitively in college.

We are first and foremost a racing team, so we are looking for rowers who are committed to training, getting faster, and helping our boats win. If you’re interested in applying, please see the below erg recommendations as well, and fill out the application below (we apologize in advance if it takes a while to respond, feel free to email us directly for quicker responses).

erg score recommendations

In order to be considered for membership, applicants should be at or within range of the following erg scores (if applicable).

Exceptions may be made based on past experience, so please contact us with questions. If you’ve raced in college, these scores are PR guidelines and not necessarily where you should be right now.

Coach

Andy McLaughlin

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captains

Matthew Miklasevich matthewmiklasevich(at)gmail [dot]com

Michael Eaton michael[dot]j[dot]eaton(at) outlook[dot]com

summer sweeps (canceled for Summer 2022)

NOTE: Due to the 2022 Henley Royal Regatta trip, we are unable to run a U23 summer racing program this summer. We hope to see your applications next year.

Every summer the men’s sweeps team will accept up to ten U23 athletes who wish to spend their summer vacation training and racing in boats. Priority will be given to applicants with 3 years of collegiate rowing experience, or with high school rowing experience and at least one year of collegiate rowing experience. College racing results, a brief rowing bio, and your erg scores (2k, 5k, or 6k) will also factor into your application. During the summer, we follow an intensive training program designed to assemble the fastest possible racing lineups for competition at the Independence Day Regatta (or sometimes Club Nats) and the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, along with other smaller races in between. Boat selection will be determined by a combination of erg testing, seat racing, racing experience, and the coach’s discretion. Please note that there is no dedicated lightweight program and any lightweight rowers will be admitted based on their ability to be competitive with heavyweight counterparts.

regattas

In the summer we focus on Independence Day Regatta (IDR) in Philadelphia, Club Nationals, and Canadian Henley in St. Catharine’s, Ontario. During the fall, we race most weekends from mid-September to end of October, with our major race being the Head of the Charles. We also work in scrimmages or dual races with competing clubs whenever we can. One of our goals is to establish strong ties between other post-graduate rowing programs, developing those relationships, and working to foster a club-rowing community which values racing and training hard year round.

Results highlights

To Apply, please complete a RBC Membership Application and indicate you would like to join the Men’s Sweep team.

You may also contact the captains first to find out more about the team and the application process for the team.

Matthew Miklasevich matthewmiklasevich(at)gmail [dot]com

Michael Eaton michael[dot]j[dot]eaton(at) outlook[dot]com