“Stroke, stroke, stroke!” The coxswain’s methodical voice echoes across the water, the rower’s paddles slice the surface of the water and the sun dips below the bay. Crew members work until their bodies are numb, preparing for the Head of the Charles, the biggest race of the fall. This is an all too familiar scene for members of the Oakland Strokes crew team.

Oakland Strokes operates all year round said crew member and sophomore Alison Prendergast. Unlike many sports, rowing is practically year round.

The official season is from Sept. until May, and there is summer training from June until September when the season starts up again, said crew member and senior Jenny Hosler. Crew has the reputation of being one of the most challenging sports, which oftentimes scares off people from getting into it.

“I’ve tried a bunch of sports, almost all sports, and I’ve never really encountered a sport where you work so hard,” said Prendergast. Another aspect of crew that scares people off is the time commitment that it takes, as practices are after school for three hours everyday. Although the time commitment is large, it can create skills that the rowers will carry with them their whole life.

“It’s definitely taught me how to manage my time and be more efficient with my work,” Hosler said.

Oakland Strokes recently traveled to Boston to compete in The Head of The Charles, the biggest rowing tournament for crew teams across the country. Hosler, in a boat with senior Maryse Suppiger among others, placed a whopping fourth out of 85 boats at the tournament, improving from their previous finish of seventh last year. All of Boston is along the side of the river, with over 400,000 spectators, said Hosler.

Oakland Strokes represented the bay area well, as they usually do, “There’s a lot of history to Oakland Strokes, and in the past the team has won many national championships, lots of first places at head of the charles,” Hosler said, “It’s a very competitive and aggressive team, and there’s a lot of pressure to live up to those standards, so that’s a little stressful, but it’s fun, and it’s competitive in a good way.”

Even those who haven’t participated  in the race yet understand the significance of the race. “It’s essentially the most well known race for rowing, probably short of nationals, maybe even more so, and it’s pretty much just lets you see how your crews are doing in the beginning of the year,” Crew member and junior Tucker Palmeri said.

Oakland Strokes is getting more popular every year. “It’s a great program, and I would encourage anyone who is finding that they aren’t given enough rigor in their sport, or if they need an offseason to train in to join the team because it will definitely get you fit,” Hosler said.