Image: The club is offering summer classes to bring rowing to the entire Mercer Island community. Photo credit: Heidi Mills
After three years of development and many fundraising efforts, Mercer Island, WA, is about to launch its own rowing club. While the new Mercer Island Rowing Club (MIRC) was formed in 2024 and does not yet have a boathouse, it does use a temporary equipment storage tent in Luther Burbank Park, where it will offer two separate rowing classes this summer.
“Our goal is to have boats on the water by this July,” said Diane Tien, a member of the MIRC Board. “Being an island in the middle of Lake Washington, it seems only natural that we should bring rowing to the whole Mercer Island community.”
On June 22, MIRC began an inaugural pilot program that offers instruction to both beginners and experienced adults. A two-week Learn to Row program for youths (grades 8–11) and adults (aged 18 and above) will run through Aug. 28. In addition, the club offers a one-week Experienced Masters program (July 20–24) for adults who are more familiar with rowing techniques.
The summer classes are being led by Alex Barnaby-Brown, a rower with seven years of coaching experience, who recently joined MIRC. Classes are being held at the Swim Beach at Luther Burbank park. As of late May, Tien said 85 people have signed up for the summer classes, but she expects that number to top 100 by July.
The club, which is open to all ages and experience levels, has about 550 subscribed members and operates three rowing sculls, plus a trailer, Tien said. “A location for the future MIRC Boathouse was allocated in the Luther Burbank 2006 master plan,” Tien said. “But for the next five to 10 years, we expect to be using the temporary storage.”
Tien added, however, that interest is likely to grow this year. According to a 2022 report from the Mercer Island City Council’s Parks, Recreation, and Open Space plan, she said 44% of the island’s estimated population of 25,700 have expressed interest in joining a rowing club.
This summer, the MIRC Board plans to make several public appearances to promote the club around the island and raise funds. On July 11, there will be an information booth at the Summer Celebration event at Mercerdale Park. The following month, another booth will be set up on Aug. 16 at the Mercer Island Farmers Market along SE 32nd Street, on the northern edge of Mercerdale Park. On Aug. 29, MIRC will also appear at the Art UnCorked festival at the Greta Hackett Outdoor Sculpture Garden in the town center.
In March, the club held a fundraising event, called “Row for MI: Ergathon,” at the local Orangetheory Fitness. More than 40 participants, divided into six teams, competed to row the equivalent of 20 kilometers on the gym’s stationary rowing machines. The winning team (“OAR-iginal Gangstas”) earned the prize for being the fastest, while everyone raised more than $7,000 to support MIRC.
“We’re about 65% of the way there to our annual goal of $250,000,” Tien added. “We hope interest in classes this summer will help push us over the top.”
