About Sammamish Rowing
Sammamish Rowing Association (SRA) is a not-for-profit community rowing organization founded in 1995, located in communities east of Seattle at the north end of Lake Sammamish. SRA operates in partnership with King County Parks and the City of Redmond.
From early in its history until recent years, SRA’s resources were largely consumed by the process of building a new boathouse to replace the aging boatshed in which the organization spent its formative years.
The state-of-the-art Hod Fowler Boathouse was dedicated in 2016 and is now the home for SRA’s premier fleet of rowing shells, as well the place where our close community of over 800 adult and youth rowers and their families convene to enjoy their shared passion for rowing.
MISSION
SRA provides an inclusive community that ignites a passion for rowing by encouraging the development of our members, embracing individual discovery, and celebrating team success so every rower can experience the life-long benefits of rowing.
VALUES
STRATEGIC PLAN
SRA’s Board of Directors is pleased to share the publication of the Sammamish Rowing Association Strategic Plan. The plan identifies SRA's mission and values, as well as the goals of our organization.
The Strategic Planning Committee will review the details and direction quarterly so that SRA can adjust to changing times as needed.
The Board welcomes your feedback on the plan.
Click here to view the Strategic Plan
The Executive Director and Board will identify appropriate measures to evaluate success of the strategic plan. Measures could include data points such as: competitive success, staff and member retention, enrollment, and member satisfaction.
From early in its history until recent years, SRA’s resources were largely consumed by the process of building a new boathouse to replace the aging boatshed in which the organization spent its formative years.
The state-of-the-art Hod Fowler Boathouse was dedicated in 2016 and is now the home for SRA’s premier fleet of rowing shells, as well the place where our close community of over 800 adult and youth rowers and their families convene to enjoy their shared passion for rowing.
MISSION
SRA provides an inclusive community that ignites a passion for rowing by encouraging the development of our members, embracing individual discovery, and celebrating team success so every rower can experience the life-long benefits of rowing.
VALUES
- Community Culture: SRA is a welcoming community embracing people of all backgrounds, beliefs, skills, and experience. Together, athletes and staff foster a culture of integrity, perseverance, and accountability – celebrating accomplishments both on and off the water.
- Individual Discovery: Each individual is inspired to be accountable to oneself, the team, and the organization, and SRA coaches and teammates strive to help every athlete achieve and extend their potential in rowing and in life.
- Support for Coaches and Staff: Coaches and staff are the energizing glue and valued leaders in the SRA community who are dedicated to the development of every athlete and every team, support the ethos of the club, and help advance SRA's mission.
- Thoughtful Stewardship of Resources: SRA protects the long-term viability of the organization through sound financial management and commitment to environmentally sustainable practices that protect the surrounding public lands and waterways.
- Safety: Safety is a habit. Staff, coaches, and rowers alike take responsibility for keeping one another safe on land and on the water.
STRATEGIC PLAN
SRA’s Board of Directors is pleased to share the publication of the Sammamish Rowing Association Strategic Plan. The plan identifies SRA's mission and values, as well as the goals of our organization.
The Strategic Planning Committee will review the details and direction quarterly so that SRA can adjust to changing times as needed.
The Board welcomes your feedback on the plan.
Click here to view the Strategic Plan
The Executive Director and Board will identify appropriate measures to evaluate success of the strategic plan. Measures could include data points such as: competitive success, staff and member retention, enrollment, and member satisfaction.
What is Rowing?
Rowing is a full-body workout, and it is the ultimate team sport. Rowing not only builds fitness, it also embodies a lifestyle of health and wellness. Rowing helps develop skills such as leadership, teamwork, dedication, and commitment for all athletes. At Sammamish Rowing, we offer opportunities for rowers age 12-80+.
A History of Sammamish Rowing Association
Usually a rowing club starts with some rowers and a coach, then some boats and oars, and eventually a boathouse. But with SRA, the boathouse came first. In 1994, Hod Fowler, a former collegiate rower, learned of an old boathouse in Marymoor Park. The boathouse was originally built by the Overlake School on the site of a former sewage-treatment plant. Overlake later abandoned the building, and Fowler discovered it was weeks away from being demolished as part of a toxic-site cleanup project in Marymoor Park.
Fowler quickly recruited a community of interested rowers. With support from King County, Fowler and a small number of co-founders established a non-profit dedicated to serving a broad range of members. They incorporated in 1995 and settled on the name Sammamish Rowing Association, choosing “association” over “club” to reflect the inclusive, non-elite, public nature of the organization. While the Marymoor site underwent rehabilitation, the new rowing organization spent its first year (1996) in a temporary one-bay boathouse in Idylwood Park. During that time, SRA grew to include about 40 rowers, spread across a 5 a.m. team, a mid-morning team, and a junior program.
After one year in Idylwood and following the completion of the Marymoor cleanup, SRA moved into the old Overlake boathouse in 1997. Volunteers replaced the rotted roof on the boathouse, and the 5 a.m. team started the generator each morning until a volunteer work party eventually ran power and water from the street. Nonetheless, nothing could change the damp, dark, and rickety nature of the building.
Fowler and the board knew SRA was one major storm away from losing its boathouse. SRA was continuing to grow, with steadily expanding juniors’ and masters’ programs. A new home was necessary, and conversations about building a new boathouse began.
Given the challenges of building in a wetland, SRA considered alternative locations such as Idylwood Park and Lake Sammamish State Park. After a five-year search the Marymoor site was recognized as the best location for the boathouse. SRA received a shoreline permit in 2005, allowing for construction in the vicinity of the Lake Sammamish shoreline, but that was not the end of the story.
In 2010, after years of setbacks, disappointments, and persistence, SRA was finally awarded a building permit and allowed to begin construction. Over the next six years, SRA built the new boathouse in phases as funding permitted. The organization began using the boat bays in 2013, the gym in 2015, and the offices, bathrooms, and locker rooms in 2016.
Throughout the entire process, King County Parks’ Community Partnership Grants program provided extraordinary moral and financial support. SRA’s own members were the largest source of capital over the years, and the taxpayers of Washington State funded a sizable grant that made the last phase of construction possible.
Today, with the new boathouse complete, nearly a thousand people come through the doors of Sammamish Rowing Association each year to experience Row for a Day events, Learn to Row classes, summer camps, independent rowing, and recreational, adaptive, and competitive rowing teams for teens and adults. View our facility here.
Remaining true to Hod Fowler’s original vision of a community organization open to all, Sammamish Rowing Association continues to provide rowing opportunities on a non-exclusive, first-come-first-served basis. Some 20 years after its founding, SRA honors and upholds its mission to spark and nurture a passion for the sport of rowing.
Fowler quickly recruited a community of interested rowers. With support from King County, Fowler and a small number of co-founders established a non-profit dedicated to serving a broad range of members. They incorporated in 1995 and settled on the name Sammamish Rowing Association, choosing “association” over “club” to reflect the inclusive, non-elite, public nature of the organization. While the Marymoor site underwent rehabilitation, the new rowing organization spent its first year (1996) in a temporary one-bay boathouse in Idylwood Park. During that time, SRA grew to include about 40 rowers, spread across a 5 a.m. team, a mid-morning team, and a junior program.
After one year in Idylwood and following the completion of the Marymoor cleanup, SRA moved into the old Overlake boathouse in 1997. Volunteers replaced the rotted roof on the boathouse, and the 5 a.m. team started the generator each morning until a volunteer work party eventually ran power and water from the street. Nonetheless, nothing could change the damp, dark, and rickety nature of the building.
Fowler and the board knew SRA was one major storm away from losing its boathouse. SRA was continuing to grow, with steadily expanding juniors’ and masters’ programs. A new home was necessary, and conversations about building a new boathouse began.
Given the challenges of building in a wetland, SRA considered alternative locations such as Idylwood Park and Lake Sammamish State Park. After a five-year search the Marymoor site was recognized as the best location for the boathouse. SRA received a shoreline permit in 2005, allowing for construction in the vicinity of the Lake Sammamish shoreline, but that was not the end of the story.
In 2010, after years of setbacks, disappointments, and persistence, SRA was finally awarded a building permit and allowed to begin construction. Over the next six years, SRA built the new boathouse in phases as funding permitted. The organization began using the boat bays in 2013, the gym in 2015, and the offices, bathrooms, and locker rooms in 2016.
Throughout the entire process, King County Parks’ Community Partnership Grants program provided extraordinary moral and financial support. SRA’s own members were the largest source of capital over the years, and the taxpayers of Washington State funded a sizable grant that made the last phase of construction possible.
Today, with the new boathouse complete, nearly a thousand people come through the doors of Sammamish Rowing Association each year to experience Row for a Day events, Learn to Row classes, summer camps, independent rowing, and recreational, adaptive, and competitive rowing teams for teens and adults. View our facility here.
Remaining true to Hod Fowler’s original vision of a community organization open to all, Sammamish Rowing Association continues to provide rowing opportunities on a non-exclusive, first-come-first-served basis. Some 20 years after its founding, SRA honors and upholds its mission to spark and nurture a passion for the sport of rowing.
SAMMAMISH OLD BOATHOUSE
The Hod Fowler Boathouse Facility
Our 12,000 sq. ft. facility was completed in the summer of 2016 thanks to generous donations from members, the local community, King County Parks, and the State of Washington.
This state-of-the-art facility provides a high-quality experience for all rowers who are a part of the Sammamish Rowing community. The boathouse features:
SRA has eight coaching launches and a secondary structure to store safety equipment and launches.
View the Hod Fowler Boathouse Historical Timeline
Learn more about Hod Fowler and the boathouse here.
This state-of-the-art facility provides a high-quality experience for all rowers who are a part of the Sammamish Rowing community. The boathouse features:
- Weight room
- Fitness facilities with 35 ergs, four Row Perfects, four stationary bikes
- Locker rooms, bathrooms, and showers
- Staff offices, a conference room, and coaches' lounge
- An extensive fleet of rowing shells (1x, 2x, 2-, 4x, 4+, and 8+).
SRA has eight coaching launches and a secondary structure to store safety equipment and launches.
View the Hod Fowler Boathouse Historical Timeline
Learn more about Hod Fowler and the boathouse here.
Boat Launch
The Sammamish Rowing Association dock is a public boat launch within Marymoor Park. Per county ordinance, the quarter-mile path from the parking lot to the dock is not accessible to vehicles. Users of the boat launch can park in the lot and must walk to the dock and can carry or manually tow a kayak, canoe, etc.
Anyone who parks in the lot must pay a $1 parking fee to help finance King County Parks. A pay kiosk is located near the signboard in the south lot. Drivers are advised to lock their vehicles and remove any valuables.
Anyone who parks in the lot must pay a $1 parking fee to help finance King County Parks. A pay kiosk is located near the signboard in the south lot. Drivers are advised to lock their vehicles and remove any valuables.
