Rowing group offers the opportunity to exercise in the great outdoors

Marietta Williams thinks of Lake Purdy as a “little hidden jewel” in the U.S. 280 area. She and other members of the Lake Purdy Rowing Association are always eager to visit.

Her excitement about rowing on the lake led Williams about a year ago to start the rowing group, which is open to anyone regardless of previous rowing experience or age. And while membership is also open to anyone irrespective of where they live, she said Lake Purdy’s location makes rowing with the club ideal for residents living along the 280 corridor.

The result is an organization she and club president Scott Green said offers participants a chance to enjoy the perfect workout while enjoying nature.

“One of the great things about living over this way is that we have Lake Purdy so accessible from the 280 area, and that’s a tremendous benefit,” said Williams, who serves as vice president of the association. “A lot of people who live in other cities drive a long way to row.”

Another advantage for the club’s rowers, Williams said, is that Lake Purdy is not crowded because personal watercraft are not allowed on the lake.

“You don’t have barges going by and you don’t have motorboats and Jet Skis zooming past you, which are things a lot of people deal with when they row on a regular basis,” Williams said.

Williams said Lake Purdy is also an ideal venue because of its three-mile length and shape that includes loops perfect for rowing.

Getting started

Green, 43, organized the club with Williams and others in January 2013. He still remembers when he fell in love with the sport for the first time, the summer after he graduated from college and moved to Seattle.

“It was the first opportunity that I had to see people rowing, and I said ‘I want to do that,’” he said.

Now, 20 years later, Green is still involved with rowing both through the association and on his own. His wife, Kathy, 40, shares his passion, and she is also an active member of the rowing association.

Williams, 58, remembers spending time on the lake at an early age with her father, who started the Birmingham Sailing Club.

“When I was just a toddler, I was in sailboats,” she said. “I was always on lakes sailing.”

So, it was a given that she jumped at a chance to establish this organization, which has seen its membership swell from approximately 15 members a year ago to 58 people.

Williams said the club’s members include people who rowed in college, or have national experience, and even a former Olympian rower. “So we’ve got rowers with some serious chops here in Birmingham,” she said.

It would be wrong, though, to assume the rowing club is only for experienced rowers, with the association offering classes for inexperienced participants to learn the sport. Williams said new members have to take the class or demonstrate existing proficiency in rowing both to guarantee their safety and the safety of rowing equipment.

“Anybody who would fit and has balance can row throughout their lives,” she said. “So it’s a great exercise for all ages.”

Members range in age from their teens to 70s. “There’s a lot of people who are middle-aged — a lot of people in their 40s and 50s — and we’ve also got a lot of people in their 20s and 30s,” Williams said.

“That’s one of the nice things; it’s reflective of our community, and our goal is to be a very community-focused program,” she said.

Filling a void

Williams said there are no other rowing clubs in the Birmingham area. With only a few rowing clubs throughout the state such as those in Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and Guntersville, as well as clubs in Atlanta and Chattanooga, options are limited for Alabama residents.

But she said the proximity to the other clubs makes competitions more convenient. 

“When we want to compete, we don’t have to go very far,” Williams said.

“It’s a very mental exercise, and it gives you a complete change of scenery from the city and your neighborhood,” she added. “It’s just so incredible to be able to do this right here in Birmingham.”

An ideal workout

Green describes rowing as a low-impact sport that is highly athletic and offers a full-body workout. But he sees another advantage that comes with rowing: it allows participants a chance to exercise while enjoying nature.

“I am passionate about being outside, and Lake Purdy is absolutely gorgeous to row on,” he said.

Not only is he getting exercise outside at different times of the year, Green enjoys rows that allow him an opportunity to experience nature at its finest, as bald eagles and ospreys take flight above and he takes in the changing colors that accompany the fall season.

“To get exercise, which is an essential part of life, and to be able to do it outside is where the passion is,” Green said.

Williams said rowing offers the combined benefits of an aerobic and a strength workout. But she quickly adds that the exercise transcends a mundane workout at the gym.

“It’s just so fun that you don’t feel like you’re exercising,” she said.

“You just feel like you’re having a great time, and it’s hard to beat an exercise routine that you can’t wait to get out there and experience.”

And just as he’s been an avid rower for more than 20 years, Green said others who put their heart into the sport are usually smitten with it for life.

“One of the things about rowing is that people that have been involved with it, they’ve lived and breathed it for many years and it’s a part of their life,” Green said.

For more information about the Lake Purdy Rowing Association, visit lakepurdyrowing.org.