The Newport Aquatic Center's newest rowers hit the water for real Sunday, Oct. 4 when the 2026 novice girls team races for the first time at the Lido Chase scrimmage on Newport Harbor.

The squad is made up entirely of first-year athletes learning the sport together, according to a program update on the NAC website. Racing begins at 7 a.m. at the boathouse, with all junior rowing athletes required to arrive by 6 a.m., per an NAC Instagram post detailing race-day logistics.

The Lido Chase is NAC's home course. Parents can watch from a viewing area near the statue on Castaways Loop.

Training from the ground up

All novice athletes start the fall season as one unified group. Age categories are set aside for the first few months while the girls learn to row, race and work as a crew. The team will split into age-based groups later in the season.

NAC's coaching staff said in the program update that the early focus is on developing stroke technique and building the cardiovascular base athletes will need as training ramps up. The staff has leaned on everyday metaphors to teach complicated movements, an approach that typically draws a laugh before producing a breakthrough.

The staff described the team culture they are building: pushing each other on the erg, on the water and at practice while still being the first to cheer when a teammate succeeds. The program's goal, the coaches wrote, is teaching athletes that a teammate's success can be motivation rather than a threat.

A senior's perspective

Senior rower Ava Joseph, now in her fifth and final season, captured the feeling of watching the novice class arrive. In a Sept. 15 essay on the NAC website, Joseph recalled her own start as an eighth-grader.

"Five years ago, I had no idea that that first day would start my journey on this amazing team and create some of my favorite memories over the years," Joseph wrote. "Now, I get to stand here in the final year, and watch a new group start the same journey I've been on for the past five years."

What's ahead

The Oct. 4 Lido Chase and the Head of the American regatta on Oct. 24 at Lake Natoma in Sacramento are the two races the novice girls will compete in together as a full squad before splitting into age groups.

The rest of NAC's fall schedule: the Team Wide Turkey Trot at the Newport Aquatic Center on Nov. 24, the Christmas Regatta at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, where NAC races Dec. 6 of the Dec. 5-6 event.