The West Side Rowing Club is one of two rowing clubs in Buffalo, NY. It has a long history of providing anyone interested with access to a sport that is commonly known for its elitarian and privileged character.

Overview

Besides hosting rowers that row for the club itself, the club accommodates many Buffalo schools with rowing facilities. This makes the club one of the largest in the US, with its members competing on all levels of competition. Rowers from the West Side Rowing Club have represented the United States in the Olympics, Pan Am Games, NYS Empire State Games and Elite and Junior Championships. The Black Rock Channel, where the rowers train, is covered in murals of the accomplishments of the rowers from the club.

The Club was founded in 1912 burned on July 30th 1975 and moved to its present site in 1981, after a temporary and unglamerous location at the SUC Great Lakes Lab 250 meters south of its current location.

The newest boathouse, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

 for the University of Wisconsin has been built next to the re-erected West Side Rowing Club. Recent international accomplishments include Canisius High School

Canisius High School

Canisius High School is a Roman Catholic Jesuit private high school for young men. Canisius located at 1180 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York, United States, just north of the Delaware Avenue Historic District. Founded in 1870, the school has historical ties to Canisius College...

 alumnus Steven Coppola

Steven Coppola

Steven Coppola and is an American rower. He won a bronze medal in the men's eight at the 2008 Summer Olympics.-Biography:...

 capturing third in the Olympics.

Institutional members

Schools that use the WSRC's facilities are:

• West Side Junior Men and Women
• Canisius College
  Canisius College
  Canisius College is a private Roman Catholic college in Buffalo, New York, United States. The college was founded in 1870 by members of the Society of Jesus from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. The college is one of 28 institutions in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and...
  
  
• City Honors School
  City Honors School
  City Honors School at Fosdick-Masten Park, known colloquially as City Honors, or CHS, is a college preparatory school in Buffalo, New York. City Honors is part of the Buffalo Public Schools system. The school was founded in 1975 by three faculty members from Bennett High School and Clinton Junior...
  
  
• The Gow School
  The Gow School
  The Gow School is an independent boarding school for boys, grades 7-12, diagnosed with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Located in South Wales, New York, near Buffalo, New York, United States the school was founded in 1926 by educator Peter Gow, Jr., along with insight from his colleague,...
  
  
• Holy Angels Academy High School
  Holy Angels Academy (Buffalo, New York)
  Holy Angels Academy is an all-girls, private, Roman Catholic high school in Buffalo, New York.-Background:Holy Angels Academy was established in 1861. It was founded by the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart...
  
  
• Nardin Academy
  Nardin Academy
  Nardin Academy was founded by the Daughters of the Heart of Mary in 1857. It is the oldest private Roman Catholic school in Western New York. The Academy includes a college preparatory high school for young women and a co-educational elementary school located in Buffalo, New York...
  
  
• Nichols School
  Nichols School
  Nichols School is a private, non-denominational, co-educational college-preparatory day school located in Buffalo, New York, USA. The average enrollment is 570 students with an average Upper School grade/class size of 98 students...
  
  
• St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute
  St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute
  St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, founded in 1861, is an independent Roman Catholic college preparatory school for young men. Established by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, SJCI is chartered by the Board of Regents of New York State and accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges...
  
  

Formerly hosted Canisius High School

Canisius High School

Canisius High School is a Roman Catholic Jesuit private high school for young men. Canisius located at 1180 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York, United States, just north of the Delaware Avenue Historic District. Founded in 1870, the school has historical ties to Canisius College...

 and Buffalo Seminary prior to their move to the new Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association on the Buffalo River

Buffalo River (New York)

The Buffalo River is a river that empties into the eastern end of Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes, by the City of Buffalo in the United States of America. This stream is called the Buffalo River only in the vicinity of the city and is known as Buffalo Creek as it flows through other parts of...

.