Rowers test their limits at the C.R.A.S.H.-B. World Indoor Rowing Championships

For most, 8 inches of snow calls for curling up inside with a warm cup of hot chocolate. 

The athletes who showed up on Sunday at Brandeis University’s Gosman Sports and Convocation Center are a different breed.

Waltham was the center of the rowing universe this weekend, playing host to the C.R.A.S.H.-B. World Indoor Rowing Championships. The day is marked by a series of grueling 2,000-meter sprints on Concept2 Model D ergometers, with each race segmented by age and weight class.

“I was thinking about doing a 2K, and I was like, ‘There is no way I can do a 2K and just rip it,’” said Emelie Eldracher, a volunteer at the event and the coxswain of the mixed coxed four rowing team which represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris. “This is the most intimidating atmosphere you can do this in. You have an entire stadium of people watching you. Kudos to everyone who takes on the challenge of sitting side by side with someone they don’t know and having an entire audience watching them do a harsh workout.”

The event began in the 1980s and has bounced around to various sites in the Boston area before landing at Brandeis for the 2025 iteration. Walk into the fieldhouse and you are instantly hit with a masterful combination of athletic prowess and stamina. The rowers make a back-breaking session on the ergometer seem like a simple jog down the Mass Central Rail Trail.

“The energy, sheer will and the opportunity to feel like we are racing even though it’s only ergs, it’s so exciting,” said Eldracher, who began volunteering for the event four years ago as a floor coxswain. “It’s awesome to see everyone come together on a wet, snowy day, hop on an erg and do the hardest thing you could possibly do. The energy in the room is the best, just getting everyone in and screaming in excitement for the athletes.”

Take the women’s U17 match for example. Ukrainian standout Maria Prodan, who arrived in Boston with her family after the Russian invasion of her hometown a few years ago, eclipsed her competition with a blazing 7:27 time in the race. 

Watching Prodan, who races for Boston-based Community Rowing, you would think the task was effortless. But as soon as that belief starts to enter the mind, you see Prodan fall to the floor in exhaustion and realize this sport is not for the faint of heart.

The crowd made sure to let its adamant admiration after each race, leading to a true sense of encouragement in the room – even for those who might not have finished with a medal.