GLRF hosts booth at 2014 San Diego Crew Classic

For the first time since the Gay + Lesbian Rowing Federation began hosting a vendors booth at the San Diego Crew Classic in 2004, rain threatened to complicate the booth layout. Luckily, the rain clouds cleared at 06h30 on Saturday morning and with some quick towel work, the GLRF booth was ready to open for visitors dry and with all gear on display at 07h00.

The booth featured the 2014 Warwick Naked Rowers calendars (men and women), a staple of the booth for several years, and the huge collection of wild and crazy spandex racing shorts, tights and headbands. The boys have gotten over their "concerns" and the market share of buyers for the crazy spandex seemed to be close to 60% for men with many of the guys opting for the shorter, "volleyball" cut shorts!

The GLRF BiSweptual and the Sweet Release shirts proved popular as well as the Come Out and Row shirts.

Thanks to the generosity of Tom Gallagher, owner of Sykes North America, the booth was able to showcase a wide selection of Under Armour shirts for sale.

The weekend weather, as usual for San Diego, was sunny, clear, and warm. The only challenge came when the afternoon winds began to pick up, forcing the starting line officials to repeatedly realign the starting lineups.

The Crew Classic draws 3700 junior, university, open, and masters competitors from all over North America, competing in the eights-only 2000m. sprint race. The most notable international club was a team from the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club rowing squad, which fielded both mens and womens entries. GLRF was happy to share our membership materials with several of the Hong Kong rowers who visited the booth.