Chautauqua Lake Rowing Association

MISSION: The Chautauqua Lake Rowing Association (CLRA) is committed to making the sport of rowing accessible to everyone for a lifetime. By revitializing a long tradition of rowing on Chautauqua Lake, the CLRA offers unique opportunities for teamwork, fitness, and competition.

VISION: Our vision is of a region that treasures the river and lake as a natural resource and pursues the development of a passion for rowing among youth and adults of all ages.

Between the 1870's and the 1930's rowing was the most popular sport on Chautauqua Lake, fueled by two competitive rowing clubs, the Chadakoin Club (which later formed into the Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club) and the Chautauqua Club (organized at the Chautauqua Institution). Since rowing disappeared as an organized sport on the lake in the 1930's, single shells were all that remained to keep the memory alive, as they can occasionally be seen sculling on either end of the lake.

Following the example of these two historical teams, the Chautauqua Lake Rowing Association was created to return the sport of rowing to the area. Today, the Association continues to foster scholastic rowing and to educate the public on the benefits of rowing as a community resource and as a preferred form of recreation, teamwork training, and healthful conditioning of the mind and body.