National rowers make White Rock home

By Chris Leonard

White Rock Rowing competed in the USRowing Youth National Regatta in Sarasota Florida from June 8-13. White Rock qualified seven boats with 32 competitors and brought home a National Championship in the U-17 Women’s Pair and a Bronze medal in the U-17 four with coxswain. 

During a “normal” year, there is a lot of cross-over during the season, and teams sense each other’s speed. Since all the regattas were canceled this past year, except for the regional qualifier, everyone knew who the players would be but had no idea how everyone would stack up when they lined up at the start line. The athletes raced in time trails, semi-finals and finals over four days of very competitive racing. White Rock rose to the challenge, posted some of the best results in club history and splashed onto the national scene. 

Results:

Women’s U17 pair – 1st

Women’s U17 four – 3rd

Men’s U17 four – 6th

Men’s varsity four – 16th

Men’s varsity eight – 18th

Men’s varsity pair – 25th

Women’s varsity four – 28th

To cap off an exciting week, four U-23 National Team rowers will make White Rock Rowing their home for the summer to train with Head Coach Chris Leonard. These athletes from the University of Washington, Syracuse and Dartmouth came to Sarasota to race and were selected to represent the United States at the Under 23 World Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. The competitive club system in the United States sanctions athletes from various universities and clubs to come together, affiliate with a rowing program and race as part of the competitive club summer system. 

This puts White Rock in the conversation with premier clubs like Community Rowing, Inc., Penn AC, New York Athletic Club and Vesper, to name a few, and provides a unique opportunity for the White Rock junior athletes to be part of an exciting summer at the White Rock Boathouse. 

  Featured